General aviation aircraft deliveries and billings were up across all segments in the first half of the year, according to statistics released this morning by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA). Total airplane industry billings rose from $9.1 billion to $9.2 billion while rotorcraft billings climbed 29.9 percent from $1.4 billion to $1.9 billion.

Worldwide business jet deliveries rose by 2.4 percent year-over-year in the first half, to 296 aircraft. Turboprops rose by 17.4 percent in the first six months, while piston handovers improved by 11.4 percent versus the same period last year. Meanwhile, turbine helicopter deliveries for the first half jumped by more than 30 percent compared with a year ago.

As the industry continues its recovery from the pandemic and its resulting supply-chain issues, GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce noted the need for stability and direction from regulatory authorities, particularly in the U.S.

“Not only does the FAA need an effective permanent leader during this transformative time for aviation, but the agency is in the process of being reauthorized by Congress,” he said. “We are encouraged by the bipartisanship we have seen throughout the legislative process and hope that the momentum to finalize an FAA reauthorization bill continues to build.”

Republic Jet Center (RJC), a service provider at New York City-area Republic Airport (KFRG), has broken ground on a $28 million FBO facility.

RJC, which is an approved gateway under the DCA Access Standard Security Program, currently occupies two locations on the Long Island field. Its “west facility” dates back to the company’s founding in 2014 and is home to the FBO’s based tenants with 60,000 sq ft of heated hangar space. A smaller satellite “north facility” handles the bulk of the company's transient traffic and has a 1,500-sq-ft terminal that was fashioned from repurposed shipping containers.

The facility under construction will replace the current north location. Slated for completion by the end of 2024, it will include 50,000 sq ft of hangar space capable of sheltering the latest ultra-long-range business jets, a modern terminal with a café, and eight acres of ramp.

"Our new flagship FBO will solidify Republic Jet Center as the premier FBO in the region, demonstrating our inherent desire to provide bespoke services to our clientele, coupled with modern amenities and conveniences all centered around a hyper-focus on people and safety," company president Garry Madolid told AIN.

According to EASA’s latest annual safety review, fatalities from accidents involving member state-registered non-commercial complex (MS-NCC) business airplanes in 2022 were the highest recorded over the past decade. Ten people lost their lives in two such accidents last year versus zero fatal accidents in the previous three years. NCC airplanes are defined as any turbofan aircraft exceeding a mtow of 12,566 pounds or any multi-engine turboprop.

The two fatal accidents last year involved aircraft crashing into the sea. On Sept. 4, 2022, a privately operated, Austrian-registered Cessna Citation II/SP departed Jerez-La Parra Airport, Spain, continued past its planned destination of Köln/Bonn (Germany) Airport, and plunged into the Baltic Sea off Latvia nearly five hours after taking off. The pilot and three passengers were killed.

On Oct. 21, 2022, a German-registered Piaggio Avanti II crashed into the Caribbean Sea near Costa Rica. The privately operated turboprop twin disappeared from ATC radar about 17 miles from its intended destination of Puerto Limón Airport after a flight from Palenque Airport in Mexico. Killed in the accident was the pilot and his five passengers.

The review also noted that all four occurrences in 2022 involving air taxi operations of helicopters were fatal accidents, which is significantly above the average figures of the preceding decade for this type of operation.

Six aviation groups—including NBAA, GAMA, NATA, and HAI—are jointly questioning the FAA’s basis for proposed revisions to requirements for on-demand air carriers operating Department of Transportation (DOT)-authorized public charter operations under DOT Part 380. The FAA Notice of Intent (NOI) suggests potential revisions to the regulatory definitions of “on-demand operation,” “supplemental operation,” and “scheduled operation” under FAR Part 110, which governs Part 135 public charter carriers conducting DOT Part 380 flights.

These FAA regulations govern the operations of air carriers, while DOT Part 380 regulations address economic authority for those offering public charters. Current regulations allow a Part 380 operator to work with any air carrier, including on-demand carriers operating under Part 135.

