A breakdown of Brazil's air traffic control system is the primary cause of the Sept. 29, 2006, midair of a Gol Airlines 737-800 and a Legacy 600 over the Amazon jungle--so concludes a report submitted to Brazilian police investigators by the business jet's operator, ExcelAire.
David Stone, former head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), has a plan to deal with the high attrition rate of part-time airport screeners: partial privatization. "It's very clear we need a hybrid system," rather than one that is "just public or private," Stone told a counterterrorism conference in Quebec last week. Hiring and training part-time federal workers only to have them leave is "costing the U.S. taxpayer a lot of money," he says.
You can now register ONLINE for AVIATION WEEK Events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or call Lydia Janow at +1 (212) 904-3225/+1 (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada Only) Oct. 17-18--MRO Asia, Shanghai. PARTNERSHIPS Apr. 30-May 2--RFID Journal Live, Orlando, Fla. Sept. 24-28--International Aeronautical Congress, Hyderabad, India. May 22-24--EBACE, Geneva. June 18-24--Paris air show. Sept. 19-22--Aviation Expo China, Beijing.
Volga-Dnepr expects sales this year to top $1 billion, after reaching $725 million the year before. The expansion this year will be fueled by the fielding of the first of three Boeing 747-400ER freighters. Long-term ambitions are "to enter the top 20 of the world's largest airlines by 2015," says Volga-Dnepr group president, Alexey Isaikin. Revenue growth last year was 55% over the 2005 result.
In the past few months, the news media have been frantically reporting on extreme weather and the passengers who were trapped in airplanes during the related delays. Politicians are joining the call for a "passenger bill of rights." Pundits are condemning the airlines and there is apparent unhappiness with the state of U.S. air travel. Unfortunately, without policy reform, the current situation only promises to worsen.
Design updates to Airbus's emerging twin-wide-body A350XWB are aimed at improving aerodynamic performance and may allow higher seating capacity. Additionally, engineers are starting to identify areas where new technologies could lead to a more efficiently developed program. That's critical because the A350--which was formally launched in December--is the lead project as Airbus tries to remake processes under its Power8 restructuring plan, still in its early phases.
Capt. Carlos Limon, an Airbus A320 pilot with Mexicana, has been elected president of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Assns. He was deputy president and succeeds Capt. Dennis Dolan. Following Limon as deputy president will be Capt. Paul Rice, a Boeing 747-400 pilot for United Airlines. Rice is also first vice president of the U.S.-based Air Line Pilots Assn. Capt. Richard Woodward, an A330 pilot for Qantas, was elected executive vice president-standards, and Air Canada Jazz Capt. Dan Adamus was elected executive vice president-North America.
The U.S. Air Force plans to issue an amendment to its request for proposals for its future Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter in May. Boeing won a $712-million contract in November to begin work on the Pave Hawk replacement, but competitors Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky quickly cried foul. The Government Accountability Office cited problems with the Air Force's calculations of life-cycle cost during the source selection.
Market conditions, especially in commercial avionics, are as strong as Rockwell Collins Chairman, President and CEO Clay Jones has ever seen them in his 11 years with the company. Jones was speaking about the company's financial results to analysts on Apr. 24. Commercial sales climbed 22% in the first three months of this year versus a year ago, with a 50/50 split between sales to aircraft manufacturers and in the aftermarket. This helped propel Rockwell Collins's total sales in the quarter up 13% to $1.08 billion, up from $957 million a year ago.
David Sweet has been appointed vice president-environment, health and safety for DRS Technologies, Parsippany, N.J. He was vice president/associate general counsel for environmental, health and safety afffairs for L-3 Communications.
Alfred Duplessis (see photo) , who is vice president-engineering of The Omnicon Group Inc., Hauppauge, N.Y., has been named 2006 Engineer of the Yearby the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' EEE Reliability Society. This award recognizes contributions in "reliability, modeling, reliability assessments, reliability improvement studies and fault analyses." Daniele Mortari, who is associate professor of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University in College Station, has received the IEEE's 2007 Judith A. Resnick Award.
Vought Aircraft Industries is seeking a balance between its commercial and military programs as it pursues new contracts that will fill the gap between prime contractors and build-to-print subcontractors.
Frank Morring, Jr. (Goddard Space Flight Center, Md.)
Future astronauts may be able to keep the Hubble Space Telescope operating indefinitely, thanks to a piece of hardware that will be attached to the observatory during next year's planned servicing mission.
