Dane McBroom has been appointed director of engine programs for American AirCarriers Support Inc., Fort Mill, S.C. He was director of materials for Pan Am International.
In a long-delayed report, the Indonesian Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission (AAIC) has pointed to deliberate intervention by the cockpit crew as the probable cause of the 1997 crash of a SilkAir 737 that killed all 104 people on board. While the interim report, issued last week, stops short of confirming suicide by the captain, Tsu Way Ming, its contents point in that direction. Its observations include:
Signal Technology Corp. has received a contract totaling up to $971,000 from Raytheon Systems Co. to produce components for Raytheon's Patriot Missile System, including isolators, mixers, limiters and limiter/filter assemblies.
Aspecial report prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) quantifies the effects of aircraft operations on the atmosphere for the first time and suggests that contrail formation, not ozone-depletion, could have the most detrimental impact.
Air New Zealand Chairman Sir Selwyn Cushing said last week that the airline has given up--for the time being, at least--its effort to take control of Ansett by exercising an option to acquire the remaining 50% share put on the market by News Corp. Ltd. ``We can't make them sell,'' Cushing said of News Corp., which had wanted to sell out to Singapore Airlines but was blocked by Air New Zealand's insistence on acquiring the whole airline.
The implementation here of commercial-off-the-shelf work control process software to manage all space shuttle ground support equipment, their operations and maintenance is paying off by reducing costs while decreasing the time engineers spend on bureaucratic tasks.
NASA has decided to overhaul its X-34 reusable launch vehicle program, adding a third flight vehicle in an effort to recover months of schedule lost when the U.S. Air Force threw the agency's test plans into disarray.
The Royal New Zealand Navy has approved purchase of a fifth Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopter for an estimated $30 million above the original $200-million contract for the first four helicopters. Delivery is set for next year.
So far, defense issues haven't amounted to much among contenders in the 2000 presidential race. With the Evil Empire long gone, domestic matters predominate. But that might change, at least if a small group of congressmen has its way. One day of the Republican Party's national convention next year should be set aside to focus on national security, says Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), one of the driving forces behind the initiative. Weldon avers that a small group of Democrats is spearheading a similar effort in their party.
T.K Mattingly has been appointed chairman of the Universal Space Network, succeeding Charles (Pete) Conrad, who died on July 8. Mattingly has been president of the Rocket Development Co.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is close to signing an agreement with DaimlerChrysler Aerospace for its second Airbus contract. The work involves assembly of cargo doors for the A330/A340 transport. MHI already makes wing assemblies for British Aerospace for the A319/A320.
LanChile has concluded an order for seven 269-seat Airbus A340/300 long-range transports and optioned seven additional aircraft. First delivery is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2000. LanChile plans to operate the A340s to destinations in the U.S., Europe and the Pacific Rim.
Lyons-Satolas, southern France's fast growing regional hub, is to be renamed Lyons Saint-Exupery airport. Famous aviator, novelist and essayist Antoine de Saint-Exupery, who authored the highly celebrated ``Le Petit Prince,'' was born in Lyons in 1900 and killed in 1944 during a reconnaissance mission. Lyons expects to handle 5 million passengers this year.
Peter Fussinger (see photo), head of electronic components at Lufthansa Technik, Hamburg, Germany, has been named Man of the Decade at the 50th Avionics Maintenance Conference, of which he is chairman for this year.
Look for increased use of structural castings in passenger transports as improved casting technology, modern nondestructive test techniques and more stringent foundry controls allow the use of castings in more applications. The use of monolithic castings to replace assemblies cuts cost by 25-60% and cycle time by up to 85% as parts count, fastener use and assembly time all are reduced. Castings also distribute loads more efficiently, according to Tim Scoville, principal engineer for manufacturing engineering at Boeing's Everett, Wash., factory.
Air Line Pilots Assn. officials are citing the crash of John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s, Piper Saratoga to argue again for the FAA to require emergency locator transmitters on commercial transports. It took recovery teams four days to find the Saratoga wreckage off Martha's Vineyard last month, in part because they picked up no signals from the ELT--a device that typically speeds the location of a crash and subsequent rescue of its victims. But ALPA officials note that airline passengers and crews do not enjoy the basic aid of ELTs. The argument is not an academic one.
NASA has named Ball Aerospace to build two satellites for a $50-million interferometry formation flying mission, called Space Technology 3, to study the Milky Way galaxy and beyond. Launch into a heliocentric orbit is set for 2005. Ball will build a ``collector'' and ``combiner'' spacecraft with a combined weight of 600 kg. (1,322 lb.). The first collects starlight and relays it optically to the combiner, which carries an interferometer built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Flight accuracy will have to be in the nanosecond range for the optical transfer to work.
The SAirGroup's revenues during the first half of the year increased 5.2% to $3.69 billion but operating profit decreased 29.1% to $140.7 million. The profitability of Swissair, Crossair and Balair/CTA Leisure was affected by low yields, group officials said. They added that the Kosovo war significantly disrupted the three carriers' operations in European airspace.
Conair Aviation is building a new, (US)$34-million two-bay maintenance hangar complex at its Abbotsford, British Columbia, base. The 250,000-sq.-ft. open-span structure will house up to eight narrow-body transports simultaneously and complement the company's existing 180,000-sq.-ft. facility. Once construction is completed in October 2000, Conair will become the largest third-party maintenance supplier in Canada, according to President and CEO Barry Marsden. When fully occupied, the expansion will create about 800 jobs.
Composite Structures has signed two contracts totaling up to $43 million with the Boeing Co. to continue providing spoiler fabrication for C-17 Globemasater III cargo aircraft and produce AH-64 Apache attack helicopter rotors.
Zhuhai, a boomtown on China's southeast coast, is to begin operations of a Raytheon/Telephonics Corp. Tracon center on Sept. 1. But it is not clear who the Civil Aviation Administration of China will name to control air space in the Pearl River Delta, which includes the major cities of Hong Kong and Guangzhou as well as Zhuhai. The Zhuhai Tracon uses a Raytheon primary and secondary radar and a Telephonics' AeroTrack air traffic management system.
Although the U.S. Air Force appears to have successfully warded off congressional attacks on the F-22 program, in the process they have angered the U.S. Marine Corps by raising doubts about near-term plans for the Joint Strike Fighter. USAF linked the future of JSF with that of F-22 when the House of Representatives proposed delaying F-22 production. Such a move could kill the stealth fighter program, causing Air Force officials to say that JSF would have to be revised to include some of the F-22's air-to-air capability.
