Computer systems designer GIRO Inc. is designing a Web-based maintenance tracking system for British Aerospace (BAe) regional aircraft. Initially, the Electronic Fleet Data Management System (EFDMS) will allow operators to monitor maintenance trends via the Web, with future capabilities to include online technical logs, pilot reports and other functions. The basic system should be available in June. BAe sells and leases such regional aircraft as the BAe-146, Avro RJ, ATP and Jetstream.
A U.S. District Court Judge ordered Comair's 1,100 pilots back to work in late December 1999 after an apparent work slowdown. The Cincinnati-based regional was forced to cancel hundreds of flights in December, most due to mechanical irregularities. Comair sources say Richard de Lagarde, the chairman of Comair's Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) chapter, encouraged pilots to be ``especially zealous'' in writing up maintenance items, refuse overtime and even taxi slowly to disrupt the airline's schedule.
Schweizer Aircraft has unveiled a helicopter it says will ``set a new standard'' for light utility, turbine-powered helicopters. Plans call for the new Model 333 to carry four people, cruise at around 105 knots and offer 3.5 hours of endurance. The 333 will have a useful load of 1,340 pounds -- a 220-pound increase over the earlier Model 330SP -- along with a more powerful Rolls-Royce Allison 250-C20W engine and a redesigned rotor system with larger diameter blades.
Helijet -- the world's largest scheduled helicopter airline service -- has renewed its maintenance contract with Standard Aero. Valued at more than $1 million, the deal covers 10 of Helijet's engines and is expected to run through the fall. Vancouver, British Columbia-based Helijet reported profits of C$855,445 in 1999, while revenues increased 24 percent to C$17.2 million for the year.
The Eastern Regional Helicopter Council (EHRC) has hired lobby firm Featherstonhaugh, Conway, Wiley and Clyne to support the continued operation of New York City's West 30th Street Heliport. New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has made helicopter noise a ``quality of life'' issue, and in October 1999 released a ``Helicopter Master Plan Study'' calling for the continued prohibition of sightseeing flights, creation of a helicopter oversight committee and the closing of the West 30th Street Heliport in 2001.
Van Nuys, Calif.-based Petersen Aviation added three aircraft to its charter fleet, including a managed Canadair Challenger 601 and two owned Raytheon Hawker 1000s. The two aircraft join an existing fleet of two Gulfstream IVs, one Gulfstream IVSP, a Raytheon Hawker 800 and a McDonnell Douglas MD-900 helicopter.
Cutter Aviation is on the verge of opening its new FBO at Santa Monica Airport in Southern California. The facility will feature new Piper and Aviat aircraft sales, used aircraft sales, and parts and maintenance for Cessna, Beechcraft, Piper, Aviat and Mooney. Sales and service of Lycoming and Continental engines, and Bendix/King and Garmin avionics also is planned, the company says. Due to local restrictions, fuel will not be sold, however. Brad Martin, a 27-year industry veteran who most recently served with Airstar Air Group, will manage the SMO operation.
Pan Am International Flight Academy (PAIFA) President and CEO Pedro Sors is stepping down to become a consultant to the school and its parent company J.W. Childs Associates. SimCom founder Walter ``Wally'' David will replace Sors. David had been executive vice president of PAIFA and president of its SimCom International unit since the company's acquisition in 1999. J.W. Childs principal John Childs says the change enables a transition to ``a more focused style of management'' while allowing Sors to concentrate on ``his passion for deal making.''
The first Cessna Citation CJ2 came off the manufacturer's assembly line on January 10. The CJ2 is a derivative of the Model 525 CitationJet, with a larger cabin, a swept horizontal tail and higher cruise speeds. FAA certification of the CJ2 is planned for. The FAA recently granted Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) approval to CJs equipped with twin Honeywell/AMETEK AM-250 altimeter air data computer units. With the approval, operators will be in compliance with Eurocontrol's RVSM requirement, which will take effect on January 24, 2002.
Seven passengers and three crewmembers were killed in the crash of a Crossair Saab 340B, en route from Zurich to Dresden, Germany on January 10. Crossair Flight 498 departed Zurich at 5:54 p.m. in good weather and disappeared from radar two minutes later without any indication of problems from the flight crew. The wreckage was discovered in Niederhalsi, just north of Zurich.
Kelly Aerospace (Montgomery, Ala.) -- Jeffrey R. Kelly has been appointed as president and chief operating officer of its Consolidated Fuel Systems and Electrosystems divisions. Kelly's various divisions manufacture parts for corporate and general aviation aircraft.
