SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT CORPORATION is negotiating the sale of three Sikorsky S-92 helicopters to the Republic of Ireland for the Irish Air Corps. The helicopters would be used for search and rescue missions. The deal also would include "an option for two more aircraft for general-purpose military transport," Sikorsky said. Pending a contract agreement, the three aircraft and support services will be sold for about $62 million. Ireland is Sikorsky's first government customer for the S-92.
Both people aboard a 1980 model Cessna 441 Conquest turboprop were killed Wednesday evening when their aircraft crashed after the pilot reported his autopilot was not operating. The aircraft had departed Springdale, Ark. that evening on a flight to Rifle, Colo. FAA officials said they did not know if the pilot had obtained a weather briefing, but there was freezing rain in the area that evening. The aircraft, N441AR, was operating under an IFR flight plan.
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Norman Mineta underwent hip replacement surgery Jan. 31 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. where doctors replaced his left hip with a titanium joint. Mineta's return to work is dependent on how "Robo-Sec...gets along with his new parts," DOT spokesman Chet Lunner told BA affiliate Aviation Daily. An industry source said Mineta has told some colleagues he plans to be back in the office this month, but that schedule may be optimistic.
BELL HELICOPTER Model 407 helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-53-AD) - proposes superseding an existing AD for Bell Helicopter Textron Canada (BHTC) Model 407 helicopters. That AD currently requires preflight checking and repetitively inspecting the tailboom for a crack and replacing the tailboom if a crack is found. This action would require increasing the area of inspection for certain tailbooms and changing the applicability to restrict the inspection requirements to certain tailbooms that have not been redesigned.
THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE is expected to publish a revised regulation this week removing a barrier for foreign pilots who need to visit the U.S. to conduct recurrent flight training. The DOJ notice is expected to clear the way for any foreign national who holds a certificate and ratings as a pilot-in-command, second-in-command or flight engineer recognized by the U.S. government to enter the country for training. Training for foreign nationals has been restricted by regulations adopted in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (BA, Jan. 28/48).
HONEYWELL Part Number HG1075AB05 and HG1075GB05 inertial reference units (Docket No. 2001-CE-28-AD) - proposes to require an inspection of the affected IRUs for proper function and removal of the IRU either immediately or at a certain time depending on the result of the inspection. This proposed AD is the result of a report that these IRUs may not function when using backup battery power in certain installations. The actions specified by this proposed AD are intended to ensure the correct transition of the IRU to backup battery power upon the loss of primary power.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION said it believes 4,500 to 5,000 individuals have applied for Olympics credentials packages to permit them to conduct flights into the Salt Lake City area during the upcoming winter Olympics there. NBAA said government security officials were supposed to have started putting those packages in the mail late last Monday or early Tuesday, and the association was waiting anxiously Friday to learn if any of its members had received the necessary credentials.
WOODLAND AVIATION added a Cessna Citation S/II to its charter fleet. The Woodland, Calif. air charter operator's fleet also includes a Hawker 800, a Citation II, CitationJet CJ1, nine King Airs, three Beech Barons and a Bonanza.
CINCINNATI MACHINE named two veteran executives of the company to new positions. Ron Hoffman and John Wiese were named vice presidents of the company's Advanced Systems and Services Business, responsible for field sales and sales support, with particular focus on strategic alliances and customer relationship management. Hoffman, a 33-year veteran of the machinery manufacturer, will manage activities in the western U.S. and Canada, South America and Asia. Wiese, who has been with Cincinnati Machine for 23 years, will manage the eastern U.S. and Canada.
PRECISE FLIGHT of Bend, Ore. won supplemental type certification from FAA for its Pulselite 3060 Starlight system. The Pulselite 3060 allows rotorcraft pilots to pulse two lamps at up to 500 watts each, compared to most existing recognition systems that are limited to 250 watts per channel or four channels at 600 watts each. The Pulselite 3060 has a patented TCAS/TCAD tie-in that automatically activates the Pulselite when traffic advisories are issued by the TCAS system.
Federal Aviation Administration last week released a proposal that provides a series of certification, operation and maintenance requirements for a new category of aircraft - "light-sport." The long-anticipated proposal, which will be published in Tuesday's Federal Register, fills in the gap for regulating aircraft and pilot operations that do not fall neatly into other certification requirements.
