BELL Model 206B and 206L helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0488; Directorate Identifier 2008-SW-002-AD; Amendment 39-17619; AD 2013-20-13] – requires installing a placard beneath the engine power dual tachometer and revising the operating limitations section of the rotorcraft flight manual (RFM). This AD was prompted by several incidents of third-stage engine turbine wheel failures, which were caused by excessive vibrations at certain engine speeds during steady-state operations.
The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that FAA significantly scale back a proposed airworthiness directive (AD) seeking inspections and replacement of Engine Components Inc. (ECi) and Airmotive Engineering “Titan” cylinders found on 6,000 Continental 520 and 550 model reciprocating engines.
Embraer received a purchase agreement from Arab Wings for a Lineage 1000. The aircraft, scheduled for delivery in early 2014, will be managed for an undisclosed customer and available for charter. The aircraft, based in Jordan, will join an Embraer Legacy 600 and 650 on Arab Wings’ operating certificate.
RUSS PIGGOTT joined Boston JetSearch, Inc. to help manage the aircraft search and acquisition process for clients. Piggott formerly spent 14 years as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force flying the F-16, and currently serves as a mission-ready F-15 pilot for the Massachusetts Air National Guard.
The National Business Aviation Association is appointing two new vice presidents to lead the association’s government relations efforts. Dick Doubrava, currently director of legislative affairs for NBAA, was promoted to vice president. Christa Fornarotto, currently FAA associate administrator for airports, also joined the association as vice president. The appointments come as Lisa Piccione, senior vice president of government relations, plans to leave the association at year’s end to move to Brussels.
CHAFIK HILAL was named managing director, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, for Rockwell Collins, effective Jan. 1. Hilal will lead and develop the company’s Commercial and Government Systems business interests in the region. He currently oversees Rockwell Collins government and military business interests in the region. Hilal has spent his professional career at Rockwell Collins, beginning in Government Systems.
China is continuing to ease regulations to foster growth of general aviation in the nation. The latest move, which takes effect Dec. 1, lifts a requirement to obtain flight mission approval for many general aviation flights, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. While they don’t need approvals in many cases, general aviation operators are still required to file flight plans. Operators still need approvals for flights in certain areas, such as border areas and prohibited zones, GAMA says.
Jet Aviation’s fixed-based operation at Dubai World Central’s Al Maktoum International Airport is expanding its services to accommodate an anticipated increase in traffic. The new offerings include 96-hr. visa facilities, public transport and improved catering options through local service suppliers, along with 24/7 limousine service, oxygen and nitrogen services and airside storage. In addition, Jet Aviation has added interior and exterior VIP aircraft cleaning, as well as bright work polishing, through Go Aviation.
Gulf Helicopters has signed the largest order by an offshore operator so far for the AgustaWestland AW189 eight-metric-ton helicopter. The Qatar-based operator will buy 15 of the aircraft, which is awaiting imminent certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency. The firm order, announced during the Dubai Airshow, is the second-largest for the new helicopter, behind Bristow Group’s, which has ordered six aircraft for offshore operations and a further 11 to support its U.K. search-and-rescue (SAR) contract awarded this year.
EMBRAER Model EMB-135ER, -135KE, -135KL, and -135LR airplanes; and Model EMB-145, -145ER, -145MR, -145LR, -145XR, -145MP, and -145EP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2013-0868; Directorate Identifier 2013-NM-194-AD; Amendment 39-17650; AD 2013-22-18] – requires repetitive detailed inspections to detect discrepancies on the attaching parts of the lower eyelet fitting of the cockpit windshield center-post, and, if no discrepancy is found, a check to make sure the bolts are tight, and replacement of the attaching parts if necessary.
Los Angeles-based TWC Aviation and Oxford, Conn.-based Key Air each added aircraft to their respective charter and management fleets. TWC added a fourth Bombardier Global Express. The 6,000-nm Global Express becomes one of 20 large cabin jets available for charter from TWC Aviation. Meanwhile, a Dassault Falcon 900C joined the Key Air fleet. The Falcon is based in Virginia, helping to expand Key Air’s newest market, Washington, D.C., and the Mid-Atlantic region.
