Methods for ensuring pilot competence are high on the list of necessary requirements to improve global pilot training, which has been an industry hot button since the crashes of Continental 3407 and Air France 447. “Graduation from a flight training program does not end a pilot’s learning nor does [earning] a license or rating necessarily demonstrate a pilot’s true level of competence,” said Robert Barnes, president of the International Association of Flight Training Professionals (IAFTP).
Education
February 20, 2013 - 12:55pm
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) North Valley Occupational Center/Aviation Center will continue to operate its training program at a leased Van Nuys facility, now that the FAA has confirmed that its $1-per-year lease is permitted by agency guidelines. The current lease expires on June 30.
The announcement follows months of behind-the-scenes negotiations led by LAUSD board member Nury Martinez, Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Van Nuys) and others to retain the LAUSD Aviation Center at Van Nuys Airport, where the lease cost had outstripped the school’s budget.
February 5, 2013 - 3:20am
Finding skilled welders is an industry-wide challenge, causing AAR to rethink the answer with a public-private partnership with Goldsboro, N.C.’s Wayne Community College. Working in partnership, the two have designed an eight-week welding certificate program to address a shortage of welders at AAR Mobility Systems. A spokesman for the company said it typically takes a year to earn a welding diploma at Wayne.
February 5, 2013 - 1:10am
Many, but not all, former Silver State Helicopter students have had their student loans forgiven in the wake of the 2008 bankruptcy and liquidation of what was then the largest civil helicopter school in the U.S. However, Cleveland-based KeyBank did not offer loan forgiveness, prompting 100 former students to sue, charging that the bank knew of Silver State’s precarious financial condition when it offered them high-interest-rate loans of up to $70,000 to attend the school. Arguments in the case were heard late last year by the Ninth Circuit U.S.
February 2, 2013 - 12:10am
For decades, painting airplanes has been a craft passed down in tribal fashion from one generation to the next, but with more understanding of how than why any particular process worked.
January 23, 2013 - 2:05pm
Eight StandardAero aircraft paint technicians have completed the Embry-Riddle Aeronautics University/Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC) program in aircraft painting. The six-week program confers a license in Aerospace Coatings Application (ACA) to those paint technicians who complete the course and pass an examination administered by an SSPC proctor.
StandardAero is the first MRO to implement the ACA program into its paint operations.
January 5, 2013 - 2:35am
Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer has a corporate culture that emphasizes giving back, and some 1,600 graduates of its Colégio Embraer Juarez Wanderley, in São Jose dos Campos, are evidence that the industry–and the company–benefit from the effort. With that in mind, the company is opening its second school, in Botucatu.
December 17, 2012 - 2:15pm
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University published its 2013 schedule of safety courses. Three of the four week-long courses take place at the university’s Daytona Beach campus, while the fourth will be held at the Prescott, Ariz. facility. Topics include occupational safety and health and aviation ground safety; aviation safety program management; aircraft accident investigation and management; and an advanced accident management class.
November 27, 2012 - 2:50pm
NBAA recently awarded five college students a $1,000 NBAA/UAA Janice K. Barden Aviation Scholarship, open to anyone studying aviation-related curricula at NBAA and University Aviation Association (UAA) member institutions. The 2012 recipients are Steven Santucci (Purdue University); Jonathan Sievert (University of North Dakota); Derek Stewert (Purdue University); Zachary Waller (University of North Dakota); and Maksym Wysocki (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University).
November 26, 2012 - 2:10pm
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) graduate student Jared Wingo is looking for input for his master’s degree thesis entitled, “Benefits and Drawbacks of Electronic Flight Bags on Pilot Performance.” He’s looking for licensed pilots with EFB experience to take a five-minute survey looking at the differences between EFBs and paper charts. Direct questions can be sent to Wingo at efbresearch@gmail.com.
