Qatar Airways gets aircraft recovery kit

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker (centre) inspecting the aircraft recovery equipment. 

 DOHA: Qatar Airways has become the world’s first airline to own a complete comprehensive state-of-the-art aircraft recovery equipment kit with an investment of over $3m, a release issued by the national carrier said yesterday.

There are just 11 complete kits globally, but parts within each kit are owned separately by individual airlines and airports worldwide. The full equipment is the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

The Qatar Airways aircraft recovery kit is transportable and capable of recovering the world’s largest passenger aircraft, Airbus A380, from incident sites anywhere in the world, in addition to any other aircraft types.

The airline has completed tests of the newly-acquired equipment in full exercise carrier, and set to join industry body ‘Inter Airline Technical Pool’ (IATP).

At an investment of $3.2m, the equipment enables the airline’s Doha hub to be capable of recovering equipment parts of any aircraft type following an incident which renders an aircraft non operational.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: “When we first looked to purchase a full end-to-end aircraft recovery kit, we evaluated what benefits the equipment would bring not only to Qatar Airways and Doha International Airport, but rather as an investment for the industry as a whole.

“Obtaining the equipment, fully training an entire team on utilisation and conducting exercises, is a priority for the airline and also a commitment to our passengers globally.”

Typical practice in the aviation industry calls for airline and airport operators to complete due diligence in removing an aircraft from a location where it has been damaged as a result of an accident.

Qatar Airways recently tested each aspect of the equipment in an exercise that was a joint effort carried out by the airline, Qatar Aviation Services, Doha International Airport and observed by Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority and Qatari Air Force.

Qatar Airways employs a dedicated team fully trained on the equipment, with an annual test exercise mandatory.

The capability to conduct aircraft recovery implementation is a requirement by airports worldwide. The equipment acquisition boosts the capabilities of Qatar Airways’ quick application in an emergency response scenario.

Developed by ResQtec, an industry authority on the highly specialised equipment, any airline requiring recovery service anywhere worldwide can benefit from the recovery service owned by Qatar Airways, which is fully deployable anywhere in the world.

“At a time when the aviation industry is witnessing a peak in travel, it is the duty and responsibility for the airline to balance response mechanisms that are in line with the renowned Five Star service which Qatar Airways delivers and is so proud of”, Al Baker added.

The recovery equipment acquisition also enables Qatar Airways to join the International Airlines Technical Pool (IATP), an organisation backed by industry body, International Air Transport Association. (Iata)

In preparation for the opening of the New Doha International Airport (NDIA), which has been specifically designed to accommodate the A380, the availability of the kit comes as a boost to the highly technically advanced operations of the new airport.

Fatal Airplane Crashes: "Flight Deck" circa 1950 CAA USWB Pilot Training

 

 http://youtu.be/oQyag6cOXuM

June 12, 2012 by webdev17

Public domain film from the Library of Congress Prelinger Archive, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airplane_crash

An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until such time as all such persons have disembarked, in which a person is fatally or seriously injured, the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure or the aircraft is missing or is completely inaccessible.

The first fatal aviation accident occurred in a Wright Model A aircraft at Fort Myer, Virginia, USA, on September 17, 1908, resulting in injury to the pilot, Orville Wright and death of the passenger, Signal Corps Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge.

An aviation incident is defined as an occurrence, other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft that affects or could affect the safety of operations.

An accident in which the damage to the aircraft is such that it must be written off, or in which the plane is destroyed is called a hull loss accident...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_aerodrome_forecast

In meteorology and aviation, TAF is a format for reporting weather forecast information, particularly as it relates to aviation. "TAF" is an acronym of terminal aerodrome forecast or, in some countries, terminal area forecast. TAFs apply to a five statute mile radius from the center of the airport runway complex. Generally, TAFs can apply to a 9- or 12-hour forecast; some TAFs cover an 18- or 24-hour period; and as of November 5, 2008, TAFs for some major airports cover 30-hour periods. The date/time group reflects the new 30 hour period in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), as always.

TAFs complement and use similar encoding to METAR reports. They are produced by a human forecaster based on the ground. For this reason there are fewer TAF locations than there are METARs. TAFs can be more accurate than Numerical Weather Forecasts, since they take into account local, small-scale, geographic effects.

In the United States the weather forecaster responsible for a TAF is not usually stationed at the location to which the TAF applies. The forecasters usually work from a centralised location responsible for many TAFs in a state or region, many of which are over one hundred miles from the forecaster's location. In contrast, a TTF (Trend Type Forecast), which is similar to a TAF, is always produced by a person on-site where the TTF applies. In the United Kingdom most TAFs at military airfields are produced locally, however TAFs for civil airfields are produced at the Met Office headquarters in Exeter.

The United States Air Force employs active duty enlisted personnel as TAF writers. Air Force weather personnel are responsible for providing weather support for all Air Force and Army operations.

Different countries use different change criteria for their weather groups. In the United Kingdom, TAFs for military airfields use Colour States as one of the change criteria. Civil airfields in the UK use slightly different criteria...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_role_in_civil_aviation#...

In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Act transferred federal responsibilities for non-military aviation from the Bureau of Air Commerce to a new, independent agency, the Civil Aeronautics Authority. The legislation also gave the authority the power to regulate airline fares and to determine the routes that air carriers would serve.

In 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt split the authority into two agencies, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). The CAA was responsible for air traffic control, safety programs, and airway development. The CAB was entrusted with safety rulemaking, accident investigation, and economic regulation of the airlines...

After World War II began in Europe, the CAA launched the Civilian Pilot Training Program to provide the nation with more aviators...

The approaching era of jet travel, and a series of midair collisions, prompted passage of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. This legislation gave the CAA's functions to a new independent body, the Federal Aviation Agency...

NORAD To Run Training Exercise Flights In DC

WASHINGTON (AP) - Training flights are planned for early next week in the District of Columbia.

 The North American Aerospace Defense Command said Saturday that it would conduct training exercises in the region late Monday and Tuesday nights.

The training, called Exercise Falcon Virgo, is intended to strengthen NORAD's intercept and identification operations.

Air Force F-16s, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and Civil Air Patrol aircraft are scheduled to participate in the exercise.

The training is scheduled from 11 p.m. Monday to 5:30 a.m. Tuesday and from 11 p.m. Tuesday to 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Cessna 182P, N7437Q: Accident occurred June 17, 2012 in Woodland, California

NTSB Identification: WPR12CA268 
 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, June 17, 2012 in Woodland, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 09/13/2012
Aircraft: CESSNA 182P, registration: N7437Q
Injuries: 1 Minor,2 Uninjured.

NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.

The pilot was returning from a local area flight. After determining that the wind was calm, the pilot elected to conduct a straight-in approach. During the descent to the runway, the pilot realized that the airplane was higher than appropriate and extended the flaps to 40 degrees. He continued the approach and, when the airplane touched down hard on the runway, it bounced about 5 feet back into the air. The pilot decided to abort the landing rather than continue bouncing down the runway. The pilot added full power and retracted the flaps to 0 degrees. The airplane’s right wing rose and the left wing impacted the surface. According to the Cessna pilot’s operating handbook, during a balked landing, the flaps should be retracted to 20 degrees after full power is applied, and then retracted slowly after the airplane reaches 80 miles per hour. Postaccident examination revealed no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot's failure to maintain a proper descent path during the approach to land, which resulted in a hard, bounced landing, and his improper retraction of the flaps during the subsequent attempted go-around.

The pilot was returning from a local area flight. After determining that the winds were calm, the pilot elected to conduct a straight in landing to the north. During the descent, the airplane was higher than normal and the pilot extended the flaps to 40 degrees. He continued the approach and as the airplane touched the runway, it bounced 5 feet. He decided to abort the landing rather than continue bouncing down the runway. The pilot added full power and retracted the flaps to 0 degrees. The airplane’s right wing rose and the left wing then impacted the surface. According to the Cessna Pilot’s Operating Handbook, during a balked landing, the flaps should be retracted to 20 degrees after full power is applied, and then retracted slowly after the airplane reaches 80 miles per hour. Post accident examination of the airplane by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

WOODLAND, CA - A West Sacramento family was injured in a plane crash Sunday afternoon at the Watts-Woodland Airport.

The crash happened around 12:45 p.m. at the airport on Country Road 94B during a second attempt at a safe landing.

The three people on board - a mother, father and adult son - suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries.

The pilot tried to land the Cessna 182, but had trouble; the plane took off again and during the second attempt at the landing, the plane crashed.

When the plane crashed, it caught fire, which was put out by the victims and passersby with an extinguisher.

The three victims were transported to UC Davis Medical Center for treatment. 

News10/KXTV

Jetstar pilots stood down after New Zealand incident

 Jetstar is under investigation by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and two pilots have been stood down following an incident in New Zealand earlier this month.

The incident has been described by a Qantas insider as a “further concern” about pilot training at the discount carrier although both CASA and Jetstar are playing it down.

A Jetstar spokesman confirmed that an aircraft's “flaps” may have been in the wrong position on the Sydney/Nadi/Auckland flight on June 3. The position of the flaps on an aircraft's wings is critical to landing procedures.

“A Jetstar A320 aircraft landed safely in Auckland after diverting from Christchurch due to poor weather,” the spokesman told BusinessDay. “The aircraft did go around at Christchurch before landing in Auckland. A go-around due to inclement weather is a common safety procedure.

“The crew reported a flap position issue during the go around and the event has been assessed internally. We take anything that happens in the cockpit very seriously, we are assessing the issue and our initial findings show that the fundamental safety of the flight was never at risk.”

Sources told BusinessDay the “a missed approach was made” when the plane was landing at Christchurch.

“On the ground the flaps were inadvertently selected to position one by the first officer when the captain called for the landing gear to be selected up. Both crew members were stood down.

“This is not the first time this has happened in Jetstar. It occured in Melbourne some years ago and they nearly crashed. CASA has interviewed the chief pilot of Jetstar in relation to the incident.”

A spokesman for CASA said that the reporting of the incident following “normal regulatory practice”.

“Jetstar has reported a recent landing incident to CASA, and CASA is reviewing Jetstar's investigation into the event. On the completion of its review, CASA will ensure that any appropriate safety actions are taken,” said the spokesman.

The matter will be further unwelcome news for Jetstar's parent Qantas, whose shares hit all-time lows recently in the wake of a large downgrade in its profits.

It follows reports six months ago of a Jetstar Airbus A320 losing altitude during a “botched landing” at Melbourne airport, as pilots fumbled with wrong flap settings.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators had discovered “a sequence of mistakes on a July 28 evening flight from Newcastle to Melbourne left the pilot flying the plane - a cadet recruit with just 300 hours Airbus flying experience - overwhelmed. The captain sitting next to him was so busy trying to recover the situation that his capacity was also compromised,” according to the report in this publication.

“On landing approach the plane was variously descending too fast, the flaps weren't extended properly and an altitude alert went unheard by both pilots” said the report which raised concerns of the Australian and International Pilots Association brought before a Senate inquiry last year about the risk of fast-tracking inexperienced pilots to airline cockpits.

Jetstar defended its training methods. “'Any pilot who sits behind the controls of a Jetstar aircraft has the skills and qualifications to be there," said a spokeswoman.

"Go-arounds [aborted landings] are not uncommon and are a part of our systems of checks and balances for safe operations."


Source: http://www.smh.com.au

Dads take advantage of special Father's Day flights

 
Article and photo gallery:   http://www.victoriaadvocate.com

 PORT LAVACA - Anthony Brown hunkered in the front cockpit of the 2011 single-prop Cessna Skyhawk, tense with anxiety and eager for liftoff.

Its engine roared to action, bringing to life the propeller and a deafening whirl.

As the plane rolled across the runway at the Port Lavaca Airport, the voice of his pilot, Steve Plunkett, came through the headset.

"Here we go!"

Brown's wife, Deborah, and son, Steven, settled in the back seat of the dual-control flight trainer, waving to the ground below.

They learned of the special Father's Day flights through an ad in the newspaper a few days earlier. Deborah said it was a perfect fit for her flight-fanatic husband.

Plunkett raised up on the controls, "And just like that, we're flying."

Soaring 1,000 feet above the Gulf Coast, Brown, 53, of Victoria, and his family enjoyed a Father's Day outing Sunday unlike any other. They spotted local industries, fishing boats and the Formosa plant, as well as natural landmarks and the patchwork of farm land across the Crossroads.

Brown, a correctional officer at the Stevenson state prison in Cuero, said the experience was one of the best Father's Day gifts a dad could get.

"It was a little bumpy, but it was really nice," Brown said. "I flew a good ways once we leveled off."

He was able to take over the controls for a short time under Plunkett's supervision.

He said he liked the new perspective.

"For me, model or aviation is something I've always dreamed of," he said. "I've loved aviation since I was a kid."

What he enjoys most is the raw power, directly placed in his hands. He is passing that love to his son.

Steven, 10, now has his sights set on becoming a pilot.

