Sabretech officials say they will appeal a federal court verdict fining the defunct maintenance company for its role in the 1996 crash of a ValuJet DC-9 in the Florida Everglades. A U.S. District Court Judge in Miami placed the company on three years probation, imposed a $2 million fine and ordered it to
Bombardier's Learjet 45 has received Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) approval from the FAA. The approval means that appropriately equipped aircraft may now operate with reduced vertical separation in the North Atlantic regions from FL 290 to FL 410 and in European airspace when RVSM takes effect in January 2002. The manufacturer is preparing a guidebook for Learjet 45 operators wishing RVSM approval that should be available at Business Aviation Services facilities this fall.
Forty-some miles east of Tucson, in the high desert almost halfway to Cochise, there's a 7,520 foot peak called Mt. Glen. It's been the target of hundreds of aerial assaults since January, tempting nearby ranchers to think Mt. Glen had been designated as a close air support practice range for the Tucson Air National Guard. The sole attacking aircraft, though, wasn't a military F-16 or A-10. It was a civil-registry Raythe-on King Air 350.
Raytheon Aircraft Co. President and CEO Hansel E. Tookes is now also chairman of the manufacturer. The appointment completed the transition of power from Art Wegner, who retired. Tookes, a former United Technologies executive and United Airlines pilot, joined Raytheon in September 1999.
Greeley-Weld County Airport (GXY) in Greeley, Colo., opened its new 10,000-foot runway in August. The first aircraft to land on the runway was scheduled to be a Conagra Learjet 35 carrying local dignitaries. Runway 16/34 joins a recently opened 6,000-square-foot general aviation terminal as part of the airport's expansion plan.
Menzies Aviation Group, a U.K.-based aviation services provider, will acquire the ground handling operations of Ogden Aviation Services for $118 million. When the deal is closed, Menzies will provide ground handling services at 63 airports in 21 countries including London Heathrow, Los Angeles International and Schipol in Amsterdam. Ogden's executive offices will relocate from New York to Menzies' headquarters in the United Kingdom.
Cessna Aircraft has broken ground on an 80,000-square-foot parts distribution center in Wichita set to open in fall 2001. The manufacturer says the new structure will allow it to consolidate all Citation parts in one location, providing improvements in customer service. ``Pulling parts will be more efficient and timely, which results in same-day shipping and a reduction in the backlog of parts orders,'' said Marilyn Richwine, a Cessna spokesperson. ``As fleet and parts distribution grows, we will add personnel as needed.''
Bowing to what some see as political correctness, the Confederate Air Force will consider a referendum at the group's annual meeting in October that may result in a name change for the 49-year-old organization. If approved, the referendum will lead to the selection of four alternative names, which the general membership will vote on in 2001 and implement in January 2002.
Horizon Air hired 17 graduates of the University of North Dakota's John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. The graduates will start as first officers on Horizon's Dash 8Q-200s and Fokker 28-4000s.
Motorola and airborne cellular provider AirCell are flight-testing new Bluetooth technology that may lead to the inflight use of personal cellular telephones. A consortium of telecommunications companies developed Bluetooth, which allows electronic devices to communicate with one another using short-range transceiver chips. The Federal Communications Commission banned inflight cell phone use because it may interfere with the ground-based cellular network. Violators are subject to a $10,000 fine.
Signature Flight Support is offering a free Web-based fuel tracking system to airline customers. The Fuel Management System (FMS) is password protected and available online only to Signature airline customers that manage fuel inventories in the United States. Steve Lee, vice president of marketing and business, said the FMS system, originally developed for Federal Express, provides a real-time fuel database to airline customers instead of transmitting the information via telephone orfacsimile.
Halon fire extinguishing agents -- halogenated hydrocarbons by their more formal name -- are unquestionably the best fire extinguishing chemicals ever formulated for use inside, outside or near aircraft. Indeed, if you operate an FAR Part 25 airplane, at least one of its portable fire extinguishers contains Halon, and chances are that all others on board also contain the stuff.
Promising to make the arcane act of booking a business aircraft charter as simple as purchasing an article of clothing online -- and, in the process, open the hitherto upscale air charter market to a wider group of consumers -- a growing number of Web sites are springing into cyber-existence to service the burgeoning air charter industry. Retail Web sites open to the computer-savvy traveling public, as well as operator/broker support sites limited to the trade, currently abound online.
French turboshaft specialist Turbomeca and Chinese engine supplier AVIC II have agreed to collaborate on future helicopter re-engining projects. The two companies previously teamed up to retrofit the Z-9 -- a Chinese-built variant of the Eurocopter Dauphin 2 helicopter -- with Turbomeca Arriel 1 engines. Turbomeca Chairman Jean-Bernard Cocheteux said the deal ``underlines the company's strength in a growing market.''
Edited By Paul RichfieldPaul Richfield, in Farnborough, England
Farnborough International 2000 broke business and attendance records despite a move from the biennial trade show's traditional September slot to the last week in July. A total of $52 billion in new orders were announced at the show, double the figure reached at Farnborough 1998 ($26.7 billion), and more than four times the business revealed at the previous show in 1996.
Threatening aviation professionals with criminal indictments will undermine industry safety initiatives. What's the most troubling trend in civil aviation these days? According to representatives of pilot and mechanic unions, the NTSB, trade associations and attorneys, it is the growing tendency of prosecutors to launch criminal investigations into aviation accidents.
The Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) will conduct a workshop entitled ``Living with the Medicare Fee Schedule'' on October 15 in Salt Lake City. The seminar is designed to help air ambulance services understand and conform with new Medicare reimbursement rules. Participants will receive a free copy of the organization's publication, AAMS' Medicare Reimbursement Survival Guide, which otherwise sells for $300. The workshop precedes the AAMS' Annual Air Medical Transportation Conference, which is scheduled to take place in Salt Lake City from October 16-18.
Norwegian tour operator Aircontactgruppen AS has signed a letter of intent to acquire six new Sikorsky S-92 helicopters, to be offered on operating leases. The order is the fourth commitment for the new 19-seat utility helicopter, which is now in the midst of an extensive redesign program. Changes include a lengthened fuselage to accommodate a larger door for search and rescue operations, a repositioned horizontal stabilizer for additional stability and a shortened tail pylon to offset the weight of the stretch.
The Houston Police Department has ordered two Schweizer Model 333 turbine helicopters. Now operating one of the United States' largest aerial law enforcement divisions, the department inaugurated helicopter patrols 30 years ago using Model 300Cs.
The National Safety Council has given an Occupational Health/Safety Award to Johnson Controls World Services for operating without occupational injury or illness at Teterboro Airport from 1995 to 1999.
GKN of the United Kingdom and Italy's Finmeccanica have merged their respective rotorcraft businesses after more than two years of talks, creating the world's largest helicopter manufacturer. Named AgustaWestland, the combined company has an interest in nearly every major European helicopter program -- including the EH101, NH90 and WAH-64 -- and an order backlog worth more than $8 billion.
Everest VIT, Inc. is now offering VideoProbe XL PRO, the next generation of 6mm, 7mm, and 8mm video borescopes with digital features. This small-diameter remote visual inspection tool includes an integrated file management system, image manipulation options, digital zoom and internal tools that allow you to measure, gauge, grasp, hook or magnetically adhere loose parts during an inspection. The integrated file management system has an internal flash memory and an integrated 1.44MB disk that allows export of images into JPEG or BMP format. The 32-lb.
