Business & Commercial Aviation

Aviation safety professionals will tell you that pilot error is one of the most controllable factors leading to aircraft accidents. But pilot error is inevitable.

How did a relatively experienced crew lose control of their airplane on a routine flight? The BFU ultimately blamed a departure from professional behavior in regard to crew coordination.

Environmental responsibility is part of business aviation and is shown by the reduction in engine emissions realized by the growing use of flight simulators for pilot training rather than by deploying the actual aircraft.

Citation Sovereign is considered one of the best buys in the used aircraft market.

Operational Specifications, or OpSpecs, are those special activities authorized by the FAA administrator that define commercial operations.

One of the more challenging enterprises in aviation is preparing for and undergoing a knowledge validation for upgrade to commercial operator, either under FAR Part 135 or Part 121.

Selected accidents and incidents in August and July 2017. The following NTSB information is preliminary.

The business aviation industry in the U.S. has become a quiet leader in environmental protection and sustainability.

French manufacturer Daher has opened an aerostructures manufacturing and logistics site in Queretaro, Mexico. to produce doors for Airbus A320 emergency exits and cargo bays.

Clay Lacy Aviation in Seattle has earned the first North American IS-BAH Stage II registration after undergoing a rigorous third-party audit, resulting in the first stage of the registration. Only three other ground-handling operations have reached the milestone.

Continental Motors Group has signed a letter of intent to develop its new $25 million, 250,000-sq.-ft. headquarters and manufacturing facility at the Mobile, Alabama, Aeroplex.

VistaJet has launched VistaJet Direct, a digital membership app that provides members access to empty-leg flights on VistaJet's fleet of more than 70 aircraft.

The increasingly ubiquitous weather information now available to pilots in flight is largely behind an FAA move to decommission 30% of the approximately 2,100 remote communications outlets (RCOs) used to provide mostly general aviation pilots with weather and advisory information.

Yingling Aviation, a general aviation services provider in Wichita, has joined Raisbeck Engineering's network of authorized dealers.

Gulfstream Aerospace's fleet of G280 super-midsize business jets has accumulated more than 100,000 flight hours in less than five years.

Readers' Feedback (October 2017) Letters To The Editor

C&L Aerospace and Securaplane Technologies have developed a Supplemental Type Certificate for the Securaplane sealed acid batteries for Saab 340 aircraft. The two companies have entered into an agreement that designates C&L as the worldwide distributor for the batteries. The batteries are maintenance free and directly replace existing nickel-cadmium batteries.

Business aviation flights swelled by 28% Aug. 21, as pilots and passengers headed for airports located in the path of totality during the solar eclipse, according to Argus International TraqPak data.

Prompted by a brutal 2016 wildfire season, Los Angeles County has purchased two Sikorsky S-70i helicopters for conversion to Firehawk firefighting and other missions.

Crystal Skye, a VIP Boeing 777-200L, was delivered Aug. 1 to Crystal AirCruises, marking an expansion by Crystal Cruises into special-interest aerial charters with a focus on the Asia market.

Gulfstream Aerospace is launching a Connectivity Service program, which includes a bundled suite of inflight internet, voice and entertainment offerings for Gulfstream operators.

Pilatus is ceasing production of its PC-6 Porter multirole aircraft, which has been produced without interruption since 1959. Production will end in early 2019.

Caverton Helicopters, a subsidiary of Caverton Offshore Support Group in Lagos, Nigeria, has signed for eight Bell 407 GXP helicopters along with Customer Advantage Plans support for them. Deliveries are scheduled to begin later this year.

Houston billionaire and businessman Toby Neugebuer is the launch customer for Nextant Aerospace's Challenger 604XT, featuring a Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion flight deck.

With firm orders for 12 of its new SKYe SH09 rotorcraft and letters of interest for about 100 more, Marenco Swiss Helicopters recently began flying its third prototype and anticipates adding a fourth to the certification program in early 2018.