The Weekly of Business Aviation

Staff
The long-awaited reopening of Washington Reagan National Airport to general and business aviation could happen as soon as next month if plans to publish a rule establishing new security requirements are approved.

Staff
BUSINESS AVIATION FATALITIES DOWN SHARPLY IN FIRST QUARTER - The number of people killed in accidents involving U.S. business jet and turboprop aircraft was down sharply in the quarter ended March 31, compared with the same period a year ago, according to Robert E. Breiling Associates, Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla.

Staff
The number of people killed in accidents involving U.S. business jet and turboprop aircraft was down sharply in the quarter ended March 31, compared with the same period a year ago, according to Robert E. Breiling Associates, Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla.

Staff
REGARDING UAL CORPORATION'S failed attempt to get into the fractional ownership business, Ricci said "To some extent, I really didn't want to see Avolar fail" because "they would have brought some confidence to the industry" and drummed up business for other fractional providers. And the existence of Avolar would have put United in the position of approaching its large corporate airline customers and saying, 'Why don't you come out of First Class' and fly in a business jet.

Staff
Regarding UAL Corporation's failed attempt to get into the fractional ownership business, Ricci said "To some extent, I really didn't want to see Avolar fail" because "they would have brought some confidence to the industry" and drummed up business for other fractional providers. And the existence of Avolar would have put United in the position of approaching its large corporate airline customers and saying, 'Why don't hour come out of First Class' and fly in a business jet.

Staff
FlightSafety Simulation, Tulsa, Okla., is building a Level D full flight simulator for the Bombardier Global Express business jet. Delivery of the unit is scheduled in the fourth quarter of 2003, but FlightSafety has not announced where it will be located.

Staff
TSA OUTLINES PLANS TO RESTORE BUSINESS AVIATION ACCESS TO DCA - The long-awaited reopening of Washington Reagan National Airport to general and business aviation could happen as soon as next month if plans to publish a rule establishing new security requirements are approved.

Staff
Model CL-600-2B19 series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-NM-346-AD) - proposes to require inspection of certain installed electrical relays to determine whether they have certain manufacturing date codes, and replacement of the electrical relays with those date codes with new relays with different manufacturing date codes. This action is necessary to prevent the failure of an electrical relay due to a defective moving blade assembly, which could result in the inability to generate electrical power from the emergency system.

Staff
FLIGHTSAFETY SIMULATION, Tulsa, Okla., is building a Level D full flight simulator for the Bombardier Global Express business jet. Delivery of the unit is scheduled in the fourth quarter of 2003, but FlightSafety has not announced where it will be located.

Staff
Although it received a letter from the Federal Aviation Administration warning of potential grant violations, the Naples Airport Authority has begun to enforce its ban on Stage 2 aircraft at Naples Municipal Airport that it adopted more than a year ago. NAA last week assessed its first fine on a violator of the Stage 2 ban, the Southwest Florida newspaper, the News-Press, reported. The authority fined a New York-based operator $500 and refused to allow the operator to pick up a passenger at Naples. NAA ordered the airplane to divert to Marco Island Airport.

Staff
AERODYNAMICS, INC., of southeastern Michigan was approved as an authorized Hawker service center by Raytheon. ADI, located at Oakland County International Airport (PTK), employs 32 mechanics who provide 24-hour service in four hangars with 80,000 square feet of space.

Staff
FAIRCHILD DORNIER'S insolvency administrator Eberhard Braun still wants to sell the company as a whole, but said the schedule to achieve his "strategic goal" is very tight. Braun has two and one-half months left to find a buyer for the company. He is allowing spending only where it is absolutely necessary, and he defended the move to lay off virtually all sales staff except three Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany-based employees (BA, April 8/163).

Staff
Aerodynamics, Inc., of southeastern Michigan was approved as an authorized Hawker service center by Raytheon. ADI, located at Oakland County International Airport (PTK), employs 32 mechanics who provide 24-hour service in four hangars with 80,000 square feet of space.

Staff
JAMES HARRISON was named director of completions and maintenance sales at Jet Aviation West Palm Beach. He has worked at Jet Aviation for eight years and has more than 21 years of experience in corporate aviation. Harrison was most recently the completions manager at the facility.

