Brent WoutersFormer Cirrus Aircraft CEO Brent Wouters has taken a job with IO, a Phoenix-based data management company. Wouters left Cirrus last year after engineering the sale of the company to CAIGA, of China....
Boeing says that despite a generally sluggish economy worldwide, it's being forced to increase production of its full line of airliners as demand keeps increasing. "Except in Europe, we expect airlines to be profitable," Randy Tinseth, Boeing's vice president for marketing, told Dow Newswire. "When business is growing, airlines are profitable, they buy new airplanes." High oil prices might be to blame for some of the economic downturn but they're also helping to fuel the demand for new, more fuel-efficient airliners. He said Boeing expects airlines to retire about 500 older aircraft a year. At the same time, passenger growth, fueled in part by the expanding middle classes of many developing countries, will be about 5 percent this year after jumping 6 percent last year....
A $20 million class action lawsuit has been launched against Air Canada by passengers aboard a Toronto-Zurich flight that was mistakenly thrown into a dive by one of the pilots. As we reported, at least 16 people, 14 passengers and two flight attendants, were hurt when the first officer, who had just awoken from a sanctioned in-seat nap, spotted an oncoming Air Force C-17 and thought they were on a collision course. Moments before, he'd mistaken the planet Venus for the C-17. The military plane was 1,000 feet below the 767-300 at 12 o'clock. The FO pushed the Boeing into an emergency dive, dropping 400 feet. It then, just as abruptly, climbed 800 feet before settling into level flight with the captain under control. Seven of the injured were taken to hospital when the aircraft arrived in Zurich three hours later. But it wasn't the incident itself, which happened in January of 2011, that pushed the passengers to legal action. Their statement of claim alleges the airline "actively covered up the true cause of the terrifying episode."...
Europe's biggest and most important business aviation show gets under way formally next Monday. EBACE, held annually at the PalExpo convention center, conveniently located at Geneva Airport, will run until May 16 and include attendance by a worldwide audience and exhibitors. New product announcements have begun to appear in advance of the show, which is traditionally a launch pad for new aircraft....
Eclipse Aerospace and Sikorsky subsidiary PZL Mielec have signed a deal that will see the major airframe components of the new Eclipse 550 built at the PZL plant in Poland. PZL, which now builds the international version of the Blackhawk helicopter and the M-28 fixed-wing aircraft, will build the fuselage, empennage and wings for the 550, which is the same airframe as the original Eclipse 500 with updated and enhanced electronics. The parts will be shipped from Poland to Eclipse's plant in Albuquerque for final assembly....
The FAA will accept comments until June 8, 2012, on revised rules (PDF) for what used to be called the Block Aircraft Registration Request program, which allows aircraft owners to prevent public access to information tied to their aircraft N-number. The FAA wanted to all but scrap that ability last year but was blocked by Congress by an amendment in an appropriations bill. At the time, the FAA said it would present new rules for participation in the program; the Notice of Proposed Process appeared in the Federal Register May 9. Aircraft already on the list will be automatically included under the new rules but the rulemaking sets out some specific criteria for new applicants....
Graham HorneGraham Horne has been named Cirrus's regional director for Southeast Asia and Australia. Horne was previously the company's U.K. sales director....
Avpro, one of the world's largest business jet brokerages, has teamed with Asian Sky Group, one of the most experienced Asian aviation consultant groups, to allow both companies to better serve the expanding Asian market. The announcement was made at EBACE in Geneva. Avpro handles about 90 aircraft transactions a year for a diverse clientele and the partnership with Asian Sky will leverage that broad experience to better serve Asian clientele. "Given the rapidly diversifying demand for business aviation aircraft and services throughout China and across the Asia-Pacific region, this strategic partnership with Asian Sky Group allows Avpro to significantly increase its presence in these critical markets at this exciting time," said Chris Ellis, Managing Partner of Avpro, Inc. Asian Sky Managing Director Jay Shaw said Avpro will open opportunities for Asian Sky's existing and future clients. "With Avpro as a partner Asian Sky Group will be able to provide them with the best possible opportunities in the marketplace," Shaw said....
