CESSNA AIRCRAFT delivered a Citation Bravo to Phoenix Aviation of Nairobi, Kenya for air ambulance use. The Bravo, the first to be used for air ambulance operations in Africa, was modified to hold two self-contained LifePort stretcher beds, oxygen, suction and compressed air. The aircraft also can be used for charter service.
Federal Aviation Administration plans to apply flexibility to Part 135 operators when it enforces existing requirements and writes new regulations governing flight and duty time standards for on-demand Part 135 operations, senior officials told the National Air Transportation Association this month. NATA met with Flight Standards Director Nick Lacey this month over the association's concerns about including on-demand charters in rest rules designed for scheduled operators.
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D-ILL.) told his Senate colleagues Thursday that new aircraft should be equipped with cockpit video cameras to help investigators in case of an accident.
BELL BOEING delivered the third production MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft to the U.S. Marine Corps Nov. 14. The aircraft is the first MV-22 to be built at the new Tiltrotor Assembly Center in Amarillo, Tex. The first two production Ospreys were assembled at Bell's Flight Research Center in Arlington, Texas. A fourth aircraft is scheduled for delivery to the Marines before yearend.
PREMIER TURBINES' facility in San Diego, Calif. won Pratt&Whitney Canada approval to overhaul and repair a number of components on PT6 and PW100 turboprop engines. Premier Turbines was authorized to repair the compressor turbine shroud housing, power turbine shroud, power turbine stator housing, low pressure turbine housing, inter-stage turbine case and combustion liner for either the PT6 or PW100.
UNIVERSAL AVIONICS SYSTEMS CORP. received FAA supplemental type certification and parts manufacturer approval for the Thrane&Thrane Aero-I and Aero-M satcom telephone systems installed on company aircraft. Universal is offering the satcom systems to the corporate and commercial markets through an exclusive marketing alliance with Thrane&Thrane. The multi-channel Aero-I and single-channel Aero-M use the Inmarsat-3 satellite.
In an effort to better identify the sources of noise around Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, N.Y., county leaders ordered a review of the airport's noise monitoring system. Input will be sought during a series of public meetings, the first of which is to be held Dec. 2 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Westchester County Center in White Plains.
Federal Aviation Administration's proposed requirements for damage tolerance testing on commuter aircraft unnecessarily include small aircraft, ignore established practices, are too costly and likely will force the early retirement of a number of aircraft, industry representatives told the agency. Those representatives urged FAA to set aside its April 2 proposal and instead look at a combination of current procedures to ensure structural safety of aging commuter aircraft.
REGENT AVIATION added a Citation III to its charter certificate, bringing its fleet to six aircraft. Regent, based at the Downtown Saint Paul, Minn. Airport, added its first Citation III to its certificate in 1998. It also operates Citation SIIs and King Air B200s.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-600-1A11 (CL-600), CL-600-2A12 (CL-601), and CL-600-2B16 (CL-601-3A, CL-601-3R, and CL-604) series airplanes (Docket No. 99-NM-166-AD) - proposes to require, for certain airplanes, removal of the hydraulic tube assemblies from the main landing gear (MLG) bay, installing new re-routed hydraulic tube assemblies, and repositioning a fuel line, as applicable. For certain other airplanes, this proposal would require a general visual inspection to determine the routing of certain hydraulic and fuel lines, and repair, if necessary.
MICHAEL MCDONALD was appointed vice president-government operations for Rockwell. McDonald will oversee public policy, government affairs and government marketing functions in the Washington, D.C. office. McDonald previously was vice president-business development for Rockwell Collins Government Systems. He joined the company in 1976 and has held marketing, business development and program management positions.
AIRLINE PILOT UNIONS, meanwhile are blasting FAA's decision to delay enforcement of the reserve rest rule. "This is pandering to the industry, clear and simple," said Capt. Duane Woerth, president of the Air Line Pilots Association. "The airlines had plenty of advance notice that they would have to be in compliance with the reserve rest rule by Dec. 12, 1999. For whatever reasons...the FAA granted a request by Comair to extend the compliance date to next year," which "opened the door to a flood of additional requests by other airlines."