Staff
JET AVIATION'S U.S. aircraft sales division recently sold six aircraft, including a Gulfstream II, two Challenger 601s, a Hawker 800, a Falcon 50 and a Falcon 100. Revenues from the aircraft sales totaled $50 million, said Walt Wakefield, Jet Aviation vice president of aircraft sales for North and South America.

Staff
Bombardier Aerospace named Jahid Fazal-Karim as regional vice-president, sales, Americas. He will be responsible for sales in South America, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean Islands and Canada. Fazal-Karim joined Bombardier last year with 10 years of sales and marketing experience for used and new aircraft.

Staff
BOMBARDIER OFFICIALS were expected to spend a nervous weekend awaiting the outcome of a vote by the manufacturer's 8,000 Machinists union members on a new contract.Union members staged one-day strikes April 1 and April 11 because of dissatisfaction about the company's latest contract offer, and union officials have refused to endorse the company's offer. The vote was scheduled for Saturday.

Staff
An Internal Directive from the INS Commissioner to inspectors ordering "zero tolerance" spurred at least one group of inspectors to seek out office space at an FBO for interrogations of passengers arriving in the U.S. A Dulles International Airport FBO received that request from area inspectors, who said the alternative would be to send arriving passengers to the main terminal at Dulles for interrogation, said Pete West, senior vice president of government and public affairs for NBAA. While INS has jurisdiction for passenger interrogations, the U.S.

Staff
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD is investigating two recent accidents in Minnesota involving Piper PA-46-310P aircraft that made forced landings after loss of engine power. N9103Q sustained substantial damage March 31 when the pilot ditched the plane in the Mississippi River near South St. Paul, Minn. shortly after departing Fleming Field (SGS) in South St. Paul. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. NTSB said N9184F also sustained substantial damage when the pilot made a forced landing on a road in Hastings, Minn. after the pilot had departed St.

Staff
Robert E. Breiling was selected to receive the Flight Safety Foundation's Business Aviation Meritorious Award, given for "sustained, outstanding contribution and service to corporate aviation safety." Breiling, a former Navy and Pan Am pilot, heads Robert E. Breiling Associates of Boca Raton, Fla., which specializes in tracking aviation safety and accident trends involving business and corporate aircraft. Breiling began compiling business aviation accident information for the insurance industry in 1962.

Staff
AIR METHODS CORPORATION'S products division received a contract from General Dynamics Landing Systems for development and production of a litter system for the U.S. Army's medical evacuation vehicle. The contract is for 27 units to be delivered this year and includes an option for the production of 91 more units, to be delivered between 2003 and 2007. If GD exercises all its options, the contract value could reach $5 million.

Staff
April 23-25 - National Business Aviation Association Leadership Conference, Nashville, Tenn. (202) 783-9000 April 25-27 - Aircraft Electronics Association Convention and Trade Show, Wyndham Hotel/Palm Springs Convention Center, Palm Springs, Calif., (816) 373-6565 May 6-12 - ILA, Berlin, Germany. ILA-North America, 1925 North Lynn St., Arlington, Va. 22209, (703) 524-2388

Staff
BOMBARDIER OFFICIALS were expected to spend a nervous weekend awaiting the outcome of a vote by its Machinists union members on a new contract. Union members staged one-day strikes Monday and Thursday because of dissatisfaction about the company's latest contract offer and union officials have refused to endorse the company's offer. The vote was scheduled for Saturday.

Staff
WALTER BERCHTOLD was appointed vice president-refurbishment and completions at Jet Aviation West Palm Beach, Fla. He was most recently vice president-SAP implementation for operations. Berchtold joined Jet Aviation in 1981 and has more than 20 years of business aviation experience.

Staff
PAN AM INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT ACADEMY won a one-year contract from FAA to train FAA's maintenance inspectors on the Saab 340. PAIFA will conduct 12-day courses, which will cover initial maintenance, engine start/run training and the aircraft practical examination. Training will be done on Saab 340 simulators at PAIFA's Regional Airline Training Center in Minneapolis, Minn. The first class is scheduled to start in the second quarter of this year.