For Plunkett, the pilot and manager of Calhoun Air Center, the opportunity to share a flight is indescribable.

He likes to think it spurs childhood dreams, and shows how attainable those dreams can be.

"First-time flyers are always very interesting," he said. "Most people just have a blast."

This was the air center's first Father's Day event.

"It's so memorable," he said. "You can see your world from a new perspective."

The air center had five flights scheduled on the Skyhawk and two flights on a Robinson R-44 Helicopter.

For a half-hour adventure, airplane flights cost $59 and helicopter flights were $149.

"You can spend $60 on a nice dress shirt, but it will just get thrown in a closet," Plunkett said. "This will last a lifetime."

Flights set off Sunday from Victoria Regional Airport and Port Lavaca Airport.

Phillip Hopkins, 43, of Victoria, took a flight with his 3-year-old son Hayes, in the Skyhawk.

While the adventure seemed geared toward Hayes, who loves playing with toy planes, Hopkins was excited to take the controls.

"I'm a speed junkie - cars, boats, planes," he said. "They'll probably be the same."

He said active gifts are the most memorable. For his own father, he tends to stick with hunting and fishing trips.

"I'd much rather do something like this, something the boys will remember," he said. "It's something I never got to do do as a child."

Article and photo gallery:   http://www.victoriaadvocate.com

Father's Day at Sky Manor Airport

Computers Carry Water Of Pretrial Legal Work

February 6, 2010 - Dulles Jet Center

~

Thomas Gricks, right, of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, and Karl Schieneman, an expert in e-discovery, during a presentation of predictive coding. 

Photo Credit:   Larry Roberts/Post-Gazette

By JOE PALAZZOLO

The Wall Street Journal

When the roofs of three jet hangars in Virginia collapsed under heavy snow and crushed 14 private jets in 2010, the owner of the hangars prepared for the inevitable lawsuits.

Landow Aviation preserved about 8,000 gigabytes—the equivalent of about eight new desktop computers filled to the brim—of company emails, documents and other electronic information about every aspect of its operations that it might be asked to produce.

After insurers and the aircraft owners started filing lawsuits against Landow during mid-2010, the company identified a batch of about two million electronic documents it would need to sift through for evidence of its possible liability in the roof collapses.

Rather than hire dozens of lawyers to read the documents, the company asked a judge to allow a computer program to do much of the initial work. In late April this year, Loudon County Circuit Judge James H. Chamblin granted permission for Landow to use "predictive coding," a general term that refers to computer programs that use algorithms to determine whether documents are relevant to a case.

The mounting costs of high-stakes litigation are largely driven by so-called discovery, in which parties exchange documents before trial that they deem relevant to the legal claims. In the typical discovery process in big litigation, an army of lawyers reviews each document before turning it over to the other side. Industry experts peg the price of this review at more than $1 per document. Supporters say predictive coding is as effective as a set of human eyes—and much cheaper.

The programs essentially work like this: After documents are loaded into the program, a lawyer manually reviews a batch to train the program how to recognize what is relevant to a case. The manual review is repeated until the program has developed a model that can accurately predict relevance in the rest of the documents.

Thomas C. Gricks III, a Pittsburgh-based lawyer representing Landow, estimates that his client would pay about one-tenth of what it would have paid if lawyers reviewed all two million documents.

Landow's lawyers will still review the documents that the computer program flags as relevant, which in a typical case is about 10%, Mr. Gricks says.

"One way or the other, you're going to have lawyers that are going to look at that 10%," he says. "The question is, how do you generate that 10%? Do you use lawyers or do you use a tool that's much more cost effective?"

It is unclear how widespread such technologies have become in litigation, not least because parties aren't obligated to tell each other when they used such computer programs to assist them in discovery.

Predictive coding is one of several computer-driven tools that lawyers use. The most common is keyword searching, in which documents are loaded into a program and lawyers input search terms to find relevant documents. Keyword searching is used alongside human review.

But some consultants say that more corporate clients have started to warm to the idea of letting machines do more of the heavy lifting in litigation, after a landmark ruling in a discrimination lawsuit against French advertising company Publicis Groupe SA and its public-relations unit in February.

Predictive coding should "be seriously considered in large-data-volume cases where it may save the producing party (or both parties) significant amounts of legal fees in document review," Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck in Manhattan said in his ruling in the case.

Greg McPolin, an executive at the legal outsourcing firm Pangea3, which is owned by Thomson Reuters Corp., TRI -0.07% says about one-third of the company's clients are considering using predictive coding in their matters.

"We would have our heads buried in the sand if we did not embrace this technology," he says.

As companies and their employees create more data, the haystack is growing geometrically. The world's information is more than doubling every two years, with an estimated 1.8 zettabytes created in 2011—the equivalent of about 1.8 billion desktop computers—according to the data-storage company EMC Corp.

As recently as a decade ago, corporate-law firms conducted large-scale document review in-house, assigning young lawyers to the task who billed several hundred dollars an hour. But in recent years legal staffing companies have proliferated, supplying law firms and legal departments with temporary lawyers who are paid as little as $25 to $30 an hour to review documents.

Predictive coding isn't expected to replace this new breed of low-rent lawyer, but it could significantly reduce their numbers during one of the worst employment markets in nearly 20 years, industry experts say.

Several studies have shown that predictive coding outperforms human reviewers, though by how much is unclear. A widely cited 2011 article in the Richmond Journal of Law and Technology analyzed research on document review and found that humans unearthed an average of about 60% of relevant documents, while predictive coding identified an average of 77%.

The research also showed that predictive coding was more precise, flagging fewer irrelevant documents than humans did.

"Human readers get tired and make mistakes. They get fatigued," says David Breau, an associate at law firm Sidley Austin LLP who has written about predictive coding.

"Computers excel at sifting through a big pile of stuff and sorting it into categories," he adds. But he believes that lawyers are still needed to review the documents once they are sorted before turning them over to the other side.

Paul Neale, chief executive of DOAR Litigation Consulting, for one, doesn't. Mr. Neale's DOAR Consulting is advising Publicis Groupe and its public-relations subsidiary in its discrimination litigation.

"If you're going make the argument that it's more accurate than humans and that you should rely on it to reduce costs and time, then you should be relying on it fully," he says. "You can't get half pregnant."

Others are less convinced. "No computer program is an adequate substitute for having human beings review and sort the documents," said the group of lawyers representing the companies suing Landow, in an April court brief.

The lawyers either declined to comment or didn't respond to requests for comment.

Brandon Daniels, president of managed services at Clutch Group, another legal outsourcing firm, says the technology will have to prove itself in court.

