Business Jet Market Growing Roots in Africa

In Africa, perceptions of business aviation are changing slowly but surely. Gone are the days when business aviation was perceived as a means of transport only for extremely affluent people, and today it is considered an economic catalyst that enables countries to boost investment and spur development.

Without business aviation, investing in many parts of Africa would have been difficult, especially given the absence of efficient road and rail transport in the vast continent, industry leaders point out. Business aviation is supporting economic growth in the mineral-rich continent by ferrying precious minerals such as gold and diamonds. In West and Central Africa, business jets play a pivotal role in serving the oil and gas industry by transporting staff and operating emergency and medevac flights. In East Africa, business aircraft support the booming tourism sector by transporting tourists to beaches, national parks, and safaris.

BJT: Falcon 8X Pilots Fly into Geneva

A short flight from Paris to Geneva demonstrated how Dassault Falcon 8X pilots benefit from technology such as the EASy IV flight deck, digital flight controls, and the Falcon Eye combined vision system.

Watch as we went along for the ride.

From the Archives: Brazil Finds Legacy Pilots Guilty

American pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paul Paladino, whose Legacy 600 was involved in a collision with a Gol Airlines Boeing 737-800 over the Amazon jungle in September 2006, were found guilty by Brazilian federal judge Murilo Mendes of failing to verify the functioning of the transponder for more than an hour. All 154 people aboard the airliner perished in the accident, while Lepore and Paladino were able to land their damaged jet at a Brazilian military airfield.

The judge commuted a jail sentence of four years and four months into community service to be performed in the U.S., and he also suspended the pair’s pilot licenses. It is widely believed that the Brazilian sentence is not enforceable in the U.S.

Special Ops for Special Airfields

Pilots can be excused for not recalling from their initial type-rating training a dedicated session on steep approaches because if they’re discussed at all, it’s typically a way to spend leftover time in the sim following the completion of a required session.

Unless they happen to be seeking approval to operate a new-to-you aircraft into a particular airport, that is, or for a company that flies into such places regularly. Perhaps that’s because pilots don’t necessarily think of these approaches—until one presents itself in the course of a trip, with conditions that compound the facts of a particular airport. But they feature in accident scenarios often enough to deserve special attention.

BJT: 12 Frank Lloyd Houses You Can Visit

Business Jet Traveler contributor Marilyn Jones highlights a dozen Frank Lloyd Wright houses that are open to the public—one of which can even be rented out on Airbnb.

The properties span two UNESCO World Heritage sites—Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Fallingwater in Western Pennsylvania—as well as several of the "Usonian" style dwellings that marked the architect's projects in later years and influenced ranch home design trends.

Industry Leaders Take on Workforce Issues

When asked what issues keep business aviation executives up at night, more often than not workforce is the top answer. So AIN brought together thought leaders on this issue to discuss what’s happening now, whether industry efforts are helping to restore the pipeline of the next-generation workers, and what needs to be done for the future.

Watch video

AINsight: Single-pilot Ops and Lemon Juice

Psychology researchers have found that some of the dumbest criminals and the cockiest pilots may have something in common: a hazardous cognitive bias—the Dunning–Kruger effect—that hinders self-perception, clouds judgment, and leads individuals to overestimate their ability. New psychological discoveries may provide a cure.

For the criminal, an overly optimistic assessment of the skills required to rob a bank may send them directly to jail, whereas a pilot with a false assessment of their abilities may take off into a thunderstorm, continue to fly into degraded visual conditions, or attempt a hazardous circling maneuver that leads to a fatal accident.

Avincis Teams with Airbus To Prepare eVTOL Air Services

European helicopter operator Avincis is partnering with Airbus to develop plans for eVTOL operations, especially for emergency medical services, search and rescue, and firefighting. Under a memorandum of understanding signed on Wednesday at the ILA airshow in Berlin, the companies said they would define concepts of operations for service in Europe and other regions.

Avincis, which already operates 60 Airbus rotorcraft in its 200-strong fleet, has not specifically committed to adding the four-passenger CityAirbus NextGen eVTOL vehicle to its portfolio. The company specializes in emergency medical support and missions such as firefighting, with bases in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Mozambique, and China.