Airbus Group, Toulouse, announced that Sean O'Keefe, chairman and CEO of the company's North American business unit will resign as of March 1. Alan McArtor, currently chairman of Airbus Americas will be his successor. O'Keefe is stepping down in order to address ongoing medical issue due to injuries he sustained in a 2010 aircraft accident in Alaska. He will continue with the company on special assignment to oversee and facilitate the compliant transition of the company's ongoing security agreement with the Department of Defense to the new U.S. Group.
Signature Flight Support won San Jose City Council approval for its planned $82 million fixed-base operation complex at Norm Mineta San Jose International Airport. The approval included a 50-year lease and operating agreement to build and operate the FBO on 29 acres on the west side of the airport. The city council in April formally approved Signature's bid to develop the project. Signature teamed with Blue City Holdings, a San Jose company representing the personal aircraft of the principals at Google, on the project.
Former Flying magazine Publisher Dick Koenig, who has served on the board has been named to head the Corporate Angel Network (CAN), succeeding Peter Fleiss, who has retired after leading the charitable organization for 14 years. Koeing had been a member of the CAN board. Founded in 1981, CAN arranges free flights aboard empty seats of corporate jets for cancer patients traveling to or from treatment. More than 500 corporations participate, flying about 250 patient flights monthly. Since its founding, CAN has arranged nearly 45,000 flights.
DeathsRobert “Bob” Ruskay died on Dec. 8 after a battle with cancer. He spent over forty years in corporate aviation most of if flying out of Westchester County Airport (HPN) in New York for the Crane Co. and later as flight department manager for Reader's Digest. He semi-retired to Tucson, Ariz., where he was a Challenger instructor at FlightSafety and a contract pilot for the past 13 years.
Jan. 6 — At 0700 EST, a Mooney M20R (N1046L) collided with trees and terrain about 1 mi. east of the Boyne City Municipal Airport (KN98), Boyne City, Mich. The private pilot and the passenger on board were both fatally injured. The airplane was heavily damaged from the impact and a post-crash fire. The airplane was registered to Chair Covers Leasing, Inc., and operated by the private pilot. The purpose of the flight is unknown at this time. It was VFR for the flight and an IFR flight plan was filed.
Gulfstream Aerospace, Savannah, Ga., announced that Kevin Dutton is the new vice president, Operations Finance. He will lead financial functions for Gulfstream operations in the U.S. and Mexico. David Pearman was appointed general manger of the company's service center in West Palm Beach, Fla. He has served as general manager of Gulfstream's component repair facility in Lincoln, Calif., since 2008.
Priester Aviation, Wheeling, Ill., hired William (Bill) L. McNease as vice president and director of Flight Operations. Kevin Brink was named sales director, North American Sales responsible for sales in Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Hawaii, Nevada eastern Oregon, Saskatchewan and Washington. Scott Clarey joined the company as sales director, North American sales for Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Utrak. He is based in Tempe, Ariz.
The FAA recently selected six operators to conduct civil unmanned aircraft system (UAS) research: The University of Alaska, the State of Nevada, New York's Griffiss International Airport, North Dakota Department of Commerce, Texas A&M University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. University of Alaska Fairbanks leads a multi-state team that includes Hawaii and Oregon with a total of 14 test ranges among them. Nevada's test resources include airfields and special-use airspace in sparsely populated areas.
Raisbeck Engineering's Swept Blade Turbofan Propellers are now being delivered after their FAA certification covering the entire King Air C90 and E90 family. When added to the Raisbeck EPIC Performance Package for the C90/E90 aircraft, the Swept Blade Propellers deliver performance increases across the board, according to Raisbeck. The EPIC Package is priced at $99,864 plus installation and includes Raisbeck Dual Aft Body Strakes and FAA-Approved Airplane Flight Manual Supplement.
Arinc, teaming with the National Business Aviation Association and a number of flight planning providers, have been adding advanced passenger information capabilities to meet new Mexico requirements that recently took effect for both private and commercial operations. The Mexican government passed a measure calling for the reporting requirements in 2010 in an attempt to tighten security and better account for taxes paid by arriving and departing passengers, NBAA says.
Elliott Aviation,. Moline, Ill, hired Scott Noack as regional sales manager for the South Central U.S., responsible for maintaining and building Elliott's customer relationships in that region
Milestone Aviation Group, Richard Santulli's Dublin-based helicopter leasing company, recently announced it had closed on an unsecured $200 million revolving credit line. That increases its unsecured borrowing capacity to $450 million and revolving borrowing capacity to $800 million.
