Federal Aviation Administration last week issued a policy statement on improving flight crew awareness during autopilot operations and asked for comments. Under the policy statement, FAA will "evaluate various items that will improve the flightcrew's awareness during autopilot operation" when such systems are certified. The agency cited several incidents and accidents involving inflight upsets and a National Transportation Safety Board advisory concerning autopilot failures that may be imperceptible to flight crews.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION late last month issued guidance for inspectors to approve Category III operations for Part 91 and 125 operators of aircraft equipped with head-up guidance systems (HGS). FAA noted that such authorization is established for Part 121 and 135 commercial carriers. The agency is revising Advisory Circular 120-28, Criteria For Approval of Category III Landing Weather Minima, to apply it to Part 91 and 125 operators.
Atlantic Coast Airlines, which last week reached a 10-year agreement with Delta to operate at least 45 regional jets, ordered 25 Fairchild Aerospace 328JETs and placed options for up to 30 more 328JETS and/or 428JETs in a deal potentially worth $730 million. Fairchild, which valued the 25-jet firm order at $324 million, will begin shipment of the 328JETs in the spring and continue through the end of 2002.
LARRY MURRAY was named director of technical support for turboprop and jet aircraft for Fairchild Aerospace Corp. Based in San Antonio, Murray will coordinate the company's technical support functions and act as liaison between operators, company engineers and vendors. He has served with Fairchild since 1994 as an aircraft system instructor and manager of retrofit programs. He also has served with Saudi Arabian Airlines and Trans World Airlines.
AIRCRAFT ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION named Michael Adamson executive director of the Educational Foundation. Adamson succeeds Monte Mitchell, who retired from his role with the Educational Foundation June 30. Adamson will direct foundation operations, including the scholarship program, technical training, and programs for the members and GATE, the foundation's new program to develop an avionics technician curriculum. Adamson formerly held general aviation marketing positions with AlliedSignal Aerospace in Olathe, Kan.
Jet Aviation signed a letter of intent to purchase Jet East, a privately held aviation company based at Love Field in Dallas. Formal signing of a purchase agreement could come as early as this week.
ALLEGHENY TELEDYNE, the Pittsburgh-based global specialty metals and materials businesses, named Thomas Corcoran president and chief operating officer, succeeding Richard Simmons who will remain chairman. Corcoran will retire from his current post of president and chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin's Space and Strategic Missiles sector Oct. 1. Albert Smith, president of Locheed Martin Missiles&Space in Sunnyvale, Calif. will take over as president of Space&Strategic Missiles.
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION will recommend that Precision Castparts' proposed acquisition of Wyman-Gordon be allowed to proceed if the companies agree to divest certain Wyman-Gordon investment casting operations, PCC reported. As a result, PCC again extended its cash tender offer for Wyman-Gordon to provide additional time to reach an agreement with the FTC. The two companies are negotiating the terms of the proposed divestiture with the FTC and are seeking potential buyers for the assets. The cash tender offer now expires at midnight Oct. 1.
WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS met with general aviation industry leaders Wednesday in the Old Executive Office Building to appeal the Clinton Administration's case once again for a separate air traffic control "corporation" that would be user-funded.Administration officials - including a senior policy adviser to Vice President Gore and a senior representative from the National Economic Council - asked if there was any way that the general aviation community would support the corporation concept.
An interagency working group chaired by the Department of Defense is seeking comments and recommendations from industry and end-users for a report to Congress on a national strategy to protect the radionavigation spectrum used by the Global Positioning System. The spectrum is under assault from rapidly growing commercial interests such as the telecommunications industry, but the Department of Transportation's Federal Radionavigation Plan has virtually ignored the problem, with the 1998 edition still to be issued.
Dart series turboprop engines (Docket No. 99-NE-30-AD) - proposes to require a one-time visual inspection of the interior of the switch to determine the type of low torque switch, and removal from service of unapproved Klixon low torque switches and replacement with serviceable parts. This proposal is prompted by the discovery of unapproved low torque switches in fleet operation.
Air Group Aviation, LLC, a new venture aimed at acquiring a number of aviation businesses over the next five years, bought the aircraft completions business formerly operated by Tyler Jet LLC, the Tyler, Texas-based aircraft sales company.
