FAA is proposing a $160,000 civil penalty against aviation spare parts, support services and inventory products provider Parker Aerospace of Irvine, California. The agency alleges the facility violated drug and alcohol testing regulations, hiring two people for safety-sensitive positions before conducting pre-employment drug tests and receiving results. FAA further claims the company transferred an employee into a safety-sensitive position before conducting drug tests and receiving results. Parker has until late December to respond to the allegations.
A new FAA rule increases to 20 hr. the amount of aviation training device (ATD) time pilots may count toward an instrument rating. The final rule will take effect Jan. 17. It restores training standards changed in January, when the agency issued a policy statement that would have effectively cut in half the number of hours that could be logged toward instrument training. Under the new rule, pilots training under both Part 61 and Part 141 will be able to take advantage of the increased ATD allowances. Part 61 students will be permitted to log up to 20 hr.
PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP Models PT6A-114 and PT6A-114A turboprop engines [Docket No. FAA-2014-0594; Directorate Identifier 2014-CE-022-AD; Amendment 39-18005; AD 2014-22-01]—proposes revision of (AD) 2014-17-08 requiring initial and repetitive inspections of compressor turbine (CT) blades, with the removal of blades that fail inspection. FAA is proposing this AD to prevent failure of CT blades, occurrence of which could damage the aircraft and its engine, and because since the issuance of (AD) 2014-17-08, Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
Boeing Business Jets says the five BBJ787 executive variants it has turned over so far have the same lithium-ion battery package as the airliner variants and all have received FAA-approved modifications as commercial versions, following National Transportation Safety Board's final report last week that says "shortcomings in design and certification" led to the battery fire incident at Boston Logan International Airport on Jan. 7, 2013. FAA grounded the entire fleet after a second battery fire. One BBJ787 is in service and four are at independent completion centers.
DAVE RICHTER was appointed vice president of management sales and client services for Executive Jet Management, Richter is joining EJM from a large aircraft brokerage firm, where he managed aircraft sales and acquisitions in the Northeast. He previously worked for the CitationAir division of Cessna Aircraft and has served with Smith Barney and Magnum Portfolio Management.
Concerned that the air taxi sector accounted for 65% of all commercial aviation fatalities over the past 10 years, the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada is planning an in-depth “Safety Issues Investigation” on those operations. Announced last week by TSB Chairman Kathy Fox, the study is set to begin in early 2015, and will cover historical data and case studies in Canada as well as accidents and incidents in other countries.
White House officials are opposing a potential agreement by congressional leaders to either extend or make permanent a number of expired tax breaks, including bonus depreciation, the research and development (R&D) credit and small-business expensing. Reported early last week, the negotiations mark a compromise between the House—which is pushing to make some of the tax breaks permanent on a piecemeal basis—and the Senate, which has drafted a straight, two-year extension on about 50 different measures.
Increased light-jet sales activity, improved operations in North America and a continued decline of used-aircraft inventory are increasing confidence that the long-awaited business aircraft recovery is finally arriving. Business jet deliveries have increased 7% through the third quarter, and are expected to end 3% higher for the year, analyst firm J.P.Morgan predicts. This would mark the first increase of more than a percentage point since the downturn began in 2008. In 2013, the industry stabilized with a 0.9% increase, following four consecutive years of decline.
Louis Chenevert, the architect of the biggest aerospace and defense (A&D) acquisition ever and a driving force behind Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan (GTF) engine, has stepped down as chairman and CEO of United Technologies Corp. (UTC). Gregory J. Hayes, UTC’s chief financial officer, is replacing him as CEO. Edward A. Kangas, a member of UTC’s board, will become non-executive chairman.
Global business aviation flight hours are inching up on the strength of an uptick in the Middle East, South America and Europe, according to hourly cost maintenance provider JSSI. JSSI’s Business Aviation Index tracks business aircraft flight hours by region, industry and aircraft. In the third quarter, global flight hours edged up 2%, and through the first three quarters business aviation activity is up 2.2%.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) may not restrict Stage 3 aircraft from departing to the east, or over the city, during overnight hours, FAA ruled. The vast majority of LAX departures take off the ocean, but occasionally pilots of heavy aircraft—mostly bound for Asia—ask instead to depart to the east. Nearby residents have complained, and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) sought FAA’s permission in 2013 to ban over-city departures between midnight and 6:30 a.m.
Cirrus has flown the second conforming-prototype Vision SF50 personal jet as it aims for certification and first delivery in late 2015. Aircraft C1 flew for 45 min. from Duluth, Minnesota, on Nov. 25. C1 joins the first certification flight-test aircraft, C0, which first flew in March and has logged some 220 hr. over 150 flights. A third aircraft is expected to join the test program in the near future, Cirrus says.
Russian Helicopters has begun flight testing the Mi-171A2 medium helicopter, the latest iteration of the long-lived Mil Mi-8 equipped with new engines, rotors and glass-cockpit avionics. Developed by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, the Mi-171A2 is powered by two digitally controlled, 2,400-shp Klimov VK-2500PS-03 turboshafts, replacing the Mi-8/17 family’s 2,200-shp TV3-117s.