Scheduled flights will likely get priority over business aviation if weather or other factors disrupt normal air traffic during the 2012 London Olympics. The Financial Times says government regulators have determined that the country's private air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) already has the flexibility it needs to put airliners ahead of business aircraft without needing an official directive to do so. Officially, NATS operates under a policy of first come, first served, but in unusual circumstances can pick and choose which targets get the limited number of slots. NATS was non-committal on how it would handle those cases, telling the Financial Times only that it would run the airspace "as safely and efficiently as possible."...
GippsAero announced Tuesday that its new GA10 turboprop flew for the first time on May 1. The aircraft uses a Rolls-Royce 250 engine and the company says it's "the first single turboprop to be designed and developed in Australia." As the name implies, the GA10 has two more seats than the piston GA8 and is expected to pack the extra payload with even better performance than the already-capable piston airplane....
The NTSB on Tuesday released 16 recommendations for improving the safety record of experimental amateur-built aircraft, which have a fatal accident rate 3 to 4 times higher than the rest of the general aviation fleet. Most of the recommendations focus on transition training, which has long been recognized as a problem, and also suggest changes in how flight tests are conducted and how the flight characteristics of each airplane are documented. Nearly 10 percent of E-AB aircraft accidents occurred during first flight, the board said, and 14 out of the 125 accidents in aircraft that were sold crashed on the new owner's first flight. The recommendations are meant to "improve safety while maintaining the adventure of this vibrant segment of aviation," said board chair Deborah Hersman....
The FAA said on Tuesday it's ready to "reevaluate its policy" regarding the operation of historical aircraft for hire, and announced a series of public meetings on the topic. The meetings, which are open to the public, will be held June 26, 27, and 28 at FAA headquarters in Washington, D.C. The FAA said its current Living History Flight Experience policy, adopted in the mid-1990s, allows owner/operators of historic aircraft to sell passenger flights "as a way to generate funds needed to maintain and preserve these historically significant aircraft for future generations." However, the FAA said an "increasing number of requests ... [with a] clear market orientation" seek to operate types of aircraft, or offer various types of flight experiences, that aren't covered by the current policy....
If the Navy and Air Force were hoping for green gas for their airplanes, it's looking doubtful....
Following reports of cracked wing spar caps in several Cessna 210s in Australia and Canada, the FAA on Monday issued an emergency Airworthiness Directive requiring 3,665 of the airplanes in the U.S. to be inspected. If cracks are found in the spar cap, wing spar, or wing, they must be reported to the FAA, and the aircraft must be grounded until the affected parts are replaced or modified. The AD is effective on June 5. Cessna issued a service letter (PDF) addressing the issue last month....
Seacor Holdings, a large U.S. multi-national company, has several aviation business investments in China, and one of them just made a strategic partnership with Avpro, a large business jet broker, to better serve its customer base. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with Seacor's chairman of the board, Charles Fabrikant, about the opportunities in the Chinese aviation business.This podcast is brought to you by Bose Corporation....
Overheard flying into Chicago (ORD):ORD Approach:"British Airways, can you be down to 4,000 feet by XXXXX?"[pause]British Airways 12345:"I suppose so -- but I don't think I can bring the aircraft with me."John Finleyvia e-mail...
>>> AVWEB FUEL FINDERCURRENT PRICE FOR 100LL: $6.01 (down 2¢ from last week)CURRENT PRICE FOR JET A: $5.58 (down 5¢ from last week)Fuel prices provided weekly by AirNav, based on prices from the past 2 weeks. Changes are relative to last week's prices. /TEXT_ONLY-->AVweb reader Ralph Hoover had a longer delay than he'd planned at Tifton, Georgia's Henry Tift Myers Airport (KTMA) recently -- but what could have been a major delay served as opportunity to discover the helpful, efficient staff at our latest "FBO of the Week," Walker Aviation. Ralph tells the tale of our latest blue ribbon FBO:My wife landed at Tifton on our trip from Florida. While taxiing back to the ramp, the nose wheel tire on our RV-7 went flat. While my wife was arranging a rental car and hotel, Robbie Fender improvised a dolly and towed us back to the hangar. He then made tools available so I was able to disassemble and find the hole in the tube. The Western Auto in town was locked when we arrived but reopened to sell us a $2.00 patch kit. The next morning, with the assistance of Josh Hulett, we reassembled the nose wheel and were on our way. Both employees of Mr. Clark Walker were polite, friendly, and very helpful to us. We highly recommend Walker Aviation.Keep those nominations coming. For complete contest rules, click here.AVweb is actively seeking out the best FBOs in the country and another one, submitted by you, will be spotlighted here next Monday!...