Israel Aircraft Industries' net profit for the first six months of 1999 was $31 million, an increase of 57 percent over the $19.7 million reported for the same period last year. First-half revenues totaled $1.03 billion, the first time the company exceeded $1 billion in revenues during the first six months of the year. IAI said it signed new contracts valued at $1.6 billion during the first six months, a jump of 71 percent compared with new orders of $934 million during the first half of 1998.
Models PC-12 and PC-12/45 airplanes (Docket No. 99-CE-20-AD; Amdt. 39-11250; AD 99-17-01) - requires replacing all flap drive shafts with improved flap drive shafts, installing additional gaskets on the power drive unit, and modifying the attachment and supporting hardware. This AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for Switzerland.
For the second consecutive time, Raytheon has selected a Pratt&Whitney executive to head Raytheon Aircraft Company (RAC) in Wichita, but Hansel E. Tookes II will bring a unique perspective to the job when he takes over as president and chief operating officer of RAC Sept. 27.
JUSTIN CARVER was appointed sales manager for the Northern Rockies Region for Valley Oil Company. Carver previously was with Timberline Aviation in Grand Junction, Colo. as director of line operations. At Valley Oil, Carver will be responsible for Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Idaho and Wyoming.
JET SUPPORT SERVICES INC. has developed a new hourly cost maintenance program, Tip-to-Tail Guaranteed Hourly Cost Maintenance, for Raytheon King Air C90 and B200 aircraft. The Tip-to-Tail program, developed from JSSI's FalconFirst and ServiceCare Programs, covers both new and in-service aircraft. It guarantees the cost of all scheduled and unscheduled work on the airframe, engines, avionics, APU and passenger equipment for an hourly fee.
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA signed an agreement with Mesaba Airlines to establish a new hiring partnership. Under the pilot hiring program, UND Aerospace graduates who meet certain criteria will receive interviews with Mesaba before meeting the standard published hiring minimums. Mesaba, a Northwest Airlink carrier, operates a fleet of 101 turboprop and jet aircraft to 101 cities in 26 states and Canada.
Rolls-Royce signed an agreement to purchase National Airmotive Corp. from First Aviation Services (FAS) for $73 million. The agreement follows a decision earlier this year by FAS to explore ways of enhancing shareholder value (BA, May 3/200). Headquartered in Oakland, Calif., NAC overhauls and repairs gas turbine engines, including Allison T56 and 250 models and the Pratt&Whitney PT6 line. FAS said then that NAC was expected to have sales of $110 million and operating income of $10 million - before depreciation - in the current fiscal year.
Kent L. Statler was named vice president of maintenance operations for Collins Aviation Services (CAS), with responsibility for overseeing the management of all CAS maintenance service operations worldwide, including avionics, in-flight entertainment and on-board services. He reports to Harry Gregory, vice president and general manager of CAS.
EXECUTIVE JET, INC. will hold a "vendor relations forum" Oct. 13 during the NBAA convention in Atlanta during which the company will demonstrate its new vendor website and discuss its "preferred vendor" program. EJI said the forum should be of particular interest to fixed-base operators, charter operators, companies that provide aircraft handling, caterers, ground transportation companies and repair stations in the U.S., Europe and Middle East. The meeting is set for Oct. 13 from 2 p.m.-4:30 p.m. in Room 217E of the convention center.
WARREN PECK was named Falcon aircraft customer service/sales representative for BIZJET International Sales&Support in Tulsa, Okla. Peck has 20 years of aviation experience, flying as a U.S. Air Force pilot and later for Continental Airlines.
Model ATR 42-300 and ATR 42-320 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-201-AD; Amdt. 39-11272; AD 99-18-06) - requires a one-time inspection for cracking of a fastener hole located on the lower surface of the outer wing, and repair, if necessary; and cold working of the hole and installation of a new fastener in the hole. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
B/E AEROSPACE agreed to sell its remaining 49 percent stake in Sextant In-Flight Systems to joint venture partner Sextant Avionique. The agreement enables the company to exit the in-flight entertainment business, no longer a focus of the company. Under the agreement, B/E will receive between $93.3 million and $125 million, depending on Sextant In-Flight Systems' sales and performance through Dec. 31, 2001.
