The National Business Aviation Association's Safety Committee's just-issued “Refined Top 10 Areas of Risk” for business aviation: 1-Professionalism; 2-Safety Culture; 3-Airmanship Skills; 4-Light Business Airplane Safety; 5-Talent Pipeline; 6-Impact of Technology; 7-Public Policy; 8-Airport Safety; 9-Fatigue; and 10-Task Saturation.
Bonhams, the British auction house, moves a good bit of art, jewelry, coins, special road vehicles and similar collectibles. It handles aircraft occasionally, but, explained one of the company's representatives, those must be “quite special” and likely to generate a successful sale.
On this, the eve of the reemergence of the Eclipse, the original very light jet (VLJ), Diamond Aircraft has put its little jet on indefinite hold pending further infusion of cash into the program.
NASA plans to launch a program in fiscal 2014 to accelerate dramatically the development and certification of new composite materials and structures for aircraft, but also is re-evaluating its rotary-wing research with the aim of phasing out lower-priority work. The agency’s aeronautics research budget is planned to stay essentially flat to fiscal 2018, slipping just 0.6% to $565.7 million in the fiscal 2014 request. Funding is planned to stay at that slightly lower level for the rest of the five-year budget plan.
The White House is renewing its push for a $100-per-flight air traffic control user charge, but unlike in past years, the Obama administration also proposes the creation of a commission to develop recommendations to implement or supplant the fee with other charges. The reintroduction of the $100 user fee was widely expected even though more than half of the Republican-controlled House last week in a letter urged President Barack Obama to drop the proposal.
BUDGET COVERAGE: When the U.S. government’s fiscal 2014 budget proposal is released on April 10, Aviation Week Intelligence Network subscribers should be sure to visit http://www.aviationweek.com/awin/USBudget2014.aspx, which will feature all the latest budgetary and programmatic news, data and analysis grouped together in one place. To allow for the most up-to-date budget news to be included, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report subscribers should expect a delay in the arrival of their issue dated April 11.
A growing number of lawmakers are urging the FAA to consider alternatives to pulling funding for 149 contract towers. FAA plans to eliminate funding for the towers as part of its effort to slash $637 million from the remainder of its fiscal 2013 budget, but on April 5 postponed the funding cutoff date until June 15.
One night last February, a single-engine light aircraft skidded to a stop on the main runway at the Salisbury-Wicomico County Airport after its gear collapsed on landing. Leaving the aircraft on the runway, the pilot got out, shut off the lights and walked to a nearby facility for help.
As Boeing celebrates the opening of a new home for deliveries from its widebody aircraft factory at Everett, north of Seattle, the FAA says it may close the control tower at the airport the airframer uses to make those deliveries. The agency already is set to close the tower near Boeing’s other big factory, in Renton, Wash.
The FAA, facing a growing number of legal challenges, is pushing off the planned closure date for up to 149 contract air traffic control towers until June 15. The agency had planned to end federal funding for the towers in three phases over the next month as it seeks to shave $637 million from the remainder of its fiscal 2013 budget, as required by sequestration. The first group of towers was set to close April 7. The FAA, however, now is scrapping the phased approach and plans to end funding for all 149 towers on June 15.
The Texas Transportation Commission is providing up to $2 million to ensure the continued operation of 14 contract towers that are set to lose federal funding. The towers are among 149 contract towers that are slated to lose federal funding beginning June 15 as part of FAA’s attempt to meet mandatory budget cuts under sequestration.
BELL Model 412 and 412EP helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2012-1016; Directorate Identifier 2010-SW-009-AD; Amendment 39-17386; AD 2013-05-14] – requires establishing a lower life limit on certain swashplate outer ring assemblies, revising the retirement life on the components’ history card or equivalent record, and revising the maintenance manual or Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA). This AD also prohibits installing these outer rings on any helicopter. This AD was prompted by reports of cracking in the outer rings.
The aviation community is calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to shelve its newest plan to phase out use of 121.5 MH emergency locator transmitters (ELT), saying the proposed rulemaking is misleading, has a hidden agenda, demonstrates a lack of knowledge of aviation safety and overreaches into FAA’s regulatory authority. FCC earlier this year released a proposal considering “whether to prohibit the certification, manufacture, importation, sale or use of 121.5 MHz ELTs, and, if so, under what timetable.”
The FAA, facing a growing number of legal challenges, is putting off the planned closure date for up to 149 contract air traffic control towers until June 15. The agency had planned to end federal funding for the towers in three phases over the next month as it seeks to shave $637 million from the remainder of its fiscal 2013 budget, as required by sequestration. The first group of towers was set to close April 7. The FAA, however, is now scrapping the phased approach and plans to end funding for all 149 towers on June 15.
Pilatus Aircraft ended 2012 with its lowest sales total in at least five years, but a series of contracts for its military, trainer and special mission aircraft propelled the company to its strongest year ever in order intake and positions the Swiss airframer for growth.
April 16–18—Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE2013), Shanghai, China, (703) 783-9000, www.abace.aero April 16-18—Aviation Week MRO Americas 2013 Conference & Exhibition, George World Congress Center, Atlanta, www.aviationweek.com/events April 22-23—National Air Transportation Association Aviation Business and Legislative Conference, Renaissance Capital View, Arlington, Va., 703-845-9000, www.nata.aero April 29-30—Aircraft Electronics Association Regional Meeting, Munich, Germany, www.aea.net/events.asp
The FAA, facing a growing number of legal challenges, is putting off the planned closure date for up to 149 contract air traffic control towers until June 15. The agency had planned to end federal funding for the towers in three phases over the next month as it seeks to shave $637 million from the remainder of its fiscal 2013 budget, as required by sequestration. The first group of towers was set to close April 7. The FAA, however, is now scrapping the phased approach and plans to end funding for all 149 towers on June 15.
With the signing of the U.K. government’s search-and-rescue (SAR) helicopter deal on March 26, Bristow is set to become the launch customer of the AgustaWestland AW189 medium helicopter.
Whether and where to build a new plant is one of the issues that Cessna, Avic and the Chengdu city government are negotiating as they work toward agreeing on assembly of the U.S. company’s Citation Sovereign business jet in China. The first Citation Sovereign delivery in China may not take place by year’s end, as originally planned, says a person involved in the complex talks, which also include the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the FAA.
The Friends of the Earth (FOE) is evaluating its next steps after a district court dismissed its lawsuit to compel the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue a finding that lead emissions from general aviation may endanger public health. Despite the ruling, the environmentalist group says it plans to continue to put pressure on EPA until it takes action.
Jet Aviation has expanded its support offerings to help operators comply with the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) requirements. These services include assistance with opening a Union Registry Account for emission allowances. Affected operators must submit allowances by April 30. EU is penalizing operators 100 euros ($130) per ton of C02 emissions that are in excess of the allowances set aside. “Opening a Union Registry Account is a long and complex procedure,” says Matthias Gruber, manager EU ETS Services.
AGUSTA Model A109, A109A, A109A II, A109C, A109K2, A109E, A109S, and A119 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2011-1453; Directorate Identifier 2009-SW-46-AD; Amendment 39-17394; AD 2013-05-22] – requires inspecting the link assembly for freedom of movement of the links and, if a rotation resistance or binding occurred, either replacing it with an airworthy link assembly with a “T’’ marked after the serial number, or inspecting it for the torsion value force of the ball bearing before further flight.
The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) and National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) are hoping to convince the IRS to put a hold on audits of aircraft management companies until the agency can develop better guidance on the application of the commercial federal excise tax (FET).
