February 26, 2008

Trial Stalled for ExcelAire Pilots

By by Tony Danby

The Brazilian criminal court case against the two U.S. pilots–Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino–and four air traffic controllers involved in a fatal midair between an ExcelAire Legacy 600 and a Gol Airlines Boeing 737-800 above the Amazon jungle in September 2006 has stalled while a judge decides whether the case will be heard in a military court or a federal criminal court. The conflict about who sh more

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Mode-S Flight ID Capability Finally Being Realized

By by Jennifer Harrington

A Lufthansa Boeing 737 recently became the first aircraft to use Mode S capability to transmit its radar identification (flight ID), without the use of secondary surveillance radar (SSR) code. Rod Marten, who oversees mode-S operations at Eurocontrol, said that air traffic controllers typically assign a four-digit SSR code to a target on the radar screen then manually correlate the aircraft inform more

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Hawker Beech Exits FBO Fuel and Line Business

By By Nigel Moll

Hawker Beechcraft announced on Friday that it is selling its wholly owned fuel and line operations to Signature parent BBA Aviation for $128.5 million. The deal includes FBOs at seven domestic locations in Atlanta; Houston and San Antonio; Indianapolis; Tampa, Fla.; Van Nuys, Calif.; and Wichita, Kan. Hawker Beech will however retain its factory-owned maintenance and customer support facilities at more

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Citation III Crashes in Venezuela

By By Nigel Moll

A 1987 U.S.-registered Cessna Citation III crashed in Venezuela on February 18, but details are scant. The accident is not in the NTSB database, and a spokesman told AIN this morning that the Board had no plans to dispatch an investigator to the scene of this accident on foreign soil. Unconfirmed reports say the airplane plummeted to the ground from FL330, killing the three people on board. Beyond more

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MD Helicopters Could Buy a VLJ Manufacturer

By By Kirby J. Harrison

Yesterday at Heli-Expo in Houston, MD Helicopters CEO Lynn Tilton told the aviation press that she is “probably going to buy a very light jet”–not just an airplane, but an entire company. Tilton added that she has been negotiating with a composites production firm in Italy. MD Helicopters is also believed to be eyeing Adam Aircraft, which had been hoping to bring the all-composite Adam A700 VLJ to more

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Eurocopter has $1B day as EC 175 orders pour in

By Kirby J. Harrison

Eurocopter closed out the second day of Heli-Expo 2008 with new firm orders and options for more than 200 helicopters with a total value estimated in excess of $1 billion. The company’s firm orders alone were in the neighborhood $850 million, substantially more than the $732 million for all OEM firm commitments disclosed at Heli-Expo’07.

Eurocopter president and CEO Lutz Bertling had no more

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Tilton: ‘Don’t bet against me’

By Kirby J. Harrison

MD Helicopters CEO Lynn Tilton is not one to mince words, and in her address at the company’s media conference here yesterday she made no exception.

The outspoken Tilton defended the company that she assumed control of in 2005 while taking to task naysayers and critics and outlining the most recent steps being taken to return MDHI to profitability.

When Tilton’s investment fi more

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Former exec recounts woes at Silver State

By Matt Thurber and Mark Huber

When Silver State Helicopters salesman “John Smith” (not his real name) was laid off in mid-November from his job recruiting student helicopter pilots, he figured that the now-bankrupt company was cutting expenses in an attempt to make the financials look better for an initial public stock offering. Silver State owner Jerry Airola had often discussed an IPO, according to Smith, and it seemed that more

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Heli-Expo’08 breaks record for attendance

By Jennifer Harrington

The uncertain U.S. economy had little effect on sales and attendance here at Heli-Expo’08. A record-setting 16,829 rotorcraft enthusiasts had attended the show through yesterday afternoon, a figure certain to provide a boost to the industry’s confidence in the health of the worldwide helicopter market.

This year’s final count is already guaranteed to exceed the record of 16,200 visitors more

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Unmanned helo fits in an SUV

By Roger Mola

CybAero president Peter Muhlrad said users can pack the Vantage unmanned helicopter in a Chevy Suburban and have it aloft in 20 minutes with no specialized pilot training. Swing open its detachable nose and swap out the payload, and the three-blade unmanned helicopter can accept hardware for missions ranging from aerial mapping to search and rescue.

The Vantage, which is on display in more

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