Signature Flight Support, already the largest and fastest-growing fixed-base operation chain worldwide, is set to further its penetration in the Caribbean, winning a request for proposals for a new FBO at Port of Spain, Trinidad. The RFP, for a facility at Piarco International Airport, is the second RFP that Signature has won this year; Signature earlier captured a bid to build a $70 million facility at San Jose International Airport.
Astronics Corporation’s Max-Viz Enhanced Vision System was selected as standard equipment aboard the Simplex Aerospace SkyCannon and Fire Attack systems. The SkyCannon is a helicopter-mounted system for firefighters. The Max-Viz system will enable operators of Simplex firefighting equipment to see through smoke while fighting high-rise fires. The Fire Attack system supports data acquisition of door operation, hover pump activation and foam pump activation, all correlated with aircraft GPS position.
Constant Aviation has moved its interior operations to a new 30,000-sq.-ft. facility, after quickly outgrowing the existing facility at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The company in 2011 expanded its facilities to accommodate the interior work, but within two years, “our interior business has grown to the point where we needed to relocate the facility to a larger location with a better layout to increase productivity,” says Dave Bowman, vice president of operations at Cleveland.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association elected its next slate of officers for 2014, with Boeing Business Jets President Steve Taylor taking the lead as chairman. Taylor has served as vice chairman and chairman of the association’s Flight Operations Policy Committee. Hartzell Propeller President Joe Brown will fill the role of vice chairman and continue serving as chairman of the Policy & Legal Issues Committee.
FAA, which has increasingly worked toward a risk-management based approach to safety over the past decade, is moving to incorporate it with private pilots with the overhaul of knowledge testing standards. The agency in the coming weeks is expected to publish and seek comment on a comprehensive report released this month that provides detailed recommendations and draft documents to establish knowledge testing standards for private, commercial and instructor certificates.
The business aviation market is continuing to evolve, but a long-awaited recovery is coming slower than anticipated, according to market experts who spoke at the SpeedNews 18th Annual Regional & Business Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference this month in Phoenix.
The San Diego Air & Space Museum is inducting the National Business Aviation Association into its International Air & Space Hall of Fame. The ceremony, planned for Nov. 16, is in recognition of NBAA’s 65 years of industry advocacy. NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen will accept the honor on behalf of the association during the induction ceremony. The ceremony also marks the International Air & Space Hall of Fame’s 50th anniversary.
Aviation Search Group, an executive recruiting firm for the aerospace and aviation industries, formed a new recruiting department dedicated to business aviation clientele. Grayson Barrows, director sales, says that hiring demand in the business aviation segment has grown significantly recently. Aviation Search Group works with manufacturers, airlines, service providers, business and general aviation businesses and airports.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-600-2B16 (CL-601-3A, CL-601-3R, and CL-604 variants) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2013-0332; Directorate Identifier 2013-NM-009-AD; Amendment 39-17637; AD 2013-22-05] – requires, for certain airplanes, inspecting for drain bottles having certain part numbers, and replacing affected drain bottles. This AD requires, for certain other airplanes, replacing drain bottles. This AD was prompted by reports of airspeed mismatch between the pilot and co-pilot’s airspeed indicators, which occurred during or after heavy rain.
MD HELICOPTERS Model MD900 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0486; Directorate Identifier 2010-SW-031-AD; Amendment 39-17622; AD 2013-20-16] – requires, for affected helicopters with certain main rotor blade (MRB) retention bolts installed, a daily check of the position of each bolt, a daily check and a repetitive inspection for a gap in each bolt, and, if necessary, removing and inspecting the bolt for a crack and replacing any cracked bolt with an airworthy bolt. This AD was prompted by multiple reports of in-service bolt failures.
