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April 02, 2009

NTSB: 2008 Aviation Accident Statistics Show 'Mixed Picture'

Notes Spike In Fatalities Among Part 135 Ops; GA Accident Rate Climbs Per Hours Flown

The National Transportation Safety Board released Thursday its preliminary aviation accident statistics for the 2008 calendar year, showing improvements in some industry sectors but increased accident rates in others.

Centurion Aircraft Engines "Unaffected By Insolvency Proceedings"

German officials tell ANN the reorganization of insolvent German aircraft engine manufacturer Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH is progressing, albeit slowly... with a new company formed to oversee the troubled company's assets as insolvency administrator Bruno M. Kübler seeks to find a qualified buyer for them.

AD NUMBER: 2009-07-10 MANUFACTURER: General Electric SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2009-07-10 SUMMARY: The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for General Electric Company (GE) CF6-80A series turbofan engines with a high-pressure turbine rotor (HPTR) stage 1 disk, part number(P/N) 9367M45G06, installed.

"Insincere" Sellers Lead To Used Jet Glut... With Consultant Brian Foley

ANN Daily Touch N Go: 04.02.09 (ANN's Short-Form Daily News Program) ANN Daily Aero-Briefing: 04.02.09 (ANN's Long-Form Daily News Program) ANN Special Feature -- 'Insincere' Sellers And The Bizjet Glut: 04.02.09 (ANN Special Report, with Aviation Investment Consultant Brian Foley.)

Allows ADS-B In Capabilities

Upgrade allows industry-leading TAS600 Traffic Advisory Systems to accept ADS-B IN; TAS600A Series combines higher precision and extended range of ADS-B with added protection of independent active-traffic system.

A Lighter Option For Power Management

Mid-Continent Instruments announced Thursday the addition of the MD50 Static Inverter to its list of lighter aircraft instruments. Weighing just 3.1 lbs, the MD50 is smaller than traditional inverters, but with the same connector and footprint of legacy designs.

ANN Daily Aero-Briefing: 04.02.09

It's April...and again this year, airliners are grounded.
Another helicopter is down in the North Atlantic.
And have your date of birth ready when you buy an airline ticket.

More AERO-Casts

ANN Daily Touch-And-Go: 04.02.09

It's April...and again this year, airliners are grounded.
Another helicopter is down in the North Atlantic.
And have your date of birth ready when you buy an airline ticket.

More AERO-Casts

ANN Special Feature: Brian Foley, Used Bizjet Glut - 04.02.09

ANN's Paul Plack talks with Aviation Investment Consultant Brian Foley about how "insincere sellers" are helping drive the inventory of used business jets to record levels.

FMI: <

More AERO-Casts

ICON Aircraft CEO Takes First Test Flight In A5 Prototype

Hawkins: "I May Have Just Had As Much Fun Flying As I've Ever Had"

Kirk Hawkins, founder and CEO of ICON Aircraft, completed his first flight in the prototype A5 on March 11, 2009, as part of the company's user trials. Hawkins' flight took place at Lake Isabella in Kern County, CA where the company has completed more than 45 test flights.

Makes All-Glass Part 23 Cockpit Possible

L-3 Avionics Systems announced Thursday its new Trilogy ESI-1000 Electronic Standby Instrument is currently on schedule to be certified and available in July 2009. Designed as a backup for glass cockpit avionics, Trilogy is the first solid-state integrated standby system created specifically for Part 23 aircraft.

Expects Certification By End Of Year

Embraer now has another member of its E-Jets family, the Embraer 190, formally beginning its steep approach campaign to enable operations at London City Airport (LCY). This certification is expected to be earned by the end of 2009.

NASA Honors Gemini And Apollo Astronaut James Lovell

Four-Time Astronaut Will Donate Award To Naval Museum

NASA will honor astronaut James "Jim" Lovell, Jr., with the presentation of an Ambassador of Exploration Award for his contributions to the US space program. During a ceremony Friday, April 3, Lovell will accept the award at the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum in Lexington Park, MD and present it to the museum for display.

March Was Women's History Month

Thirty-five years ago, 2nd Lieutenant Sally Murphy walked across a stage at Fort Rucker, AL and stepped into US Army history. It was 1974 and Murphy became the first woman to graduate from the Army Aviation School. She was the Army’s first female helicopter and fixed wing pilot. She retired as a Colonel in 1999.

Three Receive C.B. Lansing Award For Heroism

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) held a ceremony Tuesday honoring the three flight attendants who successfully evacuated over 150 passengers of US Airways Flight 1549 after a water landing in the Hudson River. At the annual AFA-CWA Board of Directors meeting, the C.B. Lansing Award for Heroism was presented to Sheila Dail, Donna Dent and Doreen Welsh.

Inspections Should Be Done By Friday, Carrier Says

Anyone else getting a bad sense of deja vu? One year -- almost to the day -- after over 3,000 flights were cancelled due to FAA-mandated safety checks on aircraft operated by American Airlines, a regional operator for Delta Air Lines said Wednesday it grounded several dozen 50-seat regional jets to check for compliance with proper maintenance procedures.

Super Puma Ditched Off Coast Of Scotland

At least eight bodies have been recovered following the Wednesday afternoon ditching of a Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma off the northeast coast of Scotland. Search crews are working to find the other eight persons reported onboard the helicopter.