Textron, parent of Cessna Aircraft and Bell Helicopter, plans to add Beechcraft to its corporate stable in $1.4 billion acquisition. The initial plan appears to maintain Beechcraft as a separate unit and keep its leadership intact. The acquisition is expected to conclude by mid-2014. Beechcraft's equity holders have already approved the agreement.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has scheduled a series of six regional AOPA Fly-Ins and an “ AOPA Homecoming ” in Frederick, Md. The fly-ins will include a town hall meeting with association President Mark Baker, who will discuss industry issues and association initiatives. The events will also include educational and safety seminars, aircraft displays and exhibits , flying activities and clinics. The events will include a return of AOPA 's annual Frederick Fly-In on Oct. 4 that will feature a celebration of the association's 75th anniversary.
John Adler Adler, Murphy and McQuillen (Chicago, Ill. )
“Serving Up Liability” (Point of Law, January 2014) was a good article. I'm also aware of airline liability under the old saloon keeper liability (dram shop liability in Illinois). Airlines were sued for accidents involving over served passengers after they got off the plane. I'm aware of a suit some years ago wherein an intoxicated passenger wandered out into the “Bloody Bayshore” in San Francisco and was killed; his estate sued the airline. Keep up the good work!
Wheels Up, the membership-based private aviation company founded last summer, remains “slightly ahead of plans” with 150 members signing on in its first few months of operation and finishing the year with nine aircraft in service, says founder and CEO Kenny Dichter. The company launched with a firm order for 35 Beechcraft King Air 350s and options for up to 70 more, the largest commercial order ever for the twin turboprop aircraft.“We're just getting started,” says Dichter, who believes the company is on pace to top 250 members shortly.
To many professional pilots the six-month visit to the aviation medical examiner (AME) is an event full of fret, which is relieved only by award of a fresh medical certificate, allowing continued employment for another half year. It's no secret that some keep medical secrets from the FAA and others simply won't admit to themselves that they have a physical or mental problem that negatively affects their quality of life, health and cockpit performance.
Kafko International's new Clear Vision concentrated windshield wash solution provides and eco-friendly alternative to traditional wash fluids, according to the company. The product features unique plant by-product chemistry, free of petrochemicals. The solution easily removes bugs, bid dropping tree sap, traffic film and road grime. It is biodegradable, non-toxic, non-corrosive and contains no methanol, and does not lower freeze point. Clear Vision is available in a 5-gal. bucket and 55-gal. drum.
One of the first common screening tests used to determine if a patient is suffering from sleep apnea is done in bed using a blood oxygen sensor attached to one of your fingers. This “Overnight Oximetry on Room Air” records your pulse and blood oxygen saturation level throughout the night. The automated data analysis subsequently reports how many times your blood oxygen saturation level fell below certain levels. It is an easy and convenient test to take, and the advantage is that you get to sleep in your own home.
Beechcraft King Air turboprop poised for its first flight at press time, will be delivered to customers in the fall this year. The pressurized twin is powered by the increasingly popular PT6A-6 turbines, which provide a design performance of 270 mph cruise and 1,400 mi. range. Beech reports a backlog of $10.8 million for the King Air. Basic airplane still costs about $300,000.
Ross Detwiler has been bringing a lot to the B&CA table for a long time and always demonstrates a profoundly circumspect awareness of the eccentricities of the game. However, I can't quite wrap my head around his thoughts on SVS in the final 100 ft. to TDZ (“Thumbs Down for Head Up,” October 2013). There's a reason they call it “synthetic” after all. Still, my admiration for Ross's dedication to the game and his analytical intelligence continues unabated. Well done.
Lowell Deering (Mission Aviation Fellowship Papua, New Guinea )
I enjoyed “A Classic Accident Chain” (Cause & Circumstance, December 2013, page 51). It describes the situation succinctly. You have highlighted a number of latent issues, which are good to think about. I work as a senior pilot and trainer with Mission Aviation Fellowship. We operate a number of Twin Otters doing charter operations in New Guinea, and the situation you describe in the article could be something we might face one day, and some of the latent issues are factors that we face already.
West Star Aviation, East Alton, Ill., named Debi Cunningham vice president of Marketing and Interior Design. She started her career in business aviation in 1983 and has been with West Star since 2002.
