Eurocopter selected ERDA to manufacture seats for its EC-155B twin-turbine helicopter. ERDA also supplies seating for aircraft manufacturers Bombardier, Cirrus, Dassault, Fairchild, Galaxy, Piaggio, Pilatus and Raytheon.
Air Security International has named the 10 most dangerous destinations for foreign travelers based on events in 1999. The list includes: Algeria; Central Africa; Colombia; Islamabad and Karachi in Pakistan; Johannesburg and Capetown, South Africa; Lagos and Port Harcourt, Nigeria; Maputo, Mozambique; Mexico City, Mexico; Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; and Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro in Brazil.
The world barely finished breathing its collective sigh of relief at the uneventful passing into the new millennium [Halt. Save that stamp. I know it doesn't start for another year, but sometimes you have to go with the flow.] before the critics started in: The Y2K bug was flop, a phony, a ruse cooked up by computer consultants who looked to feed -- and profit from -- panic that everything from garage doors to ATC computers would go haywire with the rollover to the year 2000. In hindsight, the big event looks to many like the big rip-off.
American Airlines pleaded guilty to a federal charge of illegally storing hazardous materials at Miami International Airport -- the first time a U.S. carrier has accepted responsibility in a hazardous-waste case. The felony charge stems from a July 1995 incident where a drum of flammable Dioxital spilled and caught fire; American employees in Miami stored the remaining 100 pounds of the material for more than three years.
Why settle for marginal performance from your aircraft's most basic navigational tool? S.I.R.S. Navigation says advanced technology helps make its new Pegasus compass more accurate and easier to read. The TSOed Pegasus uses four magnets rather than the standard two-magnet design to increase accuracy. They've also filled Pegasus with silicone fluid to reduce that annoying compass ``bounce'' and provided a 140-degree display to improve readability. S.I.R.S. already produces compasses for Boeing, Airbus and Bell using similar technology.
UASC's TAWS box, priced at $35,000, is the first system of its kind to be able to use ARINC 702 flight-plan intent bus data from an FMS to check for potential terrain hazards along the entire flight-plan route, even before engine start. UASC TAWS is capable of generating 3-D perspective, birds eye, plan view and vertical profile depictions of terrain, plus detailed shading of terrain contours to enhance situational awareness. If a terrain hazard exists, it's portrayed as a flashing yellow, star-shape symbol that's virtually impossible to miss.
This year, the U.S. DOT will report on airline efforts to prevent consumer access to the lowest ticket prices, as well as the practice of flight overbooking. The DOT's Office of the Inspector General also will review the airlines' implementation of their ``Airline Customer Service Commitments,'' which took effect on December 15, 1999. The DOT will provide an interim report to Congress on June 15, and a final report by the end of the year.
Columbia Air of Groton, Conn., has appointed L. Brydon Knibbs as director of operations of its FAR Part 135 charter operation. Columbia also is a New Piper and Sino Swearingen factory distributor, and recently opened a Central and South American sales office in Bogota, Colombia. Fabio Ospina is the company's Latin American representative; he can be reached at 57-1-612-4799. Columbia's goal is to buy and sell used aircraft ``throughout all of South America,'' says company President Harry Holt.
Case Western University's Weatherhead School of Management named Cleveland, Ohio-based fractional operator Flight Options to its Weatherhead 100 -- a listing of Northeast Ohio's fastest growing companies.
Universal Avionics Systems Corp., is on the verge of certifying an advanced avionics system that will provide a stepping stone to SVS in business aircraft. The Tucson-based firm is on track to be the first avionics firm to integrate FMS and Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) technologies, thereby providing pilots with an enhanced defense against the risk of Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT).
Operators of certain business aircraft and airliners have until February 27 to comply with the initial inspections required by an FAA Airworthiness Directive (AD) pertaining to Mode C transponders. The AD results from false TCAS alerts, which the FAA suspects are the result of interface problems between TCAS systems and transponders manufactured by Rockwell Collins, Bendix, Wilcox and IFF. Affected aircraft include Dassault Falcon 50, 900, 200, Fan Jet Falcon Series G, Bombardier Canadair CL-600 series and Gulfstream II, III and IV.