If a company using predictive coding fails to turn over a crucial document in a case, for instance, "that could put this entire leap forward in jeopardy," he says.

"Everybody would just blame the predictive coding rather than the sophistication of the lawyers," he adds.

Source:  http://online.wsj.com

Read more:   http://www.post-gazette.com

Oceanside Municipal Airport (KOKB), California: Request for Proposals for Master Planning Services

RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2012 

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF QUESTIONS/REQUESTS FOR CLARIFICATION:  June 25, 2012

PROPOSAL DUE DATE:  July 23, 2012

The City of Oceanside is seeking a qualified airport planning firm to update the Airport Master Plan for Oceanside Municipal Airport. 

 Read more:  http://www.ci.oceanside.ca.us/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=28789

Tears as suspected heart attack turns Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300 flight back

 Flight attendants were reportedly in tears when a pilot had a suspected heart attack while behind the controls of an Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300 aircraft with 316 passengers on board last night.

A doctor who was a passenger on the flight from Los Angeles to Auckland treated the pilot as the plane turned back to LA.

"The flight was being operated by three pilots so the flight deck remained fully staffed at all times,'' an Air New Zealand spokeswoman said.

Herald Online readers wrote in to tell of what they had heard about the ordeal.

"My parents (who were on the flight) noticed that the flight attendants looked stressed on the flight, apparently some were crying,'' said Jordon Lee.

"However, Air New Zealand have been fantastic in the way it was all handled. Mum and dad were provided with meal vouchers, accommodation and if they present receipts for clothing to the airline, they will reimburse. Great Kiwi hospitality, professional throughout the ordeal!!''

Several other readers who knew people on the flight said they had been told the pilot had a heart attack.

Peter Woodward drove to Auckland from Rotorua to meet his wife Michelle Pleydell when the plane was originally due to land at 5.45am yesterday.

"She said all that they were told was that there was a medical emergency on board and that they'd be returning to LA. They weren't told it was the pilot.

"She couldn't talk very long because apparently most of the flight was trying to get hold of the public telephone to ring home and let people know.''

Mr Woodward told APNZ he would have to spend another night in a hotel now.

The Air New Zealand spokeswoman said it was not standard practice to tell passengers only afterwards if a pilot was unwell.

'These situations aren't standard. I understand that the passengers were told that there was a medical emergency and that the aircraft was returning to LA.''

The pilot was under observation in an LA hospital.

The flight had since departed LA and was due to land in Auckland at 5.30am this morning.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ANZ1/history/20120616/0445Z/KLAX/NZAA

Source:  http://www.nzherald.co.nz

New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport (KEVB), Florida: DC-7 plane to be converted into restaurant

Crews were moving the plane Sunday afternoon.

 We’ve seen old trains converted to restaurants.

Now, we’ll soon see a plane turned into a restaurant.

It’s a DC-7 to be exact. The name of the new restaurant will be the DC-7 Grille and it will be parked at the New Smyrna Beach Airport.

You can stop by to admire the plane on the tarmac now, but it won’t open for business until January 1.

Crews were moving the plane Sunday afternoon.

The restaurants proprietors are brothers Danny and Anthony Perna.

Danny, who came up with the idea, was inspired by his love of aviation. He’s with Epic Flight Academy.

Anthony will be the chef. In keeping with the family business, DC-7 Grille will be a family friendly restaurant serving food from all over the world in an ambiance of casual elegance.

The DC-7 started flying in the 1950s. This particular plane was the last passenger DC-7 produced, built in 1956. It has flown almost 33,000 hours all over the world.

Source:  http://www.cfnews13.com

Aspiring pilot dies in car crash: Drinking and driving cost 18-year-old his life

 

Thrown from car: Jonathan Persad 

Fire officers examine a section of the car which was driven by Jonathan Persad, following his death in an accident on the Solomon Hochoy Highway, Pointe-a- Pierre, on Friday night. 
—Photo: TREVOR WATSON 

Teenager Jonathan Persad wanted to become a pilot and was working to earn money to fulfill his dream. 

 But a last-minute decision to have a drink with some friends turned deadly on Friday night when he lost control of his car and crashed along the Solomon Hochoy Highway.

Persad, 18, was driving his red Honda Civic motor car north along the highway when the accident occurred around 7.15 p.m.

His car crossed the median and slammed into an Audi motor car heading south.

Four other vehicles were involved in the crash, causing a massive traffic pile-up for almost three hours on both lanes of the highway.

Persad, an assistant supervisor in his father's contracting company, was thrown out of the vehicle and died on the spot. Two passengers in the Audi car were taken to the San Fernando General Hospital in stable condition. Three others were treated and discharged.

His father, Vindra Persad, said his company was contracted by Petrotrin to work at its Pointe-a-Pierre refinery.

"And when we finished work, I told my son I am going home. He told me go ahead, he coming just now. But when I reached home, an hour passed and he didn't come, so I called, and he said he was liming with some of the boys and he will come just now," he said.

Minutes later, his son's girlfriend called to say he was in an accident.

"His girlfriend, Blossom, called and said her mom was on the scene. I asked for her mom's number and called. She told me my son was in an accident and died," he said.

Jonathan Persad lived with his parents and three siblings in Calcutta No 1, Freeport.

His mother, Shantie, brother and two sisters were traumatized by his death.

Vindra Persad said his son completed his secondary school education and had applied to a university in Canada.

"We did all the paperwork. And he said he will work with me and make some money for when he started the university. He wanted to become a pilot, and he was really working towards that dream," he said.

Persad said he was close to his first son and was looking forward to spending Father's Day with his children today. "Everything for him was his daddy. We were very close. Look in his wallet; he always had a photo of me over his," he said.

The body was removed to the San Fernando General Hospital mortuary where an autopsy will be performed.

St Margaret's police are continuing investigations.

 http://www.trinidadexpress.com

 http://www.newsday.co.tt

Barbados: Passion to be a pilot

 

Alair Tudor in his favorite role – at the controls of a plane. 

(GP)

“I just wanted to do my best and make my family and friends proud.”

Those were the sentiments of 23-year-old Alair Tudor, who graduated last month from the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) in the United States with a degree in airport management.

The former student of Christ Church Foundation School, who always wanted to fly a plane from the time he was a tot, graduated summa cum laude, and was one of only six students of the 865 graduates who achieved a perfect 4.0 grade point average (GPA).

Tudor said he always had a fascination with flying planes from the age of three when he went on his first trip to Disney World with his parents, Philip Tudor, Deputy Chief Technical Officer in the Ministry of Transport & Works, and Dr Lesandra Tudor, a teacher at Welches Primary School.