The Airline Pilots Association is advising members (PDF) to voluntarily report to the FAA Aviation Safety Action Program even the most minor deviation from ATC instructions, regardless of their origin (i.e., equipment failure or even weather deviations) or risk being written up for a pilot deviation (PD). Although airline pilots are more likely to run afoul of a new FAA internal reporting policy for deviations, it applies to all aircraft under active control, and the consequences can include FAA enforcement and a note on a pilot's permanent record. While the intent of the policy shift appears to be to encourage pilots to self-report deviations (doing so triggers enforcement "incentives" that reduce the consequences) ALPA says pilots who have been assured by controllers that the transgression is a minor one not worthy of FAA attention have found out later that they've been written up. AVweb received this information over the weekend and neither the FAA nor the National Air Traffic Controllers Association was able to offer comment in time for the story to appear in this issue of AVwebFlash. We hope to follow up later this week....
Although it hasn't released the final report to the public, the FAA's unleaded avgas transition rulemaking committee (UAT-ARC), will recommend a fuel approvals process stretching out as long as 11 years and will be asking Congress for at least $60 million to fund the project, plus as much as $13 million from the industry. The report is now being reviewed by the Department of Transportation and sources told AVweb that it could be released "within a few weeks." Because the FAA insisted on keeping a tight lid on the process, none of the sources AVweb spoke to regarding the report agreed to be quoted. However, those we did speak to expressed satisfaction that the ARC's recommendations, if adopted in some form, will ignite meaningful progress in finding a replacement fuel for leaded avgas. "The snowball is starting to turn down the hill. There's some momentum here that's never been there before and I think it's a big positive," said Lycoming general manager Michael Kraft in this podcast recorded at Aero in Friedrichshafen. "What it does is to give anyone coming to market with a fuel a risk management plan. Nobody's willing to make the investment if they can't see the return," he added....
Justice Department attorneys representing the FAA Thursday said the agency made "errors" in enacting pilot fatigue rules that exempt cargo carriers and the issue would be revisited.FAA officials originally estimated that including cargo carriers in new pilot rest rules would cost the industry $214 million over ten years.Based at least in part on that cost estimate, the FAA exempted cargo pilots from the rules. Attorneys representing the FAA now say errors in the cost calculation are "sufficient" to review those calculations. The decision to revisit the issue is concurrent with a lawsuit brought against the FAA by the UPS pilots union. And the FAA's attorneys have made a request regarding that action....
The EAA does not want its name associated with the event that has in the past been publicized as the EAA AirVenture Cup Race, but organizers Friday announced the race will go on. Organizers say they understand that EAA's present position is that all references to EAA be removed from all materials associated with the race. However, EAA will "continue providing support to race volunteers," according to organizers. And the race, which organizers say was founded by EAA and with direct support by Tom Poberezny, will now continue as scheduled with help from another organization....
Cessna introduced its newest, biggest jet, the Citation Longitude, at the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) this week. AVweb's Mary Grady spoke with Brad Thress, Cessna's senior vice president for business jets, from the show floor in Geneva to learn more details about the design and some of the choices that were made.This podcast is brought to you by Bose Corporation....
Red Bull Wednesday shared video of one of its latest sponsored adventures -- five wingsuit skydivers joining up with and maintaining formation with two sailplanes in a dive over Austria. The team flew two aerobatic LET L-13 Blanik sailplanes and just to complicate things, the lead flew inverted and one skydiver formed up in between the inverted and upright glider. The skydivers and gliders came together in formation at roughly 12,000 feet. The sailplanes wore wingtip-mounted smoke canisters and one skydiver wore one on an ankle. The trick of the task was mating airspeed and descent rates and this time all members performed flawlessly. Check the video after the jump....
On August 27, 2006, Comair Flight 5191 crashed during an attempted takeoff from the wrong runway at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport, killing all 49 aboard save the co-pilot, James Polehinke, who has now become the subject of a documentary. A Chicago filmmaker will feature Polehinke in the movie "Sole Survivor," which creates accounts of the lives of people who became sole survivors of commuter aircraft crashes. It will be released this fall. Polehinke was at the controls of Comair's CRJ-100 as it sped into the grass off the end of the airport's shorter, narrower Runway 26. It had been cleared for the twice-as-wide and twice-as-long Runway 22. Polehinke awoke from a coma after the crash to learn he had facial fractures, a complex fracture of the pelvis, two fractures of the spine, and broken bones in his left leg, right foot and right hand. The film may show that wasn't the worst of it....