Apparent fuel starvation caused New Piper's second Malibu Meridian prototype to land on interstate I-95 near the manufacturer's Vero Beach factory on January 7. The aircraft was conducting unusable fuel tests with a test pilot and test engineer when an auxiliary fuel tank malfunctioned, forcing it to land. New Piper sales and marketing head Larry Bardon says the incident will have no effect on Meridian certification and deliveries, which are planned for this summer.
Edited by Paul RichfieldBy Mike Vines, in Birmingham, England
Skyhopper, the first U.K-based rotary-wing operator to offer fractional ownership and leasing, has teamed with an unnamed European helicopter company in a bid to expand service. The goal is to offer deeper penetration into France and Italy, with Nice and Milan the primary markets. Skyhopper already has teamed with two other budding fractional programs: Sikorsky Shares in New York and Heliflight in Texas and California.
SkyWest Airlines has extended its code-sharing arrangement with Delta Air Lines through June 2010. As part of the agreement, the St. George, Utah-based airline has agreed to acquire 20 additional 50-seat Bombardier Canadair Regional Jets (CRJs), with options for 20 more. The 20 aircraft will be based in Salt Lake City and operated as Delta Connection flights. SkyWest also operates as a United Express feeder on the U.S. West Coast, primarily with its fleet of Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops.
One of the best-known names in the FBO world, Showalter Flying Service has broken ground on a new, $1.8 million executive terminal at Orlando Executive Airport.
Swiss regional Crossair plans to give its employees nearly $32 million (CHF 20 million) in shared profits for 1999, though fleet expansion, higher fuel prices and costly delays kept earnings slightly below 1998's levels.
Million Air Van Nuys has opened its rebuilt FBO at the Van Nuys, Calif., airport, six years after the Northridge earthquake destroyed it. The new FBO includes a 3,000-square-foot lobby office area and a 20,000-square-foot hangar, and plans include the construction of nine 15,000-square-foot or larger hangars by 2002. ``It was a long haul, but we finally were able to cut through all the government red tape and remodel,'' says Harold Lee, president and owner of Million Air Van Nuys.
Taughannock Aviation Corp. (TAC) of Utica, N.Y, has terminated its financial relationship with Winfair, Ltd., a Toronto-based holding company. Winfair acquired all of TAC's stock in a leveraged buyout, but defaulted on the notes in March 1999. In late December, Winfair returned the stock to TAC's three original shareholders -- Robert Thomas, Roger Dennis and Steve Selover -- as part of a settlement agreement. TAC is the only FBO at Tompkins County Airport (KITH), and recently completed construction of a new maintenance hangar, plus an above-ground fuel storage area.
Business Air Services opened a new charter facility at Waterbury-Oxford Airport in Connecticut. The company will operate three aircraft from the new facility: a Learjet 25 and 35A and a Raytheon Beech King Air 200.
Mesa Airlines has appointed Robert Stone, 43, to fill its long-vacant chief financial officer (CFO) position, allowing acting CFO Mike Lotz to resume chief operating officer duties. The Phoenix-based carrier will, however, file its annual SEC financial report late. Stone most recently served as Boeing's vice president of financial planning and analysis.
On August 6, 1997, just about 0100 local time, a Ryan International Boeing 727 approached the Pacific island of Guam from the southeast. The first officer peered out of the cockpit window toward their destination 150 miles away. Guam's International Airport was reporting rain showers in the area with visibility of seven miles. Wind was out of the east at six knots. Scattered clouds lay over the airport at 1,600 feet, with a broken layer at 2,500 feet, and an overcast layer at 5,000.
The FAA's Fractional Ownership Aviation Rulemaking Committee (FOARC) has drafted a final proposal and expects to deliver the recommendations by the middle of this month.
AirNet Systems (Columbus, Ohio) --William R. Sumser has been promoted to chief financial officer. He had been acting CFO of the delivery service since early 1999. Craig Leach is upped to vice president of the company's information systems.