RAYTHEON Model DH.125, HS.125, BH.125, and BAe.125 (U-125 and C-29A) series airplanes; Model Hawker 800, Hawker 800 (U-125A), Hawker 800XP, and Hawker 1000 airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-373-AD; Amendment 39-12619; AD 2001-17-26 R1) - corrects and clarifies information in an existing airworthiness directive that applies to certain Raytheon Model DH.125, HS.125, BH.125, and BAe.125 (U-125 and C-29A) series airplanes; Model Hawker 800, Hawker 800 (U-125A), Hawker 800XP, and Hawker 1000 airplanes.
PRIVATAIR added a Citation X and a Learjet 45 to its Part 135 charter fleet. The eight-seat Citation will be based in Charlotte, N.C. and the Learjet, which also can seat eight, will be based in Stratford, Conn.
ATLANTIC SOUTHEAST AIRLINES took delivery of its first 70-passenger Bombardier CRJ700 airliner last week during ceremonies at the manufacturer's new CRJ700/CRJ900 assembly facility at Montreal's Mirabel Airport. ASA, a Delta Connection carrier, also took delivery of a CRJ200, Serial Number 600, the 165th CRJ100/200 in the carrier's fleet. ASA and fellow Delta Connection carrier Comair have ordered 57 CRJ700s between them.
THE BOEING COMPANY won a $112 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide upgrade and subscription support for the C-32A mission communications system. The upgrades will include installation of Connexion By Boeing airborne broadband communication service, with work scheduled to be completed by September 2003. The C-32A is a specially configured Boeing 757-200 operated by the U.S. Air Force to carry the Vice President, cabinet members and other government officials. The Air Force currently operates four C-32As.
SHORT BROTHERS Model SD3 series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-NM-229-AD; Amendment 39-12616; AD 2002-01-22) - requires a one-time inspection of the installation of the bearing housings of the elevator torque shaft assembly, and corrective action if necessary. This action is necessary to prevent failure of the elevator torque shaft, which could result in reduced controllability of the airplane. FAA estimates that this AD will affect 75 Model SD3 series airplanes on the U.S. Registry at a cost of $9,000, or $120 per airplane. The rule is effective March 7.
MARTIN ROSE was appointed military spares manager at A J Walter Aviation in West Sussex, U.K. He will be responsible for the company's inventory and customer service.
ARTHUR LUCAS was appointed senior vice president-engineering at Pratt&Whitney. He was most recently senior vice president of research and engineering at Bell Helicopter.
GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION named Jeff Sural, an attorney and congressional staffer, to serve as general counsel and lobbyist. Sural had been legislative counsel for Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers (R-Mich.), a senior member of the House aviation subcommittee. Sural handled aviation matters as part of his duties for Ehlers. Sural is a North Carolina native and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He studied and practiced law in Michigan before joining Ehlers's staff. Sural succeeds Darby M.R.
The Boeing Company has formed a technical team to determine which suppliers should assist the company in developing the necessary technology for its planned Sonic Cruiser airliner, and signed the first agreement with two Japanese organizations.
JUST WEEKS after insiders said the search for a chief operating officer to head FAA's aircraft traffic operations finally appeared to be nearing an end, the selection process has hit another bump. The word a couple of weeks ago was that the list of candidates for the ATC COO post had been narrowed to two, but Friday BA was told "the search is being broadened." The latest setback comes just six months before FAA Administrator Jane Garvey is expected to step down (BA, Jan. 14/23).
Illustration: Graph: Used retail jet and turboprop deliveries inside and outside North America for 1998-2001 Used Retail Deliveries 1998 1999 2000 2001 L M H L M H L M H L M H Jet North 658 418 210 657 383 230 604 376 269 547 307 192 America Jet Outside 98 33 36 82 45 27 59 26 22 55 33 27 N.
MD HELICOPTERS Model MD900 helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-25-AD) - proposes to require, for the lateral-mixer bellcrank assembly, establishing a life limit, creating a component history card or equivalent record, determining the hours time-in-service, and applying a serial number. This proposal is prompted by additional testing, which revealed that the original load test to establish the life limits of the bellcrank did not accurately represent the actual loading.
DIAMOND AIRCRAFT is offering Garmin International's integrated avionics suite as standard equipment in its DA40 Diamond Star and DA20-C1 Eclipse aircraft. The avionics package includes the Garmin GNS 430, GTX 327 digital transponder and GMA 340 audio panel.
PILATUS BN-2, BN-2A, BN-2B, BN-2T, BN-2T-4, and BN2A MK. III series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-CE-47-AD; Amendment 39-12603; AD 2002-01-11) - requires repetitive inspection of the throttle friction-shaft and replacement of the shaft if damaged. This AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for the United Kingdom. The actions specified by this AD are intended to detect and correct loosening of the throttle friction adjustment beyond its normal limits.
