General Electric will inspect a GEnx-2B engine that failed at high thrust during the takeoff run of an Air Bridge Cargo Boeing 747-8F in Shanghai on Sept 11. Although GE says it is too early to connect this event with the failure in July of a GEnx-1B engine on a 787 at Charleston, S.C., the initial evidence indicates several similarities. The crew rejected the takeoff and returned to the ramp where visual inspection revealed contained damage to the low-pressure turbine, though just as with the Charleston event, parts of the turbine assembly exited from the tailpipe.
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is negotiating with the FAA to allow the Grasshopper reusable launch test vehicle to fly at higher altitudes as part of a planned series of launch and landing evaluations. The Grasshopper is a prototype testbed for a reusable first-stage booster concept that SpaceX hopes will lower launch costs. Following initial static fire tests of the 106-ft.-tall vehicle, SpaceX aims to execute several mini-hops with flights expected to reach 200-240 ft.
A high-profile ATM blunder in Washington underscores the growing demand for high-fidelity surveillance data of aircraft on the ground. On July 31, miscommunication between remotely located approach controllers in Virginia and tower controllers at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) led to a loss of separation as the tower cleared aircraft to depart northbound while terminal area controllers were lining up arrivals for landing in the opposite direction.
Can industry really police itself? That's the question the Transportation Department's Inspector General will pose the second time starting Sept. 19, in an audit of the FAA's voluntary disclosure reporting program. The IG's review of the program comes as lawmakers continue to be concerned about the findings of a 2008 Inspector General's audit that found an FAA inspector and Southwest Airlines ducked the system.
Bernhard Gerwert (see photo) has been appointed CEO of EADS's Cassidian division and a member of the EADS Group Executive Committee. He was the division's chief operating officer. Other new committee members are: John Leahy, chief operating officer-customers, and Guenther Butschek, chief operating officer, both of Airbus.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 lofted NROL-36, a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on Sept. 13. The launcher included a 4-meter fairing and a single Centaur upper stage, but no solid rocket boosters. As is typical of classified missions, there was little comment about the status of the ascent. The only confirmation was success through the payload-fairing separation.
Last week, a fresh set of calls urged Congress to address the nation's financial situation. Executives from Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and EADS North America are proceeding with pre-election plans to warn thousands of workers that they might be laid off early next year. Two former Treasury secretaries, one Republican and one Democrat, said failing to address America's debt problem has dire economic and foreign policy implications. And Moody's rating agency now says the nation's long-held AAA rating hinges on congressional budget negotiations. Sen.
India is awaiting assurances from its troubled partner Russia that it will be prepared for India's second mission to the Moon, the Chandrayaan-2, in 2014, the country's top scientist says. Russia, which is reviewing its space mission program after the recent failure of an interplanetary mission with China, will provide the lander while India builds the lunar orbiter and rover for Chandrayaan-2. The Indo-Russian lunar venture, will be launched by India's heavier rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. Separately, the Indian Space Research Organization on Sept.
Competition in business aviation's ultra-long-range and super-midsize segments heated up as Gulfstream Aerospace earned FAA type certification for its 7,000-nm-range G650 on Sept. 7, just days after receiving FAA and CAA Israel certification for the 3,600-nm-range G280. Both aircraft are positioned at the top of their respective classes, but the market potential for each appears to be markedly different.
Francesco Caio Title: CEO, Avio Age: 55 Birthplace: Naples, Italy Education: Engineering degree from Milan Politecnico and MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.
The retirement of the last Concorde in October 2003 was good news in Wichita, since it transferred the title of World's Fastest Civilian Aircraft to the swept-wing Citation X, a coup for Cessna, whose earlier jets suffered years of jeers as '“Slowtations.” When Gulfstream announced that its new Mach 0.925 G650 would take speed honors, then-Cessna Chairman Jack Pelton said the Citation had more to give and would.
Roy Furhrmann has been named VP-management and operations of the Metropolitan Airports Commission of Minneapolis-St. Paul. He was director of its Environment Department.
In light of the recent “Curiosity” cover story and coverage on the young Jet Propulsion Laboratory staff that helped to bring the mission about (AW&ST Aug. 20, p. 28), I've reevaluated my stance on the progress of U.S. spaceflight programs. By the mid 1960s, I was convinced humans were in space to stay and that we would continue to reach out and explore. In the intervening years, I have seen our manned space activities become stalled in Earth orbit because a large bureaucracy cannot afford (literally and figuratively) to take chances.
Altan Buyukyilmaz (see photo) has been named executive VP-commercial affairs at Turkish Technic of Ankara and Istanbul. He was CEO of BH Airlines and has been VP-sales and marketing of Turkish Airlines.
There's a commonly held notion that Bill Lear was the last person to launch a successful, start-from-scratch company that builds FAA-certified aircraft. That's erroneous, as evidenced by rotaryman Frank Robinson, founder of his own eponymous outfit. But he's certainly the exception. As is Alan Klapmeier, who co-founded Cirrus Aircraft with his brother, Dale, in 1984.
On AviationWeek.com, Air Transport Editor Andrew Compart writes about Delta Air Lines' and AeroMexico's plan for a new MRO facility in Mexico: Rich Wyeroski is skeptical: We are fools to let this happen. Maintenance in Mexico is safe with no potential for terrorism? If you believe this, there is a bridge in N.Y. I would like to sell you. Osroff responds:
As Airbus's new CEO, Fabrice Bregier, and COO, Gunter Butschek, make major changes to the aircraft manufacturer's organization, the company's position within the EADS group has been strengthened. Two Airbus executives, Butschek and COO for Customers John Leahy, have been added to EADS's executive board, which now has 13 members including CEO Tom Enders.
U.S. airlines will continue to drop 50-seat regional jets from their operations; that is a certainty. Higher fuel costs have made them unprofitable on many routes, and the clauses in pilot union contracts that severely restricted the major carriers from outsourcing the flying of larger RJs have largely evaporated. Delta Air Lines has vowed to shed another 200 of them by 2015; American Eagle seems poised for a purging.