Forecast Reflects Current Downturn, But 'Long-Term Prospects Sound'

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) annual aviation forecast, released Tuesday, predicts a return to growth for air travel in the long term, underscoring the need for vital aviation infrastructure and environmental improvements contained in the FAA’s comprehensive Next Generation Air Transportation System plan.

Garmin' SVT Certified On TBM 850 by FAA, EASA

Early G1000-Equipped Planes May Be Retrofitted

Daher-Socata announced Monday the full certification of Garmin's Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT) for the all-glass cockpit of its TBM 850 single-engine turboprop aircraft.

Less Than 375 Jets Will Be Produced In '09, Report Says

Textron Incorporated is blaming credit markets which remain challenging for additional production cuts at its Cessna Aircraft unit. The company now says the already adjusted projection for deliveries of 375 jets in 2009 will be trimmed further.

A Three Question Survey Of This Year's Amazing Women In Aviation Conference

At a number of the more intriguing special events that ANN and Aero-TV partake in, we engage in an interesting exercise in which we pose at least three questions to a dozen or so of those attending to gauge the mood on a range of issues pertaining to the subject at hand.

Security Responsibility Shifts Away From Agency

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced this week the implementation of the Secure Flight program, which shifts pre-departure watch list matching responsibilities from individual aircraft operators to TSA and carries out a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission.

Tentative Contract Deal Includes Codeshare Agreement

Southwest Airlines has tipped its hand on when it expects the economy, and its own fleet, to grow.

Pilot Scratch-Builds Vintage WACO

The advent of spring in the northern hemisphere means lots of aircraft restoration and construction projects will be rolling out onto runways for their first flights. At James Clements Airport (3CM) in Bay City, MI, 61-year-old Andy Kolak plans a first flight in one of the more ambitious.

Andrew Broom Joins AOPA As VP Of Communications

"A Solid Addition To An Already-Strong Team"

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) this week welcomed Andrew Broom as the Association’s new Vice President of Communications. He was most recently the director of communications and public affairs for Wichita, KS-based Hawker Beechcraft Corporation.

An Upside To GA User Fees? With Reason Foundation Transportation Studies Director Bob Poole

ANN Daily Touch N Go: 04.01.09 (ANN's Short-Form Daily News Program) ANN Daily Aero-Briefing: 04.01.09 (ANN's Long-Form Daily News Program) ANN Special Feature -- An Upside To GA User Fees?: 04.01.09 (ANN Special Report, with Reason Foundation Director of Transportati

Availability Will Spread Through MD-80, B737-800 Fleets

The passengers have spoken... and they want their Wi-Fi. American Airlines is taking its high-altitude experiment with inflight web access out of the trial stage and has decided to install Gogo Inflight Internet on more than 300 domestic aircraft over the next two years.

Web-Based Training Saves Costs For Company And Employees

Bell Helicopter recently announced the Bell Helicopter Training Academy has launched its first on-line course for Customer Service Facilities (CSFs) that maintain the Bell 412 product line.

Aero-Linx!

Inside you will find an extensive history relating to all of the British Airships from 1900 to the present day. The Trust is a charitable voluntary run organization based in the U.K aiming to promote the interest and study in the history of airships and lighter than air travel, along with the preservation of Cardington airship station and its principal buildings.

Aero-Terms!

A pulsation in which a star oscillates around an equilibrium state by changing its radius while maintaining a spherical shape. The radial pulsation is just a special case of non-radial pulsation, in which some parts of the stellar surface move inward, while others move outward at the same time.

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (04.02.09)

"Safety is our number one priority, and we apologize for the inconvenience this has been causing the passengers."

Source: Kate Modelo, spokesperson for Atlantic Southeast Airlines. On Wednesday the SkyWest-owned regional operator grounded 60 of its Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets to verify compliance with an engine inspection procedure.

AD NUMBER: 2009-07-07 MANUFACTURER: McDonnell Douglas SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2009-07-07 SUMMARY: We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain McDonnell Douglas Model 717-200 airplanes.

AD NUMBER: 2006-08-08R1 MANUFACTURER: Air Tractor SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2006-08-08R1 SUMMARY: We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) to revise AD 2006-08-08, which applies to certain Air Tractor, Inc. (Air Tractor) Models AT-400, AT-401, AT-401B, AT-402, AT-402A, and AT-402B airplanes.

AD NUMBER: 2009-04-18 MANUFACTURER: Pratt & Whitney SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2009-04-18 SUMMARY: The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for PW models JT9D-7, -7A, -7AH, -7H, -7F, and -7J turbofan engines.

AD NUMBER: 2009-07-05 MANUFACTURER: ATR SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2009-07-05 SUMMARY: We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated by an aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product.

AD NUMBER: 2009-07-08 MANUFACTURER: Piper SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2009-07-08 SUMMARY: We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Piper Aircraft, Inc. Models PA-46-350P and PA-46R-350T airplanes.

AD: McDonnell Douglas

AD NUMBER: 2009-07-04 MANUFACTURER: McDonnell Douglas SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2009-07-04 SUMMARY: The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain McDonnell Douglas Model MD-90-30 airplanes.