JERRY DEMURO was named president and CEO of BAE Systems Inc. DeMuro, a former executive with General Dynamics, will take over on Feb. 1. He will be appointed as an executive director of BAE Systems plc in the U.K. and serve on the company’s executive committee as well as on the board of the U.S. side of the company. DeMuro led General Dynamics’ Information Systems and Technology from October 2003 to March 2013. He also spent time at the U.S. Defense Department as an acquisition official.
DOWTY PROPELLERS Model R408/6-123-F/17 propellers [Docket No. FAA-2008-1088; Directorate Identifier 2008-NE-15-AD] – proposes to revise AD 2008-21-07, which requires initial and repetitive inspections of the blade bonded metallic leading edge (L/E) guards for correct bonding until they accumulate more than 1,200 flight hours (FH) time in service. Since FAA issued AD 2008-21-07, Dowty Propellers has introduced updated service bulletins that identify terminating action to the requirements of AD 2008-21-07.
Correction: The Transportation Security Administration has approved 92 gateway airports and a total of 148 approved gateway facilities for business aircraft seeking to fly into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Of the gateway facilities, 113 are approved fixed-base operations. The Jan. 6 edition of BA published an incorrect number of approved FBOs.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) latest round of general aviation safety alerts continues the concerted effort of the agency, along with FAA and industry stakeholders, to address a general aviation accident rate that has refused to decline in recent years.
A decade after Congress mandated that the Transportation Security Administration adopt new repair station security regions, the agency is finally issuing the rule and effectively lifting a ban on certification of new foreign repair stations. Congress, frustrated with TSA’s inaction on the issue, banned FAA from certifying new foreign repair stations until the final rule was issued. That ban had been in place for more than five years, and the number of repair stations awaiting FAA certification had grown to more than 90.
U.S. business aircraft were involved in more accidents and more fatal accidents overall, even as the number of business jet accidents dropped in 2013, according to preliminary data released by safety expert Robert E. Breiling Associates, Inc. U.S. business jets and business turboprops combined for 49 accidents in 2013, up slightly from the 48 accidents in 2012. Fatal accidents more than doubled, from 11 in 2012 to 23 in 2013.
Bristow Group has taken delivery of the first two Sikorsky S-76Ds, configured for offshore oil support, initially for services in the Gulf of Mexico. Delivery of the first VIP-configured helicopter is imminent, with emergency medical service (EMS) and search-and-rescue (SAR) variants to follow.
FAA was expected to file its response Jan. 10 to a lawsuit filed by the city of Santa Monica, Calif., seeking control over the destiny of Santa Monica Airport (SMO). If successful, the lawsuit could clear the city to close the general aviation airport in 2015.
Cutter Aviation’s facility in Phoenix was appointed an authorized service center for Beechcraft Beechjet/Hawker 400XP series aircraft. The designation expands upon Cutter’s Beechcraft authorizations, which also cover Baron, Bonanza and King Air series aircraft. Cutter’s facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Addison, Texas, are also authorized service centers for Baron and Bonanza aircraft.
M7 Aerospace Models SA226-AT, SA226-T, SA226-T(B), SA226-TC, SA227-AC (C-26A), SA227-AT, SA227-BC (C-26A), SA227-CC, SA227-DC (C-26B), SA227-TT, SA26-AT, and SA26-T airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2013-1057; Directorate Identifier 2013-CE-041-AD]—proposes to require repetitively inspecting (visually) the FS 51.31 front pressure bulkhead on SA26 series airplanes and FS 69.31 front pressure bulkhead on SA226 and SA227 series airplanes for cracks, and repairing any cracked bulkhead. This proposed AD also requires reporting certain inspection results to M7 Aerospace.
MARKE GIBSON , a retired major general with the U.S. Air Force, was named executive director of the NextGen Institute, effective Jan. 13. Gibson spent several decades in the USAF, holding positions in both the Pentagon and in the field. Most recently, Gibson served as director of current operations and training at USAF Headquarters. He was also deputy commander of the 7th Air Force Korea; commander of the 354th Fighter Wing, Eielson AFB, Alaska; wing commander of the 332nd Expeditionary Wing, Balad, Iraq; and as the deputy director of operations of NORTHCOM.
Peter Fleiss, who has steered the Corporate Angel Network (CAN) for the past 14 years, is retiring effective Jan. 20. Former Flying Magazine Publisher Dick Koenig, who has served on the CAN board, will succeed Fleiss. Fleiss will take on the title of director emeritus and work with Koenig during the transition.
Embraer has begun flight-testing its Legacy 450 mid-light business jet, a smaller version of the all-new mid-size Legacy 500 that is scheduled for certification in the first half of this year. Making its 1-hr., 35-min. first flight from Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, on Dec. 28, the Legacy 450 has the same 6-ft. cabin height, Honeywell HTF7500E turbofans, Rockwell Collins Fusion avionics, fly-by-wire and side-stick flight controls as the 500, but with a shorter cabin.
A pushback collision between an Etihad Airways Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 777-300 at Abu Dhabi in May 2012 reveals the complexities involved in solving the ramp damage problem, and in its final report on the incident, the United Arab Emirates' General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) focuses largely on non-technical solutions.
Helicopter lessor Milestone Aviation Group continues to increase its access to capital by closing on an unsecured $200 million revolving line of credit, a move that enables it to continue to rapidly expand its customer base that now numbers more than two dozen operators.
The FAA is planning to issue a draft request for proposals in March for private companies to operate the agency’s 252 contract control towers for the next five years, an action some see as a sign that the FAA will continue to support the facilities despite a proposed cut to the program last year.
Gama Aviation has opened its exclusive executive terminal (FBO) at Sharjah International Airport, creating a full service private aviation hub serving Sharjah, Dubai and the Northern Emirates.
HAPPY NEW YEAR: Wall Street analysts at RBC Capital Markets see the large, publicly held, global aerospace sector enjoying a more “straightforward” year than 2013. “Across the various markets, we expect revenue growth, improved margins and good cash generation, with a notable recovery in the aerospace aftermarket and a belated pick up in business jet demand,” they say of 2014.
