The latest safety statistics released in January by UK-based consultancy Ascend qualify 2009 as “the safest year ever” for airline operations in terms of the number of fatal accidents. That said, high fatalities in several severe accidents pushed the number of passengers and crew killed in 2009 to 732, up 29.1% compared to 567 in 2008.
Saab in December secured a 200 million Swedish kronor ($27.4 million) contract for in-service support of Gripen multirole fighters. The contract was led by the Swedish defense materiel administration, acting for export customers of the single-engine combat aircraft in Thailand, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
One of the many things I’ve learned from presiding over a technology-based services company for the past 14-years is that if you are to not only survive but to grow, you need to constantly evaluate how fast to develop and deploy new applications and capabilities. Said another way, it’s really about how fast the market will adapt to advancing technology; how fast they see the value of change.
StandardAero to install an Aircell high-speed internet system and an optional Aircell cabin telecommunications router on Boeing 737-700 series, STC ST02753CH-D
FAA faces the daunting task of writing a Safety Management System (SMS) regulation that will accommodate the various aspects of industry yet provide a clear, consistent standard for operators. The complexity of writing SMS regulations is evident in industry comments on a potential rulemaking, with some organizations urging FAA to move forward expeditiously and others questioning whether FAA can legally issue a comprehensive, “unbound” proposal.
When Michael Williams, a professor of business at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), first joined the aviation business several decades ago, computers were “unheard of,” he recalls. Today, however, an understanding of technology and computer programs is an essential capability of every maintenance manager. “Being able to use maintenance planning software, scheduling software, being able to communicate electronically—these [skills] are needed more than anything today,” he says.
Aviation Specialties Unlimited amended STC to install a supplemental light system on Eurocopter Canada BO 105 LS A-3 and Eurocopter Deutschland BO-105C and BO-105S helicopters, STC SR01546SE
Aircraft Exterior Decals High-performance decals for aircraft are offered by Color Craft, which provided Olympic-themed decals to Air Canada for one of its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to celebrate the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Color Craft produces screen and digitally printed graphics, and its decals can be applied without specialized labor or environmentally controlled hangars, the company says.
Top-Loading Oven Grieve offers a new top-loading oven that electronically heats to 500 degrees F for curing components. The oven, No. 1007, features 4-in. insulated walls, an aluminized steel interior and exterior, a motor-operated rear hinge door and a compressed air manifold with eight connections; 60 KW are installed in Nichrome heating elements and three 3-HO recirculating blowers total 9,000 CFM for rear-to-front airflow.
Safety Station A storage unit for safety and first-aid equipment now is available from Shure Manufacturing. The reinforced steel safety unit features a stainless steel top and chase panel, and it comes equipped with leg levelers as well as a mirror, soap dispenser, towel dispenser, waste receptacle and emergency eye wash
The Pakistan defense ministry has awarded Lockheed Martin a $43-million contract to upgrade the avionics of seven navy P-3C Orion aircraft. The work, which will be done in the U.S. at plants in Eagan, Minn., and Greenville, S.C., is a continuation of a program that began in 2007. Lockheed then was named general contractor and paid $186.5 million to install new communication systems, inverse synthetic aperture radar, electronic support measures and acoustic tracking systems.
Once upon a time, the most technically competent A&Ps comprised the ranks of aviation maintenance managers. Organizations needing to fill a management position often would look on the shop floor for a experienced person with mechanical smarts and hand him the job, the assumption being that those who were best at maintaining an aircraft also would be best at managing maintainers of aircraft. There’s just one problem with this approach: it doesn’t work.
LONDON—EASA issued mandatory safety directives in December for the replacement of specified parts on Rolls-Royce Trent engines powering Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft. This work must be completed by January 2011. The mandate relates to concerns of ice build-up in the fuel oil heat exchanger (FOHE), which could potentially block fuel lines and shut down engines during long flights—an occurrence thought to have caused the crash-landing of a Boeing 777 at Heathrow in January 2008 and a May 2009 engine malfunction on a Trent 700-powered Etihad Airways A330.
Eurocopter’s Brazil subsidiary Helibras will upgrade 34 Brazilian Army Aviation AS365K Panther helicopters with new Turbomeca Arriel 2C2 CG engines with FADEC and Rockwell Collins’ Pro Line 21 digital radio communications systems. The modifications, slated to take place at a rate of four helicopters per year between 2011 and 2021, should extend the fleet’s service life by at least 25 years.
Ameco Beijing inducted an LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 767-300 for a C Check on Jan. 11. The contract specifically covers the C check for the aircraft, one of six 767-300ERs operated by LOT Polish.
The Pentagon awarded Bell-Boeing an $11.8-million contract for work on the Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures (Sirfc) system, which provides protection for USAF Special Operations Command’s CV-22 tiltrotors. The work includes switch-out of two line-replaceable units and antenna radome design modifications. Sirfc was deployed with the aircraft last year in Africa.
Enhancing safety remains the primary reason for installing health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS) on rotorcraft. But HUMS also reduce the operating costs of helicopters and prolong the useful life of various parts and systems. Operators use the technology to predict catastrophic component failures and replace those items in a timely fashion.
Crane acquired Merrimac Industries, a Caldwell, N.J.-based designer and manufacturer of RF microwave components, assemblies and micro-multifunction modules, for about $52 million in a deal expected to close in the first quarter.
In Russia, problems related to the SaM146 engine are reported to be behind the delayed delivery of the first Sukhoi Superjet 100, which Aeroflot now expects in mid-2010. The SaM146 engines are developed and produced by Powerjet, a joint venture between Snecma and NPO Saturn.
For airlines and business jet operators, there has long been the argument that radials are the aircraft tire of the future, given their significant advantages over bias types. Southwest Airlines’ Richard Giacomello reports that the carrier has seen about a 30% increase in overall tire life with radials over bias tires. The basis of that comparison is data collected since 2001 on the radial tires used on Southwest’s Boeing 737-700 and the bias types on its 737-300 and -500 aircraft.
Three H-3 Mk-2-variant Sea King helicopters operated by Egypt will be refurbished by AgustaWestland North America in a depot maintenance program. The company received a $17.4-million contract via the U.S. foreign military sales program. Work is to be finished by the end of the year.