It therefore came as no surprise to his family and friends when he chose a career as an aviator.

In 2008 at the age of 19, Alair was believed to be Barbados’ youngest ever Federal Aviation Administration-trained commercial pilot.

‘Turbulence’

However, he encountered some “turbulence” and depression in trying to get his flight plans off the ground.

“Although I graduated at the top of my class at flight school back then, I might have been considered too young to get a job flying passengers in the region. I applied to almost all of the regional airlines, private carriers and security service without success. I soon became depressed at this turn of events, particularly when I would go on Facebook and see my colleagues from flight school flying for American Eagle, Japanese Airlines or one of the other companies.”

He had to take another route but, thanks to support from relatives, stayed the course.

“To keep myself ‘sharp’ with what I had learnt, my family would rent a friend’s plane and we would fly to St Lucia for a weekend. During this time my friend

and I would also fly to St Vincent and Bequia and import lobster to be sold in the hotels. This, however, was seasonal and my flying opportunities soon came to an end,” Alair continued.

He was, however, undaunted and determined to reach his career destination.

In early 2009 he put a proposal to his parents which he said later became known in his household as Plan B. It involved him going overseas again to train to be a flight instructor. Having convinced them there was a need for flight instructors in Barbados, he applied to American Flyers Flight School in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Alair recalled that he was late arriving there and nearly missed the deadline.

“My dad and I reached the flight school at 9 a.m. that Monday, only to be told by the chief instructor that I had come two weeks late. The check ride (flight exam) for the students was going to be held the same Friday and I would have to apply the following month since I was not familiar with that plane or that airfield.

“I still remember how dad looked at the instructor, saying, ‘Once it got two wings and an engine, my son can fly it; Alair will be ready by Friday’.”

The instructor reluctantly agreed.

The next few days, his dad would drop him off at the flight line at 8 a.m. and he would spend the day going through the various manoeuvres, getting the “feel” of the plane and learning the area.
The check ride was a success.

Alair went on to get his ratings as a certified flight instructor and advanced instrument ground instructor.

On returning to Barbados, he was able to teach a couple of students, but work was not consistent. Again, he started to become disillusioned about his future prospects as a pilot.

“I sat down with my parents once again and broke the news that I wanted to go and study one more time. I reasoned with them that as a pilot there would come a time when I might be too old to fly or be grounded due to some ailment later on in life. So I needed a backup plan or Plan C.

“I decided to pursue a degree in airport management. To this end, I researched the accredited universities in the United States which offered a degree in airport management which also had flight schools where I could get the opportunity to teach flying. I then looked at their syllabus to see what courses could be done here at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and thereafter transfer credit,” said the determined young man.

Full scholarship

In 2009 Alair was accepted at UWI Cave Hill to pursue a degree in management. In August 2010 he was fortunate to gain a full scholarship at ULM, having received a 4.0 GPA from UWI for the courses that year. This, he added, allowed him to theoretically reduce his degree at ULM to three years instead of four.

“I said theoretically since I was able to maximize the number of courses I did every semester and during the winter and summer breaks, and completed the degree programme in two years. During this period I also completed my internship at the Monroe Regional Airport while training a few students to achieve their private pilot licence.”

He also represented the university as flight captain in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association Competition, in which flight teams from colleges in that region meet to take part in a wide range of activities that test pilots’ abilities on the ground and in the air. They placed fourth among the 20 colleges participating, coming from last place the previous year.

During his studies, Alair applied for and received a number of scholarships, based on his academic performance, that helped to reduce the financial burden on his parents.

Alair, who expressed gratitude to the teachers of Erdiston Primary School and Christ Church Foundation “who laid the foundation” for him, added: “I am just thankful that all the hard work I have done has [brought me] success.”

While he has accepted a job as flight instructor in Monroe at JPS Aviation, he is hoping to pursue a Master’s in business administration next year, with the ultimate goal of setting up a flight school in Barbados.

Dad Philip was more than proud of his son’s pursuit of success.

“I believe that my son’s achievement is testimony to the fact that a student does not have to pass for a school like Harrison or Queen’s College to do well academically. My son was prepared to work extremely hard to achieve his academic goals . . . and overwhelming desire to become a pilot.”

(PT/BW)

Source:   http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/passion-to-be-a-pilot-positive-youth/

Run Your Own Airline With Pocket Planes For iPhone/iPad

 by Kraig Becker  on Jun 17th 2012

Pocket Planes for iPhone and iPadPocket Planes, a new game from app developer NimbleBit, allows players to do something that I'm sure many of us at Gadling have always dreamed of – run our own airline. The app, which was released a few days ago, runs on both the iPhone and iPad and features deceptively simple, yet highly addictive game play. 

 Players begin by first selecting a region of the world they want to launch their new airline in and pick cities for their first routes. In the early stages of the game they'll only have access to a few small planes, which can be used to shuttle passengers and cargo between a limited number of airports. As they gain experience and cash, however, they'll be able to unlock busier airports, larger and more sophisticated planes and a host of other options.

Don't let the game's cartoony graphics fool you; there is a lot of depth and strategy to be found in Pocket Planes. You'll have to learn to use your limited resources wisely if you want to turn your fledgling airline into an international powerhouse. Managing your budget can be key and learning to have your planes in the right spot at the right time can help the bottom line too. World events will play into your strategy as well and unexpected bad weather, which can close airports and leave planes grounded. There is even a social element to the game that lets you join forces with others online to acquire more wealth and build an even bigger empire.

Read more:   http://www.gadling.com/2012/06/17/run-your-own-airline-with-pocket-planes-for-iphone-ipad/

Airfield probe gets underway

SPECIALIST consultants hired by South Norfolk Council visited Pulham airfield on Monday as part as an investigation into potentially radioactive materials on the site.

The investigation was launched last month after new information came to light about the site being used for aircraft repair and salvage, with Radium 226, which is radioactive, thought to have been used on site for its luminescent properties within aircraft components.

The consultants will now prepare their analysis report and are expected to report back to South Norfolk Council in a couple of weeks.

Source:   http://www.dissexpress.co.uk

In Pictures: Boeing 727-212, N727NK Roush Fenway Racing at Willow Run Airport (KYIP), Detroit, Michigan and Boeing Stearman A75N1(PT17), N7835B at the Ann Arbor Airport

One of the Private Jets  . . . .
"One of the things about race weekend is that you get to see a few private planes. Usually they are parked at the airports closer to the track."

Read more and photo: http://michiganexposures.blogspot.com/2012/06/one-of-private-jets.html

Interesting Day at the Ann Arbor Airport  . . . .