Troubled by decreasing volume in a flat aviation economy, Mattituck Services, one of the northeast's longest-established engine shops, will close at the end of May, according to Continental Motors. Some of the 23 affected employees will move to Continental's Fairhope, Alabama facility, which offers similar services on overhauls and factory service....
Virgin Atlantic will allow six cell phone calls at a time on its London-New York flights. Is that a plus or minus for you?Plus: Last week, we asked AVweb readers what kinds of cars they drive; click through to see the breakdown of answers we received....
Hariel CorsairHariel Corsair is now an airline support manager for Goodrich Aerostructures in Chula Vista, California, managing accounts for multiple airlines and assisting with B787 support and entry into service. He was formerly at Pratt and Whitney....
"Both EAA and the NTSB know that we must improve the accident record of amateur-built aircraft," said EAA President Rod Hightower on Tuesday evening, in a video response to the safety board's report released earlier that day. However, he said, some of the NTSB's recommendations to the FAA, which could result in more regulations, are "worrisome." For example, the NTSB wants new regulations for testing engine performance and for documenting flight tests in amateur-built aircraft. "At EAA, we do not believe that more regulation is the answer ... Education, versus new regulation, is a better solution," Hightower said....
The FAA's declaration last week that it will allow unmanned aircraft systems weighing up to 25 pounds to fly at altitudes up to 400 AGL and within sight of an operator didn't draw much reaction in the aviation world, but it did get a response from the mainstream media. Conservative pundit Charles Krauthammer said all drones should be banned in U.S. airspace. "Drones are instruments of war," he said on Fox News. "I don't want to see it hovering over anybody's home." At the other end of the political spectrum, the American Civil Liberties Union foresees a "nightmare scenario" where drone surveillance "leads to an oppressive atmosphere where people learn to think twice about everything they do, knowing that it will be recorded … and possibly used to target them."...
After 10 spectators and a pilot died in a crash at last year's National Championship Air Races in Reno, the fate of the event was uncertain, but now organizers say they are definitely holding the races as usual this September, although with a modified course. Reno Air Racing Association Director Mike Houghton said on Tuesday the largest pylon course will be moved further away from the crowd, and some curves will be modified to decrease the g-forces on pilots. The association has hired a new safety director, secured $100 million in insurance, and acquired a permit from the city. G-force training will be required for all pilots, and organizers will scrutinize pilot age and medical certifications. Tickets for the event, which will run Sept. 12-16, are now on sale at the association's website....
Forty-two year-old Gary Connery Wednesday may have become the first person to land a wingsuit without first deploying a parachute, on purpose and without injury, with the aid of about 18,000 cardboard boxes. Connery performed the stunt near his hometown of Henley, England, and flew two test jumps from a helicopter hovering at 2,400 feet about one mile from his landing site. He landed those under canopy, before committing to the final jump. His last landing was facilitated by a 350-foot "runway" that stood roughly 12 feet high and 50 feet wide, made up of large empty cardboard boxes. Aside from the wingsuit, Connery wore a full-face helmet and the kind of neck brace worn by race-car drivers. He flared above the cardboard runway before settling into the boxes at an estimated forward speed of about 50 mph. Some of his first words after landing? "I'm in a strange space."...
A 52-year-old Piedmont Airlines pilot has been charged with unlawful possession of a concealed firearm after a security check of his bag Friday found a .357 Magnum revolver loaded with five rounds of ammunition. Prosecutors now allege that the pilot, Brett Dieter, had been traveling with the gun since at least May 16, when he skipped an X-ray screening at Charlottesville airport. Dieter is reportedly not a member of the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program. Authorities allege Deiter traveled with the gun in his bag over the course of two days and seven flights. And that may have harsh consequences....
Gary Connery made the record books on Tuesday by jumping out of an airplane and landing unscathed without a parachute. Did that cross some hypothetical line between legitimacy and lunacy?Plus: Last week, we asked AVweb readers what they thought of Virgin Atlantic's decision to allow limited cell phone calls on trans-Atlantic flights; click through for the breakdown of answers....