“In putting forward the notice, FAA officials presented a data set pointing to the growth in flights conducted under Part 380 over the past decade as the basis for the agency’s proposed regulatory review,” the groups said. “However, the operational increase has come with no major incidents or accidents under the current regulatory framework, which makes the motive for the FAA’s action unclear.”

NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen said that any changes to public charter rules should not be made without evidence, data, or stakeholder engagement.

The NTSB is investigating the crash of a 1999 Airbus Helicopters EC135T1 yesterday morning that killed a flight paramedic and one person on the ground. The pilot and another medical crewmember aboard survived, and two other people on the ground were injured after the helicopter's tail boom folded.

Registered as N109BC and operated by the Broward County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue unit as “Air 85,” the twin-engine helicopter crashed at 8:45 a.m. local time, three minutes after takeoff from the Pompano Beach Airport (KPMP). It went down near the intersection of North Dixie Highway and Atlantic Boulevard, two miles southwest of the airport. Data from FlightRadar24 shows the helicopter proceeded westbound to Interstate Highway 95 before making a 180-degree turn back to the field.

The EC135 was originally en route to pick up a patient in Fort Lauderdale. The pilot reportedly declared an emergency and was attempting a return to the airport when the tail boom folded and the aircraft spun into the roof of a triplex apartment building, killing a resident within, and spawning a post-crash fire that destroyed at least two of the building’s three units. Photos and videos show the helicopter trailing smoke and an area of fire beneath the engine deck just forward of where the tail boom attaches to the main fuselage.

Air charter operator Wheels Up signed an agreement for Bluetail’s “all-in-one” aircraft records management hub and Mach Conformity workflow module for its owned aircraft fleet, the Phoenix-based digital records company said yesterday. 

Bluetail’s cloud-based SOC 2- and FAA-compliant software and scanning services will give Wheels Up maintenance teams instant records access, advanced search capabilities, and the ability to securely share records regardless of aircraft location. Its AI search engine, Mach Search, allows for faster and more accurate record searches, saving research time with no need for document tagging.

“Wheels Up is one of the most progressive on-demand private aircraft providers, and digitizing and centralizing all aircraft records for their owned aircraft fleet will help control maintenance costs and improve aircraft availability,” said Bluetail co-founder Stuart Illian. 

The operator will also use Bluetail's Part 135 Conformity Module for future aircraft conformity inspections. The latest results from Bluetail’s customers have shown what the company calls significant time and cost savings with the use of this module.

“We conducted a detailed optimization analysis of our maintenance records procedures to identify opportunities for enhanced accuracy and efficiency while ensuring the highest levels of safety,” said Wheels Up v-p of fleet maintenance Scott Caddick. “We expect Wheels Up’s partnership with Bluetail to provide measurable time and cost savings for our maintenance operation and improve aircraft availability.”

StandardAero is designating maintenance capacity across its MRO facilities as operators with Gogo classic air-to-ground (ATG) connectivity systems seek upgrades to Avance systems. This is being spawned by Gogo Business Aviation’s plans to phase out service support in 2026 for the more than 3,000 business aircraft currently flying with these classic ATG systems.

Thus, the company has established a slot program in which Gogo classic ATG customers can reserve a scheduled slot for installation at one of StandardAero’s four U.S. facilities where it performs Gogo work: Augusta, Georgia; Houston; Springfield, Illinois; and Van Nuys, California. StandardAero has installed more than 455 Gogo systems over the 19 years of its partnership with the airborne connectivity provider.

“As we balance the increased levels of installation interest with anticipated lack of available floor space capacity, we are committed to minimizing maintenance downtime and mitigating interruptions for Gogo operators,” said StandardAero president of business aviation Tony Brancato. “The slot program allows customers to rest easy knowing their Gogo inflight connectivity upgrade needs will be taken care of with timely care and attention.”