Key Air, Oxford, Conn., appointed 40-year aviation veteran Jim Bennett as its vice president of Flight Operations and Bill Ekstrom as its new manager of Business Operations.
The long economic downturn notwithstanding, PlaneSense, the Pilatus PC-12 fractional aircraft operation, is still putting up some strong numbers. Since beginning operations with a single aircraft in September 1995, the company — which now operates a fleet of 30 Pilatus singles — has completed 200,000 sorties into 1,140 different strips ranging in length from 1900 ft. to 10,000 ft. In 2012, its on-time departure record (excluding weather, passenger or ATC delays) was 99.5% and its busiest day ever was July 7, 2013, when it logged 156 sorties, a record that stood until Aug.
United Aviation Services (UAS) of Dubai predicts 3,000 business aircraft will fly into and within Brazil for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, with 11% of all visitors traveling by private aircraft for the tournament, set to run from June 12 through July 13. Play will take place in a dozen cities throughout Brazil. Ammar Al-Mahmoud, director of the UAS charter division, said the vast country is “underserved” by airlines, a condition favoring private jet travel.
Rockwell Collins' largest acquisition to date — purchasing communications and systems engineering provider, ARINC, for $1.39 billion from the Carlyle Group — will give the avionics maker its own end-to-end communications link between the ground and the flight deck, a connection that is fundamental to the FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The companies announced the “definitive agreement” for the purchase on Aug. 11, with the deal expected to be finalized within 90 days.
The Government of Aruba has introduced a ministerial ordinance codifying the use of designated inspectors (DI) by the director of the Department of Civil Aviation of Aruba (DCA). This framework allows DI's to be engaged by the Registry in procedures regarding airworthiness, crew licensing, operators' manuals and compliance of flight simulators with the local regulations. The Designated Inspectors will be located around the world to best service the industry (USA, Europe, Russia, and CIS Middle East and Asia-Pacific).
Safe Flight Instrument Corp. received an STC for its AutoPower (Automatic Throttle System on the Citation X. The system's advanced technology is tailored and manufactured specifically for Cessna and it is fully compatible with the existing Citation X avionics suite providing potential fuel savings for extended range.
Jeppesen completed upgrades to its JetPlan flight-planning engine to enhance flight planning capabilities for business and commercial aviation operators within Europe. The European Route Availability Document (ERAD) and route optimization functions work to quickly comply with Eurocontrol routing requirements and determine flight plans that maximize efficient fuel consumption and flight scheduling. The JetPLan engine powers Jepp's flight planning solutions, including the JetPlanner application and FlitePlan Online tools. Jeppesen
Yukon, Okla.-based Legacy Aviation Services was given DGAC (Direccion General de Aeronautica Civil) authority to repair and service Mexican-registered aircraft. With the lengthy paperwork process streamlined, Mexican aircraft can enter the U.S. for regular repair and maintenance, and for special modifications work at Legacy.
As of Aug. 1, new first officer (FO) qualification rules for first officers on scheduled U.S. airliners take effect. The rules require that every FO have an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificates and 1,500 total flight hours — with some exceptions — and require a type rating on the aircraft being operated. A restricted ATP certificate will have a 750-flight-hour minimum for military pilots, or at least 1,000 hr. of time as a pilot, plus an aviation degree. The rules also set a minimum of 1,000 hr.
FlightSafety International, LaGuardia Airport, N.Y., promoted Christopher Weinberg to chief Information officer responsible for all aspects of FlightSafety's Information Technology programs as well as FSI's Competitive Advantage, Continuous Improvement, and Business Systems teams.
The National Research Council Canada (NRC) has formally launched a concentrated research effort to find and test potential replacement fuels for 100LL avgas. Such an alternative is vital to ensuring the long-term operational viability of piston-powered aircraft, says Jerzy Komorowski, general manager of the NRC's aerospace division. General aviation is a key part of Canada's transportation infrastructure, particularly in rural and northern parts of the country where it provides the main mode of air transport for people and cargo.
In a bizarre and embarrassing gaffe while reporting follow-up details on the July 6 crash of Asiana Flight 214 during a landing at nearby San Francisco, a daytime anchor on KTVU in Oakland, Calif., told viewers on July 12: “KTV was just learned the names of the four pilots on who were on board the flight. . . . The NTSB has confirmed these are the names of the pilots on board Flight 214 when it crashed.