Cessna and Northrop Grumman celebrated milestones in new aircraft production: delivery of the 100th Citation X and the 100th Gulfstream V wing, respectively. Townsend Engineering President Ted Townsend took delivery of the 100th Citation X, just over three years after Arnold Palmer took delivery of the first Model 750. Gulfstream's 100th G-V is expected to leave the factory in late March, with customer delivery planned for late in the year.
The following is a list of the various failures and malfunctions suffered by FAA systems during the year 2000 rollover. None compromised safety, the FAA says. -- The Low Level Windshear Alert Systems (LLWAS) at Tampa, Denver, Atlanta, Orlando, Chicago O'Hare and St. Louis experienced error messages, and were fixed within two hours. -- LLWASes at Toledo, Ohio; Lansing, Mich.; Charleston, W.Va.; and Moline, Ill., developed other date recognition problems; the FAA is still determining what corrective action to take.
Bell Helicopter has added customer service and information functions to its Web site, including access to Alert Service Bulletins, Technical Bulletins, Operations Safety Notices and Information Letters. The site also offers customer support contact information and links to airworthiness directive information. Plans call for a new link known as VISTA that will enable operators to order parts, check order status and account information, and make warranty inquiries.
After more than 18 months of negotiations and months of federal mediation, the FAA and its Professional Airways System Specialists (PASS) have agreed to a tentative five-year collective bargaining agreement. The FAA says the union agreed to maintain current staffing levels in exchange for higher pay, though the exact terms of the agreement will remain confidential until after the union's 7,000 members have voted on whether to ratify the contract.
Rolls-Royce says the pace of helicopter deliveries should increase for the next five years, and then decrease slightly. According to the company's annual forecast of helicopter deliveries, more than 9,000 turbine-powered helicopters will be delivered through the end of 2009, with 60 percent civil (5,403) and the remainder (3,633) military. Deliveries are expected to peak at around 579 units in 2001, and then decline to around 530 airframes per year thereafter.
Pilot Jim Corey of Juneau, Alaska-based Silver Bay Logging received the Flight Safety Foundation's (FSF) Heroism Award for his role in rescuing an injured worker stranded at a remote logging site in southeast Alaska. According to accounts of the rescue, Corey volunteered to search for the man in dark, rainy skies over mountainous terrain flying a VFR-only MD 500 helicopter. After several attempts, Corey and other rescuers located the injured worker and were able to fly him to safety. The man has since recovered completely.
Aviation Sales Co. (Miami) -- Michael C. Brant joins the aircraft maintenance and inventory supplier as chief financial officer. Michael Wilkinson is named vice president of the company's new regional airlines division.
Million Air (Dallas) -- Charles R. Brown is the new vice president for base operations at the company's Monterey, Calif., facility. Penny Nelson is named marketing manager and Kent Braun is now line manager at Million Air in Palm Springs.
An FAA meeting in January to address problems related to the aging general aviation fleet largely became an information gathering session during which representatives of GA conveyed a message that there is more support for old designs than the FAA may be aware of, but that obtaining information, including original and supplemental certification data and drawings and maintenance information, remains a significant problem for the community. Approximately 125 people attended the session called by the FAA's Small Airplane Directorate.
U.K.-charter operator Twinjet added an Airbus A319CJ to its fleet. The aircraft is configured with two private compartments seating up to 10 passengers with a third compartment with 24 airline-style first-class seats.
The live TV-news images of TWA 800 wreckage burning through the night in the Atlantic Ocean just south of Long Island -- small-screen horrors experienced by millions worldwide in real time -- have become an icon for aviation safety. Richard Healing, the director of Navy Safety and Survivability, was one of those who sat in front of his TV that July night in 1996.
Raytheon Aircraft Services is the first FBO network to join the National Air Transportation Association's ``Safety 1st Professional Line Service Program.'' The trade group -- which represents FBOs and Part 135 operators -- says the initiative will enhance safety by ``identifying the knowledge and skills required of professional aviation line service personnel, and assuring their competence through objective testing. Raytheon operates 15 FBOs in the United States and the United Kingdom. Signature Flight Support also has agreed to participate in the NATA program.
Inspecting aircraft engine interiors and other hard to reach components requires specialized equipment -- which is usually very costly. Gradient Lens has introduced its new Hawkeye Flexible Borescope to provide increased access at a reduced cost. Price: $775 Gradient Lens Corp. 207 Tremont St. Rochester, N.Y. 14608 Phone: (716) 235-2620 Fax: (716) 235-6645 www.gradientlens.com