Norway is in talks with the U.S. regarding the purchase of four C-130J airlifters. The deal, estimated at $520 million for the entire foreign military sales package, would include two spare engines as well as extensive self-protection capabilities. The electronic warfare suite includes ALR-56M and AAR-47 radar and missile warners, respectively, and the ALE-47 chaff/flare dispenser.
Continental Airlines and its former wholly owned regional subsidiary, ExpressJet, have entered binding arbitration to resolve their disagreement on block-hour rates for ExpressJet's 2007 Continental Express flying, according to Continental's first-quarter SEC filings. Continental no longer has a stake in ExpressJet, having sold nearly all its remaining shares in the first quarter, for $35 million, and a small remainder in April. As of Mar.
The NTSB has released additional details about the Apr. 12 runway overrun involving a Pinnacle Airlines Bombardier CRJ-200 at Traverse City, Mich. During the landing rollout on 6,500-ft. Runway 28 at Cherry Capital Airport at 12:43 a.m. (EDT), Flight 4712 exited the runway surface onto a snow-covered field and came to rest 100 ft. beyond the pavement. Weather data show visibility was 0.5 mi. in snow; vertical visibility was 200 ft. The pilots had been communicating directly with the airport's snow removal officials about runway conditions.
AirTran Airways and its takeover target, Midwest Airlines, turned in first-quarter profits this year, both reversing year-earlier losses, but winter storm miseries kept JetBlue Airways a money-loser.
Iran showcased its Raad anti-ship cruise missile, a heavily modified Silkworm, during a recent military parade in Tehran. The missile uses a turbojet engine, with one of two bifurcated air inlets clearly visible. The missile has a stated range of 350 km. (189 naut. mi.). The shore-defense version was tested during military exercises in February. The armament likely uses solid propellant boosters for launch, and then transitions to the turbojet.
Helmut Himmelreich has been appointed senior executive vice president of Zurich-based SR Technics Group's Aircraft Services, effective July 1. He was head of the Technical Div. of Swiss International Air Lines and succeeds Alex Kugler, who will join the staff of CEO Hans Lerch. Erwin Bamert has been named executive vice president of the group's Components Services Div. He was head of the components business of SR Technics in Switzerland and succeeds Mike Humphreys. Thomas Bosch has become senior vice president-human resources.
Mesaba Airlines emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Apr. 24 and was acquired by Northwest Airlines under a stock purchase and reorganization agreement signed in January. Under the pact, Northwest was to honor a $145-million unsecured claim by Mesaba creditors and receive 100% of the new Mesaba stock. Mesaba's fleet of Saab SF340s and 50-seat Bombardier regional jets will be bolstered in coming months by delivery of the first of 36 76-seat CRJ-900s.
James A. Brown has been named chairman of Gales Industries Inc., Bay Shore, N.Y. He has been a member of the board of directors and chairman/ CEO of the Ashlin Development Corp. Brown succceeds Michael A. Gales, the company's founder and executive chairman, who has resigned.
Mel French has become vice president-business development for the Radar Systems Div. of the Telephonics Corp., Farmingdale, N.Y. He was director of marketing and business development for Kaman Helicopters.
The U.S. Army's troubled $5.3-billion Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) program won't be getting additional funding under the Fiscal 2007 supplemental defense appropriations bill hammered out by Congressional appropriators. House and Senate negotiators did not explain why they snubbed the ARH program, other than noting in documents that they were deleting Defense Dept. procurement requests that should go through the normal budget process. The House passed the compromise spending bill last week by a vote of 218-208. The Senate passed the measure 51-46 the next day.
One Mustang per week is being delivered from Cessna Aircraft Co.'s facility here, but officials expect to boost that to two per week by year's end as production accelerates to keep pace with strong demand. Alan R. Orr, director of Mustang operations at the facility, says there are now more than 300 workers assigned to build the Mustang. To achieve the higher production rates forecast for this year and next, he plans to have 400 on the payroll by December and 550 on the factory floor in 2009.
NASA has decided to bring astronaut Sunita Williams home from the International Space Station on the upcoming STS-117 mission, now scheduled for June, instead of the STS-118 mission after that. Williams left Earth on Dec. 9, 2006, with an original plan to return after about six months in orbit. However, the delay in launching the space shuttle Atlantis led to the decision to bump-up her return.
