Lessons the FAA learned following the Boeing 787 battery incidents include the need to involve experts outside of aviation when developing airworthiness standards for new technologies, says Peggy Gilligan, the agency's associate administrator for aviation safety. When the special conditions for certification of the 787's batteries were developed, the FAA “should have gone to experts on lithium-ion batteries” for comments, she tells the House Aviation subcommittee. “We will do that in the future,” she adds.
The table accompanying the story “Does Not Compute” in last week's issue (page 37) did not have a label for the far-right column. Here is the complete table:
H. Lee Buchanan and John C. Johnson have been named to the board of regents of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, Arlington, Va. Buchanan is a venture partner at Paladin Capital Group and has been assistant Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition, and deputy director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Johnson is vice president/general manager/deputy to the president of the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Systems.
In early April, when Larry Lawson arrived at Spirit AeroSystems, the company had completed a quarter with earnings, revenues, operating margins and deliveries that exceeded analysts' expectations. So the new president and CEO began his tenure with a built-in lift from the previous year's troubles—a $590 million pre-tax charge for failing to meet delivery and cost targets—that prompted his arrival.
There are not many aircraft like Grumman's S-2 Tracker. Built for carrier-borne anti-submarine operations, the aircraft was envisaged for the rough-and-tumble of life in a hostile environment.
Boeing has signed the $4 billion second multi-year contract for CH-47F Chinook helicopters, with the U.S. Army electing to exercise 22 of the options in the agreement from the outset. The additional aircraft, all for foreign military sales customers, take the basic five-year contract to 177 Chinooks, including 155 for the Army. Another 38 helicopters remain on option. Of the CH-47Fs for the Army, 124 with be remanufactured aircraft and 31 will be new-build. The other 22, and all of the option aircraft, will be new-build The helicopters will be delivered in 2015-19.
History's judgment of Edward Snowden remains to be seen, but one thing is certain to some already: the self-identified cybersurveillance leaker is the embodiment of all things evil in defense contracting. While the case will squash any lingering doubt as to whether defense contractors will become primary losers in Washington's struggle this decade to cut the federal deficit, it is unlikely to lead to a dismantling of the military industrial complex as we know it, and for good reasons.
Subodh Karnik has been appointed vice president of ICF SH&E, Fairfax, Va. He has performed interim engagements as chief commercial officer of Air Pacific, head of operations and commercial business of Fareportal Inc. and executive vice president of Air Jamaica. Previously, Karnik was president/CEO of Global Aero Logistics Inc.
The only new aircraft over which CFM and Pratt & Whitney compete head-to-head is the Airbus A320NEO, and at the 2011 Paris air show it was the struggle for market share on this newly launched project that grabbed the headlines.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Patrick M. Higgins has been named deputy director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization at the Pentagon. He was director of the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization. Honors And Elections
Though the U.S. Air Force remains at odds with Congress over its plans to prematurely terminate the Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk Block 30 program, the service is making plans to deploy its younger cousin, the high-flying Block 40 aircraft, as soon as possible to support the war in Afghanistan.
Thierry Baril (see photo), chief human resources officer of EADS and Airbus, has been named human resources director of the year by the Hudson, Le Figaro Economie and Cadremploi Group. The award highlights the importance and strategic contribution of human resources directors to company development.
Ahmed Metwalli has joined Dynatech/MPX Holdings on Long Island, N.Y., as senior vice president-planning and business development. He was president of API in Memphis, Tenn.
USAF Col. Nina Armagno has relinquished command of the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., to its vice commander, Col. Keith Balts. Armagno has been named commander of the 45th Space Wing at Patrick AFB, Fla.
Chris Clark has joined Millennium Space Systems, Torrance, Calif., as a project manager. He was director of NASA and civil programs at Spectrum Astro and General Dynamics.
Europe's industry is marshaling its arguments to defend proposals seeking a substantial increase in funding for aeronautics research even as the recession-hit region scales back once-ambitious plans to boost government support for R&D to increase competitiveness. Proposals are being finalized for a follow-on to Europe's Clean Sky public-private research program that would increase funding to €3.6 billion ($4.7 billion) from €1.6 billion, with half to come from the European Commission (EC) and half from industry and academia.
Comac's eight-year schedule for developing the C919 158-seat airliner has always looked doubtful, even though it was at least two years longer than Bombardier gave itself for the technologically similar CSeries. It is looking even more questionable now that the first flight has been delayed by up to a year.
Test pilots working for Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic expect to expand the SpaceShipTwo flight envelope rapidly this year, and to reach the edge of space before the end of December.
Ana Luisa Ramirez (see photo), a systems engineering manager in the Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting Systems Div. at the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Baltimore campus, has been named Woman of the Year by the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation. She is a founding member and has held leadership positions within the Northrop Grumman One Adelante Hispanic employee resource group. She is on the board of U.S. Hispanic Youth Entrepreneur Education, which introduces high school students to opportunities in scientific and technical fields.
The Russian aerospace industry hoped the revamped Tupolev Tu-204SM would serve as a bridge until launch of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) MS-21 narrowbody in 2017, but it still does not have a single order, despite its recent certification by aviation authorities in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Most of Doug Parker's executive team, as expected, will be joining him in Fort Worth when he takes the reins of the new American Airlines in the third quarter. US Airways President Scott Kirby, CFO Derek Kerr, COO Robert Isom and Executive Vice President- People and Communications Elise Eberwein will retain their roles at the new American, while Executive Vice President-Corporate and Government Affairs Steve Johnson will cede his role to Will Ris, who is senior vice president-government and regulatory affairs for American.