"After work, I decided that I was going to head down to the Diag to take pictures of the flag there for Flag Day. As I pulled onto State Street, I looked up in the sky and saw a Stearman PT-17. So I decided to stop at the Ann Arbor Airport first in the hopes of catching a glimpse of it."

Read more and photos: http://michiganexposures.blogspot.com/2012/06/interesting-day-at-ann-arbor-airport.html

Massport pumped cash into failing Direct Air: Early signs air service was shaky noted in messages

WORCESTER —  Massachusetts Port Authority officials knew as early as last summer that Direct Air was flying on financial vapors, but, desperate to nurture the only commercial air service in Worcester, the authority continued to pump public money into the now-defunct charter service, records show.

Over the three years that Direct Air operated charter flights to Florida and South Carolina from Worcester Regional Airport, the company got more than $1.1 million in public subsidies including waived fees and $550,000 to cover marketing expenses, according to internal Massport emails and other records obtained by the Telegram & Gazette.

For example, the records show that Massport, which owns the Worcester airport, cut two checks totaling $55,850 to pay for a Direct Air radio and television advertising campaign on July 13, 2011.

At that time, Direct Air was roughly $60,000 and counting in arrears on its landing fees and terminal rent and had not made any payments to Massport for months at a time.

Days before cutting the checks to CBS Radio and Comcast Spotlight on Direct Air’s behalf, Massport Interim Chief Executive Officer David S. Mackey had sent an email to then state Secretary of Transportation Jeffrey B. Mullan about the charter service’s seemingly shaky financial condition, warning that “there is no question it is operating on a ‘shoestring.’ ”

A few weeks later, in early August, Mr. Mackey sent out another Direct Air update email to Mr. Mullan and other officials summarizing a “contentious” conference call with Ed Warneck, one of Direct Air’s owners and its public face as marketing director.

Mr. Mackey noted that, “despite repeated requests, Direct Air has failed to make any payments to Massport,” and that the charter service, based in Myrtle Beach, S.C., also had not been paying the company that handled its ground operations in Worcester.

Mr. Warneck grew irritated during the conference call that Massport was pressing him to pay up, according to the summary.

“Warneck also indicated that he would be meeting with his partners next week to discuss the Worcester service, and that he intended to raise the matter directly with the lieutenant governor,” Mr. Mackey wrote in his summary of the call.

In separate interviews this past week, Mr. Mackey, former state transportation secretary Mullan and Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray said that, while they were aware of financial and customer service problems with the charter service, they were floored when Direct Air abruptly suspended all flights on the evening of March 12 and then filed for bankruptcy in Worcester a few days later.

They noted that the charter service’s low-cost flights to and from Worcester were often full or mostly full and that many large airlines have struggled financially at various times.

“We had no inkling of their impending implosion, and I’ll remember that day for a long time,” Mr. Mackey said.

He defended Massport’s decision to continue paying marketing expenses for Direct Air despite questions about its financial viability, saying that maintaining the only commercial air service at the struggling Worcester airport was a top priority for him and the authority’s board. Direct Air also received a $300,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to support the Worcester service.

Massport offers a similar package of fee waivers and marketing funds to attract new international carriers to Logan International Airport in Boston and the practice is common in the industry, officials said.

Print advertisements in the Telegram & Gazette and online banners at telegram.com were among the Direct Air marketing expenses paid for by Massport at various times. The Telegram & Gazette also is an unsecured creditor in Direct Air’s bankruptcy.

“You have to prime the pump. You try to get something going,” Mr. Mackey said. “But I’d be the first person to say that we’re walking a fine line out there. We’ve got to be responsible to ourselves too. We’re not really in a position to just be giving money away for any airline.”

Asked if, in hindsight, he felt public money was wasted in an ultimately futile attempt to prop up a carrier that wasn’t viable, Mr. Mackey started to speak and then paused before answering.

“We did not anticipate, expect or plan that it was going to end the way it did,” he said. “We needed to nurture it along with Massport money, and there was an FAA grant too.”

Mr. Mackey said he’d do the same for another carrier in the future if necessary.

He and other Massport officials learned of Direct Air’s stunning collapse, which stranded thousands of passengers and derailed vacation plans at the height of the spring break travel season, from news reports the following morning.

State Secretary of Transportation Richard A. Davey, who had succeeded Mr. Mullan in September, emailed Mr. Mackey that afternoon asking for additional information. “When you have further update, let me know. LG is anxious,” Mr. Davey wrote, referring to Mr. Murray, the lieutenant governor.

Mr. Murray, a Worcester resident and former mayor of the city, had appeared at press events with Mr. Warneck touting Direct Air’s service from Worcester. They also had met privately several times to discuss the service, most recently in January, when Mr. Warneck brought the company’s new investor and majority owner, Hank L. Torbert, to the Statehouse to meet Mr. Murray.

Massport officials put together a briefing paper for Mr. Murray in advance of that meeting. The briefing states in part: “Direct Air has a history of late payment for services and lease agreements. At present, they are in arrears with Massport for rent and fees that have been charged since the waived period ended in February 2011.”

The briefing put the past due amount at $85,000, up $24,000 from the figure cited in emails from the previous summer.

Mr. Murray said in an interview that Mr. Warneck and Mr. Torbert presented an upbeat assessment in the January meeting of Direct Air’s business overall as well as its potential for growth in Worcester.

Two months later, however, Direct Air was grounded, reviled among area passengers left holding worthless tickets, under investigation by the U.S. Transportation Department for potential violations of federal charter regulations and on its way to being liquidated by the bankruptcy court.

“You get misled by people from time to time. It’s unfortunate,” Mr. Murray said, later adding, “Clearly, somebody must have known there was this financial house of cards when they sat down in this office.”

Mr. Warneck said in a brief telephone interview that he did not wish to discuss the representations he made to Massachusetts officials until the bankruptcy case runs its course, a process that could take years. What he did say indicates a rift now exists between him and the other founders and executives of Direct Air.

“I have not heard from any of my partners since we shut down,” Mr. Warneck said. “I stayed on and continued working on it where others did not.”

Fitchburg lawyer David M. Nickless, who represents Mr. Torbert personally in the Direct Air bankruptcy case, declined to comment. Lawyers for Direct Air have claimed in documents and hearings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Worcester that Mr. Torbert was misled about the company’s financial condition when he bought a controlling interest in September.

Mr. Mullan, the former state transportation secretary and Massport board member who is now a lawyer in private practice at Foley Hoag LLP in Boston, said the authority did the right thing in backing Direct Air, even though it didn’t work out in the end.