Aircell announced that Travel Management Company (TMC) will introduce Aircell's Gogo Biz service across its entire fleet of light jet charter aircraft. The expansion is expected to be complete in October and will encompass nearly 70 aircraft with complimentary Gogo Biz service. TMC operates the largest, privately owned fleet of Hawker 400XP and 800XP charter aircraft in the U.S. John Wade, Aircell's executive vice president and general manager said, inflight connectivity “. . .
The FAA and the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) have completed two safety enhancements to Logan Airport's longest runway. The new runway safety area includes a 300-ft.-wide concrete pier that extends 470 ft. into Boston Harbor. The crushable concrete area is installed on top of the pier and covers a 170 ft. by 500 ft. area. The Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) bed is designed to quickly and safely stop an aircraft as large as a Boeing 747 in the event the plane moves past the end of the runway.
The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) wants a big charge to go away. The association was caught by surprise in May when the FAA informed the organization that it would have to cover the costs of extra controllers assigned to handle air traffic at the annual AirVenture fly-in set for July 29-Aug. 4 at Wittman Field, Oshkosh, Wis. The bill? $450,000. Without any ready alternative, the EAA reluctantly agreed to the charge, but on July 3 filed a petition for relief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago.
Robert E. Breiling Associates reports that in the first six months of 2013, the U.S. business jet fleet experienced seven accidents, three of which were fatal to nine persons versus 10 accidents including two fatal accidents and nine fatalities the same period in 2012. Two of the fatal U.S. business jet accidents were Beech Premier aircraft fatal to seven. Both aircraft crashed during abandoned landing approaches in VMC, one at night. The other fatal accident involved a Lear 60 the crashed on approach in Venezuela during a heavy rainstorm.
Evidently, I'm a helicopter highbrow, or a rotary-wing wimp. Or both. This realization came just recently. By way of background, our middle son is training to fly the AH-64 and was keen to have his parents share in the learning experience. Accordingly, and quite unexpectedly, he gifted us both with helicopter flight lessons. (No, not in an Apache.)
With the recent addition of Apollo Jets to its roster, the Air Charter Safety Foundation has raised to 104 the number of companies that are members of the Alexandria, Va.- based organization. Meanwhile, the Jeff Baum, president and CEO of Wisconsin Aviation and David Hewitt, president of Hewitt & Company, were recently installed as ACSF chairman and vice-chairman, respectively. Baum succeeds Dennis Keith, president of Jet Solutions, LLC whose term expired June 30. Both Baum and Hewitt were founding members of the organization.
Flying to the Paris Air Show was a Grand Commander flown by Bjorn Bostad of Flo-Aire, Inc., Newton, Kan. The airplane covered 2,850 mi. non-stop from Gander, Newfoundland, to Zurich. Power settings at 13,000-15,000 ft. were 55-60%, giving the Commander a 203 mph block-to-black speed for the 15 hr. 10 min. trip.
On July 2 the death sentence for Stage 2 business jets was published in the Federal Register. The FAA final rule, which prohibits operation of the noisy jets in the contiguous U.S. as of midnight, Dec. 31, 2015, essentially implements a ban that Congress made law as part of the FAA Modernization Reform Act of 2012. The rule applies to jet aircraft that weigh less than 75,000 lb. and do not meet Stage 3 noise levels. Commercial Stage 2 jets were banned as of Dec. 31, 1999. In the U.S., nearly 600 business jets will be affected by the ban.
Cessna Aircraft Co., Wichita, named Kriya Shortt senior vice president Sales and will lead the company's global sales force. Tom Perry will assume the role of vice president of Sales for EMEA based in the U.K.
Flight Safety Foundation has created a new Legal Advisory Committee in an effort to protect safety information data. The committee will comprise leading plaintiff and defense accident lawyers, regulators and airline/aerospace counsel throughout the world. FSF General Counsel Ken Quinn observed, “It's become readily apparent that legal regimes are lagging far behind in protecting an ever-increasing amount of safety information that is being gathered, shared and analyzed, which is critical to saving lives.
Citing “numerous” close calls, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) wants the FAA to change separation standards for situations in which an aircraft departs one runway and another aircraft is performing a go-around on a different, non-intersecting runway.
