David S. McKay, a NASA planetary geologist who studied the soil and rock samples Apollo astronauts returned from the Moon and argued that a Martian meteorite found in Antarctica contained fossil evidence of extraterrestrial life, died in Houston Feb. 20 of heart disease. He was 76. McKay joined NASA in 1965. He trained Apollo 11 crewmembers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to help them return useful samples from the Moon's surface, and stood by in Mission Control during the first Moonwalk on July 20, 1969, as a resource.
International Airlines Group (IAG) has posted a €997 million ($1.31 billion) net loss for 2012, mainly because of charges related to the Iberia crisis, and warns more restructuring costs may be upcoming if deeper cuts to the business are needed. “We have to downsize Iberia and make it competitive,” says IAG Chief Executive Willie Walsh. IAG's Spanish subsidiary posted a €351 million operating loss on sales of €4.84 billion last year.
Renuka Ayer (see photo) has been named VP-finance of Corona, Calif.-based Circor Aerospace Products Group, covering the North American, Asian, European and North African regions. She was chief financial officer for Orange County Container Co.
Asia's premium airline market is set for a shake-up. AirAsia's group CEO Tony Fernandes is moving ahead with his plan to establish an ultra-premium carrier, Caterham Jet, which will operate Bombardier CRJ200s in a 16-seat VIP configuration from Singapore to destinations across Southeast Asia.
Keith D. Wichman has been named VP and general manager-Global Airline Solutions for Stamford, Conn.-based Passur Aerospace. He was director of air traffic management and airline efficiency services at General Electric and chief engineer of GE's Flight Management Systems.
Quinn Hamon (see photos) has been promoted to director of safety from chief pilot of Kansas City, Mo.-based Executive AirShare. Ryan Isaacs was promoted to assistant chief pilot from captain.
Fly-by-wire system provider Parker Aerospace says it has made project management improvements in the wake of a one-year delay for the Embraer Legacy 500 program, but maintains that the schedule slip was caused by factors beyond its control.
Bidding jointly to build the U.S. Army's Joint Multi Role (JMR) technology demonstrator, Boeing and Sikorsky have selected the latter's X2 coaxial-rotor high-speed helicopter configuration as the basis of its proposal, to be submitted by March 6. The companies have teamed to pursue JMR and the planned follow-on Future Vertical Lift Medium program to field replacements for the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk, beginning in 2035, and later the Boeing AH-64 Apache.
If the Defense Department and other government agencies would eliminate the requirement for union labor on construction, road and bridge building, aircraft MRO and anything related thereto, billions—even trillions—of dollars could be saved in the next 10 years. Union labor is very expensive, so let all companies bid competitively unhampered by union considerations. Claremont, Calif.
Machinists at Hytek Finishes in Kent, Wash., a specialty coating maker that supplies Boeing's 787 and other factories, were voting late last week on a revised contract after threatening to strike over an earlier offer. Negotiators for the International Association of Machinists in Aerospace Local 751, the same union that represents Boeing's machinists recommended passage. On Feb. 25, the 140 IAM machinists rejected Hytek's original offer and authorized a strike. Speea To Vote Again
Correction: The story in the Feb. 25 issue (page 25) about Piaggio Aero P.1HH Hammerhead UAV stated the wrong payload. The Hammerhead is designed for 16 hr. endurance with a payload of 500 lb. (225 kg) at maximum fuel capacity. Within the structural envelope, the platform is also able to accommodate, by reducing the fuel load, a payload (mission sensors/equipment) up to 2,000 lb.
Alitalia posted dramatically weaker results for 2012. As a consequence, CEO Andrea Ragnetti resigned after only one year on the job. The airline's total liquidity, including unused credit lines, was down to just €75 million at the end of December; it was €326 million a year earlier. The carrier posted a €119 million operating loss (€6 million in 2011) and the net loss widened to €289 million from €69 million.
Fly-by-wire has become the norm for the larger and more expensive commercial and business aircraft and helicopters, but airframers continue to say the cost-benefit analysis for the lower end of the market has not been favorable to introduce this safety-enhancing and weight-reducing technology.
Israel's defense ministry says it carried out a successful flight test of the Arrow 3 missile interceptor. The test was conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. The interceptor was launched into space Feb. 25 at around 6 a.m. local time from a coastal military launching pad in central Israel and flew for more than 6 min.
Avionics manufacturer Rockwell Collins says its win for the rudder and brake pedal assembly for the Airbus A350 marks the “most content” the company has provided by value and part number for an Airbus platform. Combined with previous A350 contracts for the communications, information management and landing/navigation systems, the Iowa-based company says it has the potential to earn $2.5 billion on the program.
Boeing is ready to begin higher-altitude, longer-endurance flights of its private-venture Phantom Eye hydrogen-powered unmanned aircraft after a redesigned main landing gear passed the test on the vehicle's Feb. 25 second flight, at Edwards AFB, Calif. The aircraft was damaged on its June 1, 2012, first flight when the skid gear dug into the lakebed on landing. The gear bay is concealed behind Mylar film for takeoff and in flight, to reduce drag, and the gear leg must cut through the film to deploy. The redesign repositioned the Mylar cutter.
Kenneth Asbury has joined Washington-based CACI International as CEO and president, replacing Dan Allen. Asbury was president and CEO of ASRC Federal and a Lockheed Martin Corp. executive.
Swedish authorities have begun certification trials on two virtual control towers and a remote tower center in Sweden after the Saab-built system passed its acceptance tests in February. The r-TWR system, funded by Sweden's air navigation service provider, LFV, consists of one virtual tower and a remote tower center at the single-runway Sundsvall Airport on the east coast of the country, and a second virtual tower at the single-runway Ornskoldsvik Airport, 100 mi. to the northeast.