The pilot of an air taxi flight and all three passengers were killed Oct. 31 when their Cessna U206F crashed during a botched landing at a remote grass airstrip in Idaho.
KITTY HAWK INC., the Dallas, Texas-based air freight carrier, has made a change in top management. D.C. (Pete) Sanderlin, 59, was named vice president and general manager of Kitty Hawk International, Inc., the company's wet-lease operations headquarters in Ypsilanti, Mich. Charles C. Carson, 51, the former Simuflite Training International executive who had been president of Kitty Hawk International, Inc. since joining the company a year ago, was named vice president of global marketing for Kitty Hawk, Inc.
LEONARD M. GREENE, president of Safe Flight Instrument Corp., White Plains, N.Y., was named the 1999 recipient of the AlliedSignal Bendix Trophy for Aviation Safety during Flight Safety Foundation's annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro. Greene was cited for inventing numerous safety devices during his career, including a stall warning indicator that has been instrumental in reducing crashes since the 1940s, when stall-spin accidents were responsible for more than half of all aviation deaths.
SPORTY'S ACADEMY, INC. updated its Complete Recreational Course for pilots to incorporate new regulations and airspace changes as well as state-of-the-art three-dimensional motion graphics and special effects. The course includes new footage from the cockpit of a Cessna Skyhawk. The course comprises more than nine hours of video in four volumes, a syllabus and study guide. Sporty's is offering the course for $109. For more information, call Sporty's at (800) LIFTOFF or (513) 735-9000.
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD already is investigating the use of video cameras in aircraft cockpits. Staffers told board members earlier this year they are cooperating with a European Organization for Civil Aviation working group to develop technical standards for such a device, which they said would cost $5,000 to $8,000 per unit (BA, July 12/13). The discussion of cockpit video cameras arose during an NTSB discussion about the crash of a Cessna Caravan flown by a single pilot.
SIMUFLITE TRAINING INTERNATIONAL is upgrading the visual systems in 14 of its Level C flight systems. The upgrades, slated to be completed by early 2001, will include the CAE Electronics Maxvue Plus daylight systems and BARCO/EIS Monitor Replacement Projectors.
Well over 90 percent of all air carrier certificate holders received the top rating in an FAA assessment of Y2K readiness, the agency said last week, with officials indicating that they expect nearly all Y2K concerns to be resolved before yearend.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model BAe 146-100A, -200A, and -300A series airplanes (Docket No. 99-NM-237-AD) - proposes to supersede an existing AD that requires either a one-time non-destructive test (NDT) inspection or a detailed visual inspection for cracking of the fuselage skin in the vicinity of Frame 29 between Stringers 12 and 13, and repair, if necessary. This action would require that the current thresholds for these inspections be reduced and that repetitive inspections be performed.
EXECUTIVE JET integrated its Executive Jet Management and Charter Services into one organization. Executive Jet Charter already had employees based at EJM headquarters in Cincinnati as well as Columbus, Ohio. "We are streamlining the organization in order to enhance efficiency and strengthen our position in the charter market," said Todd Spangler, who was named vice president-charter services and is responsible for the integration of the organizations. EJM manages 60 aircraft in 28 locations nationwide with plans to add 28 more in 2000.
SERGE LARUE was appointed general manager-Canada for Excel Cargo, a unit of Mercury Air Group in Montreal, Canada. Larue has 27 years of cargo experience with Air Canada Cargo and Aeroports de Montreal.
BOMBARDIER won a contract valued at $116 million from Shandong Airlines in central China for five CRJ200 regional jet aircraft. Bombardier said the contract is its first CRJ sale to a regional airline operator in China. Shandong, based in Ji'nan, capital of Shandong Province, will use the aircraft to expand its regional routes throughout the Peoples' Republic of China.