“I was supportive of the effort to have us make a good faith effort to have Direct Air work in Worcester, because our strategy had always been that we need a regional airport system and that Worcester was viable,” said Mr. Mullan, who grew up on Vernon Hill.

Massport emails show that in the weeks before Direct Air’s collapse, Worcester airport officials began to get flooded with complaints from passengers who were unable to reach anyone at the charter service. In response to one such complaint, Airport Director Andy Davis wrote to an aggrieved customer that “Direct Air’s service has been extremely successful out of Worcester and they continue to grow in the market.”

That was in late February, two weeks before Direct Air’s demise. 

Article and comments:   http://www.telegram.com

Plane crashes in Romania, pilot killed: Un pilot de incercare de la Aerostar a murit in accidentul aviatic de la Banesti

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) Officials say a pilot has been killed when his small plane crashed after clipping an electric cable and nose diving to the ground in southern Romania.

Madalin Ipatie, the chief of the ambulance service in the area, said that the pilot's aircraft caught fire after it flew into the light colored cable and then exploded as it crashed into the ground on Sunday morning.

The Ziarul de Bacau newspaper identified the 57-year-old victim, as flight instructor Petru Lazar, an experienced pilot who had flown various planes, including Soviet MiGs in his long career.

The crash happened on a bright, sunny day during an informal meeting of Romanian pilots near near Banesti, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Bucharest.

Comandorul Petru Lazar, pilot de incercare la Aerostar Bacau, a murit azi – dimineata intr-un accident aviatic petrecut pe aerodromul Banesti, din judetul Prahova.

Potrivit directorului Ambulanţei Prahova, medicul Daniel Nicolae, avionul a căzut pe un câmp, în apropierea unei pensiuni, într-o zonă în care nu se afla nicio persoană.

Se pare ca avionul ultrausor pilotat de comandorul Lazar a zbura la joasa inaltime, in apropierea firelor de inalta tensiune si, la un moment dat, s-a produs un arc electric. Avionul a luat foc in aer si s-a prabusit pe camp. Pilotul a murit pe loc.

Aparatul de zbor se pregatea pentru mitingul aviatic programat astazi la Banesti.

Vom reveni cu amanunte.

Article and photo:   http://www.ziaruldebacau.ro

Toledo, Ohio: Pinch Hitters learn how to fly from danger - Program teaches landings

Ellen Wisniewski reacts after flight instructor Steve Crum tells her she passed the test on how to land a plane in an emergency. The Pinch Hitters program teaches novices rudimentary skills.

 THE BLADE/JETTA FRASER

BY CASEY SUMNER
BLADE STAFF WRITER

In the skies over northwest Ohio on Saturday, a small plane cruised at 1,500 feet, with a pilot who had never flown before.

"My heart is in my throat!" said Ellen Wisniewski, grasping the controls as the airplane lurched.

The Toledo woman, with no flight training and no pilot's license, then attempted to make an emergency landing in a grassy field.

But the "emergency" was one she knew was going to happen: This flight was the final step in her instruction as part of the Pinch Hitters program, which offers training to help unlicensed novices learn to land a plane in an emergency. The program was one of several featured by the Experimental Aircraft Association at Toledo Executive Airport.

Back in the air, Mrs. Wisniewski decreased her speed and tried to angle for a landing, watching as the plane came within a few hundred feet of the field.

But before the plane touched down, Steve Crum, her instructor in the adjacent seat, took control and guided the plane smoothly away from the ground.

"You started slowing down, which was good. You handled it well," Mr. Crum said.

"I want a drink," Mrs. Wisniewski said.

The Pinch Hitters program, offered by the Toledo chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association, provides about six hours of ground training on rudimentary use of the radio, instruments, and flight controls.

In classes at Toledo Executive Airport, students learn how to contact air traffic control on the radio and keep the plane steady in flight, said Bill David, the program's instructor.

"It doesn't teach how to fly," he said, emphasizing the difficulty of mastering landings. "It teaches how to survive."

The program, which had eight students in its first offering this year, primarily targets people whose spouses, like Mrs. Wisniewski's husband, have private pilot licenses and who might need to land the plane if the spouse flying it should become incapacitated.

Saturday's plane ride was the final test. It was Mrs. Wisniewski's first time taking control of the airplane.

Mr. Crum guided the plane, a propeller-driven 1977 Piper Archer, through the takeoff procedure and brought it up in the air. Then he turned the controls over to Mrs. Wisniewski.

She used her training to keep the airplane steady, scouting for a place to land in a field just south of Toledo.

"Trees are bad, wires are bad," Mr. Crum said dryly.

After her first attempt at landing in the field, Mr. Crum allowed Mrs. Wisniewski to try landing on the runway at Toledo Executive Airport. She handled the plane with more confidence, although Mr. Crum controlled the final landing.

"It's good to have that sense of pure panic, and then recover from it," she said afterward.

"It's one of the most difficult things, to try and land like that," Mr. Crum said. "The way she was handling it, at the speed we were going, we could have survived."

The Pinch Hitters was not the only aviation-themed event held by the Experimental Aircraft Association.

The organization's "Plane Fun" event runs through today at the airport south of Walbridge. It features aviation exhibits and model rocket building. Admission is $5. A "Young Eagles" program will provide free 20-minute plane rides to children ages 8-17.

"It was awesome," said Harison Bhanoo, 13, of Cleveland, who was visiting with his grandparents. "I got to see my grandparents' house from the plane," he said.

Toledo Executive Airport, formerly known as Metcalf Field, is adjacent to Lake High School in Lake Township.

Source:   http://www.toledoblade.com

Lake Wales Municipal Airport (X07), Florida: Still trying to extend runway - Denied a grant by the federal TIGER program for upgrades

LAKE WALES - The city has been rejected for a grant to extend its airport runway, but Economic Development Director Harold Gallup said the city will try again.

Gallup said the city applied for a grant from the federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program, or TIGER. It invests in highways, railroads, ports or other transit projects that promise to help critical national transportation needs.

Gallup said that U.S. Department of Transportation officials told him they would fund a port, but not an airport, based on their view of how it would help the community.

Gallup told the Lake Wales City Commission that without that grant, the city is about $5 million short of being able to do the runway extension, an amount he described as "all of it."

"We'll take another run at it," Gallup told commissioners.

The city doesn't have money to do the project on its own, he said.

The city has been in the process of updating the Lake Wales Municipal Airport Master Plan during this fiscal year. Part of that plan is to extend the east-west runway 6-24 from its current length of 4,000 feet to 5,400 feet.

