October 2008

9/11 Fuel Spill Causes No Damage

By Jennifer Harrington

A valve left open on a fuel-farm tank at Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls, S.D., on September 11 allowed nearly 10,000 gallons of jet-A to spill into a containment area. Landmark Aviation, the FBO in charge of the fuel farm, was able to shut off the fuel after an alarm alerted personnel to the spill. “There was no damage,” a Landmark spokesman told AIN, “and things worked as designed more

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SDR Database Undergoes Testing

By Jennifer Harrington

The FAA’s Service Difficulty Reporting System (SDR) database is undergoing maintenance and should be available for queries after testing is complete, according to the agency. The final step before reopening the SDR database for public use is a test with three large submitters of reports to the database to see how the system responds. Once the upgrades are complete, access will be available via a l more

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TAG Owner Plans Around-the-world Flight

By Jennifer Harrington

Aziz Ojjeh, vice president and one of the owners of Luxembourg-based TAG Group Holdings, is planning to set a new record for an around-the-world flight over the poles in the company’s Bombardier Global Express (HB-JEX). Planned for November so that airfields in Antarctica are available for emergency use, the flight will depart from and return to Farnborough Airport in England, and make five refuel more

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FAA Updates Mx/Modification Guidance

By Jennifer Harrington

The FAA has updated guidance provided to field inspectors on how to determine the recommended form of approval for aircraft alterations. Maintenance and modification companies and avionics installers often encounter problems when seeking agreement with the FAA on what qualifies for field approval by FAA inspectors and what needs to go through the more time-consuming STC or DER data approval proces more

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Aircell broadband coming to bizjets

By Stephen Pope

Aircell’s air-to-ground broadband Internet service is poised for significant growth following the announcement that Delta Air Lines plans to equip its entire mainline fleet of 330 airplanes with hardware needed to access the service, as well as the news that Aircell is about to install the system in the first customer business jet.

The Aircell network operation center near Chicago is q more

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Financial Woes Leave F1 Kestrel in Limbo

By Jennifer Harrington

The UK’s Farnborough Aircraft filed for bankruptcy protection on September 12, and its administrator is now seeking fresh investors in the company or someone willing to buy the intellectual property rights for its F1 Kestrel single-turboprop aircraft program. Proposals for the company’s future can be made to creditors by the first week of November, and it can remain in administration for at least more

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APS Launches Jet Upset Recovery Training

By Jennifer Harrington

Mesa, Ariz.-based APS Emergency Maneuver Training recently started offering jet upset recovery training in full-motion simulators to teach pilots how to survive in-flight loss of control. The two-day, three-mission simulator course–conducted in a level-D Embraer ERJ 145, level-C Beechcraft King Air 200 or level-C Cessna Citation device–is modeled around the recommended training procedures and trai more

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AeroStrategy: BizAv Mx On the Rise

By Jennifer Harrington

Consulting firm AeroStrategy sees a huge bump in business aircraft maintenance needs by 2012, due mainly to large numbers of deliveries during recent years and growth in sales of business jets outside the U.S. The global business aviation maintenance market currently totals about $7 billion a year. The current annual utilization rate of the business aviation fleet is about 10 million hours. Accord more

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Bombardier Reports Revenue Increase

By Jennifer Harrington

Bombardier last month reported a year-over-year revenue increase of 22 percent, to $4.9 billion, in its second fiscal quarter ending July 31, thanks in large part to its aerospace division. The company’s aerospace division contributed $2.5 billion of these revenues in the quarter, up from $2.2 billion in the same period last year. Overall, Bombardier logged a $246 million profit for the three-mont more

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New Rule Could Halt Parts Exportation

By Jennifer Harrington

PMA manufacturers might have a harder time exporting their civilian aircraft parts due to a new International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR rule) issued by the State Department, according to the Modification and Replacement Parts Association. Parts designated as standard and/or integral equipment for civilian aircraft that were previously ITAR-exempt might now fall within the State Department’ more

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