Ikuko Hatano, a woman whose daughter died in the 2003 Sundance Helicopters crash in the Grand Canyon, was awarded $3.2 million in damages by a Clark County jury. During an air-tour sightseeing flight on Sept. 20, 2003, a Sundance-operated Eurocopter AS 350BA collided with a canyon wall and crashed. The accident took place during a VFR descent into Descent Canyon, about 1.5 miles east of the Grand Canyon West Airport.
Air Transport and Cargo
News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.
October 9, 2006 - 10:31am
Plattsburgh, N.Y.-based Continental Connection affiliate CommutAir signed a deal with Horizon Air last month to lease sixteen 37-seat Bombardier Q200s. The contract, which includes maintenance support and spare parts, calls for deliveries to start in January, at which time CommutAir plans to start replacing Beech 1900Ds at Continental’s Cleveland hub.
October 9, 2006 - 10:28am
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has decided to establish a special-purpose company dedicated to attracting the estimated $1 billion it needs to market a proposed pair of 70- and 90-seat regional jets, according to Japanese media reports.
October 9, 2006 - 10:22am
The FAA ordered operators of certain Beech 1900s to visually inspect their wing spars before they resume flying after the agency received reports of cracking in the rear spar lower caps and rear spar web of two 1900Ds in August. One airplane had accumulated 19,126 service hours when its operator found the cracks in the lower aft spar cap flange. However, they extended upward into the web and ended at the lightening hole in the spar web.
October 9, 2006 - 10:20am
Frontier Airlines has chosen to establish its own regional subsidiary to fly Bombardier Q400s last month rather than recruit its regional code-share partner and the only other airline to fly the type in the continental U.S., Seattle-based Horizon Air. The
October 9, 2006 - 10:06am
First the good news, or at least the news that most people in the international aerospace and defense industry can agree on. Last month’s 46th Paris Air Show was the most dynamic and commercially upbeat gathering of the global business since the June 2001 show, which had been staged in what now seem like halcyon days just before 9/11 and the still-unfolding torment of what has followed.
October 9, 2006 - 7:44am
“It caught my eye becauseit was…different,” said Brad Brooks, a customer service agent. That difference was an angleof ascent more than 45 degrees– other than a brief correction so violent that the tail pitched over the nose. “I’ve never seen that before,” said Brooks.
October 9, 2006 - 6:28am
The 78- to 88-seat Embraer E175 earned its FAA certification last month, paving the way for deliveries to start in the U.S. Indianapolis-based Republic Airlines, still the only U.S. customer for the stretched-by-two-rows variant of the Embraer E170, plans to start accepting its order for 30 of the airplanes in an 86-seat configuration next year.
October 9, 2006 - 6:28am
Pratt & Whitney Canada plans to build a brand-new engine for Bom-bardier’s C Series line of single-aisle airliners. The Canadian companies con-firmed the powerplant selection at the Paris Air Show, ending a month of speculation about which, if any, engine builder would step forward after the CFM International and International Aero Engines (IAE) consortia rejected Bombardier’s appeals for a non-derivative design.
October 9, 2006 - 5:53am
The recent buying frenzy for FBOs has reached at least one airline. ExpressJet Holdings, whose operations include a fleet of 255 Embraer regional jets operated as Continental Express, has purchased a non-controlling interest in Wing Aviation, an FBO, charter and refurbishment firm based in Conroe, Texas.
