BELL HELICOPTER Model 407 helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-54-AD) - proposes to require visually inspecting the forward hanger bearing bracket. This proposal is prompted by reports of cracks in the bracket. The actions specified by this proposed AD are intended to detect a crack in the bracket, to prevent loss of tail rotor drive or tail rotor control and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. FAA estimates that this proposed AD would affect 442 helicopters on the U.S. Registry at a cost of $6,630 assuming no crack is detected in a bracket.
"Certainly the market has slowed," said Boeing Business Jets President Lee Monson, talking about a decline in the sales of his company's corporate-configured 737s due to the overall economic downturn. Concerns about the state of the economy have made the decision process "significantly slower" for potential buyers, he said, an observation that many of his counterparts at other OEMs would agree with.
EADS SOCATA selected Goodrich's SkyWatch HP Collision Avoidance System as a factory option for its TBM 700. The customer will have two display options for the system: a separate Honeywell KMD display or a shared display with the Goodrich Stormscope Model WX-1000. The Socata TBM 700 is a single turboprop that can cruise at speeds of up to 243 knots.
WILLIAM MOREU was appointed director of flight operations at Sino Swearingen Aircraft Co. He will be responsible for all flight test certification on the SJ30-2 business jet. Moreu worked for 30 years in flight test operations at The New Piper Aircraft and Piper Aircraft Corp.
The initial report of a Challenger 604 crash in Birmingham, England early this month (BA, Jan. 7/15), included a statement from Pat Epps, the president of Epps Aviation, which was operating the aircraft under a management contract for Agco Corp. of Duluth, Ga. Referring to the three pilots who were killed in the accident, he said they were "good pilots who went to FlightSafety and did all the things they're supposed to." FlightSafety International officials complained that the pilots of the aircraft did not receive their Challenger 604 training at an FSI facility.
The Federal Aviation Administration last week expanded and clarified its general aviation flight restrictions over the City of Chicago in a compromise agreement between the city, the agency and industry officials. FAA Thursday released a new notice to airmen (NOTAM) that replaces an earlier NOTAM restricting visual flight rule flights in a three-mile arc around Chicago's Sears Tower.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model AS350B, B1, B2, B3, BA, D, and AS355E Helicopters [Docket No. 2001-SW-70-AD; Amendment 39-12605; AD 2001-26-53] - publishes an amendment adopting AD 2001-26-53, which was sent previously to all known U.S. owners and operators of Eurocopter France (ECF) Model AS350B, B1, B2, B3, BA, D, and AS355E helicopters by individual letters. This AD requires, before further flight, removing certain serial-numbered servocontrols. This AD is prompted by a report of manufacturing defects in a batch of main servocontrol rods.
THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION has extended until April 22 the deadline for businesses to apply for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. The loans, for up to $1.5 million, are available to business owners who suffered losses from the Sept. 11 attacks or the subsequent government restrictions on air travel (BA, Jan. 7/13). As of last week, SBA had approved more than 4,400 loans totaling nearly $370 million.
BAe Model HP.137 Jetstream Mk.1, Jetstream Series 200, Jetstream Series 3101, and Jetstream Model 3201 airplanes (Docket No. 2001-CE-34-AD; Amendment 39-12596; AD 2002-01-05) - requires inspection of the MLG radius rod cylinders for the required conductivity or hardness standard. This AD also requires replacement of any MLG radius rod cylinder that does not meet this standard. This AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for the United Kingdom.
MD HELICOPTERS Model MD900 helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-56-AD; Amendment 39-12601; AD 2001-25-51) - publishes an amendment adopting AD 2001-25-51, which was sent previously to all known U.S. owners and operators of MD Helicopters, Inc. Model MD900 helicopters by individual letters. This AD requires performing a dual power confirmation test on the Integrated Instrument Display System (IIDS) and inserting a revision to the Rotorcraft Flight Manual (RFM), as applicable. If the IIDS fails the power test, replacing it is required before further flight.
Federal Aviation Administration has rejected the privatization of Niagara Falls International Airport, N.Y., after investors' revised, post-Sept. 11 projections showed the airport would not be profitable for years, sharply reducing or eliminating the investment and airport modernization for which the pilot privatization program was created.
AUBREY MAY was appointed avionics installation customer service representative at Banyan Air Service. He will oversee installations Banyan's avionics division. May has more than 26 years of aviation experience, starting his career as a radar technician in the U.S. Air Force. He was most recently the avionics supervisor at Bombardier Aerospace.