The airport's north-south runway, 17-35, is used less often, according to city records.

According to the city's project tracking report, the budget for the project is $4.3 million to $5.3 million.

Gallup said a longer runway would help bring in bigger planes - especially corporate jets - and bring in industrial development.

Gallup also said last fall that improving the city's airport - which sits on State Road 60 near the future CSX facility - would help reduce logistics' concerns from prospective companies.

Bringing in manufacturing still has challenges, Gallup said at the time, one of which includes the need to extend city water and sewer lines west on SR 60.

The tracking report states that Lake Wales still needs to complete its airport master plan, which is 98 percent done.

Property has already been bought to provide environmental mitigation, the report states, and according to city records, the city first got land to extend the runway four years ago.

The City Commission voted 4 to 0 on July 15, 2008, to spend $1.58 million from the Economic Development Trust Fund Grant to buy approximately 60 acres from David Crews.

It was part of an effort led by Florida Senator J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, to acquire $3 million as a start to extend the runway and improve the airport.

The airport still has other hurdles to overcome, however.

City Attorney Albert C. Galloway said that the city is also under litigation involving insurance claims, dating back to the 2004 hurricane season, from the fixed base operator and the skydiving operation that were on site at the time.

Source:   http://www.newschief.com

LoPresti Aviation: LoPresti BoomBeam Landing and Taxi Lights for Cessna / Columbia / Lancair

 Jun 16, 2012 by davidlopresti 

 LoPresti BoomBeam for landing and taxi lights offer a GIANT increase in light output. Over 40 times brighter than the stock light.

Foggy conditions caused aborted landings at Cheddi Jagan International Airport

Foggy conditions at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) may have been responsible for several international flights overshooting the main runway at Timehri within the past week. 

There have been two instances of international aircraft having to make more than one attempt at landing on the main runway at Timehri.

Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation authority (GCAA) Zulficar Mohammed told Stabroek News yesterday that in both cases there were foggy conditions at Timehri. Both flights were landing at the airport in the early morning hours.

Source:   http://www.stabroeknews.com

Gulfstream crash investigation 'bump in road' for G650 certification

By Mary Mayle 

A little more than four years ago, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. unveiled plans for the longest-range, highest-speed, largest-cabin aircraft the company has ever built. 

Just 18 months later, the first G650 rolled out onto the tarmac at Gulfstream’s Savannah manufacturing facility to the cheers and applause of some 7,000 employees, customers and dignitaries.

The new flagship business jet was an almost instant success, its order book filling quickly into triple digits with customers eager to shell out more than $60 million each for the unprecedented distance, speed and comfort owning a G650 would bring.

The aircraft took its first test flight in late 2009. By the time the fifth and final test aircraft took to the skies in early 2011, the program had already logged more than 1,100 hours in the air and seemed well on its way to certification by mid-year.

Then came the tragedy in New Mexico, when the second flight test aircraft crashed at the Roswell airport as it was conducting a simulated late-takeoff engine failure. All four aboard — two pilots and two flight test engineers — were killed.

The accident marked the first time Gulfstream had lost a plane in test, and — as they mourned the loss of the four men — company officials and industry analysts were quick to reiterate their confidence in the program.

“We’re on track and moving steadily toward certification later this year,” Pres Henne, Gulfstream’s senior vice president for programs, engineering and test said in August 2011. A few weeks earlier, Jay Johnson, chairman of Gulfstream parent company General Dynamics, told analysts in a conference call he was pleased with the G650’s progress and expected to remain on track for customer deliveries in 2012.

Although the G650 has not received certification, Gulfstream officials expect that to happen soon.

“We’re looking at the end of this quarter or early in the third quarter,” Gulfstream spokeswoman Heidi Fedak said last week.

“Once we have certification, deliveries will begin within the month.”

Fedak said the order book for the flagship airplane remains strong with approximately 200 firm commitments.

Still, the extended timeline has not gone unnoticed. Last month, Goldman Sachs downgraded Gulfstream parent company General Dynamics Corp. from neutral to sell, cutting its price target from $68 to $56. 

Analyst Noah Poponak listed “Gulfstream risks” among his reasons for the downgrade.

“General Dynamics appears more focused on acquisitions at a time when growth prospects are particularly challenged,” he said. “At Gulfstream, book-to-bill (a ratio of orders taken to invoices sent that is used to determine demand) has turned down decisively, Jet Aviation challenges remain, and the G650/250 timelines still have risk of sliding.”

But aviation expert Michael Boyd sees the delay as nothing more than a bump in the road for Gulfstream.

“They’ve hit a little bit of a slowdown,” the president of The Boyd Group International said last week. “And the kinds of people who buy these airplanes don’t like to be slowed down.

“But these things happen occasionally to most companies.

“They have a very solid product. They will get through this and be just fine.”

Source:   http://savannahnow.com

In Pictures: HH-65C Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, New Jersey - SAR demo during Baltimore's Sailabration

BALTIMORE — A Coast Guard rescue swimmer is deployed from a HH-65C Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, N.J., illustrating a search-and-rescue demonstration during an air show taking place over Baltimore's Inner Harbor, June 16, 2012. The air show was part of Baltimore's Sailabration, a multi-day commemoration of the events that took place during the War of 1812. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew S. Masaschi.

IPTC: Object Name	120616-G-DX668-400 SAR demo during Baltimore's Sailabration
IPTC: Date Created	20120616
IPTC: Keywords	SAR; Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City; Sailabration; OpSail 2012; Baltimore; Masaschi
Date/Time	Sat 16 Jun 2012 02:49:27 PM EDT

Photo:   http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1655799&g2_imageViewsIndex=1

Zimbabwe: New airline to boost access to Bumi lodge

A new airline, Bumi Air, has been launched to make a luxury lodge on the shores of the Lake Kariba more accessible to local and international visitors. Given its remoteness, Bumi Hills Safari Lodge has undertaken a major effort to make access by air a priority, and is now offering flights from Harare and Victoria Falls.

Three light aircraft: a Navajo PA31 (6-7 seats), a Barron 55 (4-5 seats) and a Cessna 182 (2 seats), are available for charter or scheduled flights.

For many visitors, the name Bumi conjures up images of idyllic sunsets, viewing of abundant game, fishing and cruising on the waters of Lake Kariba and just plain relaxing in the splendid isolation of a peaceful corner of the African bush.

Bumi Hills Safari Lodge, run by managing director Lovemore Mangwende, is situated on long, flat-topped hill feature, high above the waters of Lake Kariba, giving  guests unrivalled views of the surrounding waters and proximity to wildlife.


http://www.thestandard.co.zw