It's a pleasure to be here representing the men and women of the FAA - many of whom have worked almost nonstop since Sept. 11. I especially appreciate so many of you being here - I know this is an extraordinarily busy and hectic time for each of you. It is a far different world from the last time I spoke to the Aero Club - certainly a more dangerous world. On September 10, many Americans did not know just how dangerous. We were all harshly awakened to this reality the morning of September 11 - just as Americans awakened to war 60 years ago.
General Dynamics reported higher earnings and revenues for the quarter and year ended Dec. 31 and officials predicted continued strong growth in the current year. The company reported net sales of $3.5 billion, an increase of 30 percent over the same period last year. Net income was up 12.3 percent to $246 million. For the year, sales rose 17.4 percent to $12.1 billion and net earnings were up 4.6 percent to $943 million. Sales for the Aerospace division jumped 27.5 percent to $950 million and rose 7.8 percent to $3.2 billion for the year.
AS CONGRESS returned to Washington, D.C. last week, general aviation groups stepped up their efforts to win support for legislation that would compensate aviation businesses devastated in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A few key Senators have expressed interest in introducing companion legislation to the bill authored by Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) that would provide up to $7.5 billion in compensation (BA, Dec. 3/257). That bill could be introduced as early as this week in the Senate.
General aviation groups are appealing to the Department of Justice to allow U.S. flight training schools to resume recurrency training for private pilots from other countries. Training of non-U.S. pilots came to a halt after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the Aviation and Transportation Security Act adopted two months later barred training of non-U.S. pilots on aircraft that weigh more than 12,500 pounds until they follow certain procedures, including a background check and 45-day review by the Department of Justice.
AL CHAITE, 82, an advertising executive, a pilot and the man who developed and ran the ARCAP used aircraft advertising program, died Jan. 18 in Pound Ridge, N.Y. He had been diagnosed with leukemia in August. Chaite began his career as a commercial artist in the early 1940s when he set up shop in an office on 42nd St. in New York. Over time he recruited a talented group of illustrators and did work for companies like Ford and Texaco and large advertising agencies. Chaite began taking flight lessons about 1950.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT SERVICES LIMITED won certification from the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom for the reduced vertical separation minimum feature on the HS/BAe 125-700 and ADC-80 equipped BAe 800 aircraft. FAA certification for the system is expected "in the near future," RASL said.
CAE completed financing with Banco ITAU of Brazil to borrow $36.4 million for its South American training center near Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The seven and one-half year term loan will fund the center, which opened in April 2001. More than 4,000 pilots will be trained on several flight simulators at the facility during its first year of operation.
REGAL AVIATION completed the first phase of its $5.5 million customer care center at its Dallas Love Field headquarters. A new lobby, office space for employees, maintenance hangars and private parking were added in the initial construction. The expansion also will allow Regal to fuel up to 30 aircraft in an hour, the FBO said. Completion of the facility, which will eventually have ramp space for 50 aircraft, is expected this spring.
The military services and the FAA often take different approaches to aviation safety issues, even if the aircraft concerned are similar or use common parts and materials, the General Accounting Office says in a new report. The Jan. 22 report, Aviation Safety: FAA and DOD Response to Similar Safety Concerns (GAO-02-77), cites an example involving technologies to avoid collision with terrain. Here, the report says, the military has lagged about 20 years behind the FAA in requiring the installation of such technologies aboard passenger aircraft.
MICHAEL BOOST was named senior director of engineering at Securaplane Technologies. He will oversee all engineering personnel at the company. Boost specializes in electrical power systems and engineering department management
TAG AVIATION added a Hawker 700A to its charter operations. The aircraft will be based in Nashua, N.H. and serve the New England charter market. TAG Aviation operates 150 aircraft from 50 bases around the world.
JANE GARVEY expects to step down this summer when her five-year term as FAA Administrator expires.Garvey was sworn in Aug. 4, 1997, but there has been speculation in the wake of the events of Sept. 11, and the ensuing dramatic changes in the national aviation system, that Bush Administration officials might ask her to extend her service at FAA. During a speech in Washington, D.C. last week, the person introducing Garvey said flatly, "On Aug. 4, 2002, she will retire as FAA Administrator," and Garvey did not challenge that statement when she took the podium.
