Garmin has received EASA approval for its G5000 flight deck in the Cessna Citation Excel and XLS business jets, the Olathe, Kansas avionics OEM announced yesterday. The G5000 has been a popular upgrade for U.S. operators of these Citation midsize twins since receiving FAA certification three years ago.
To date, the G5000 has received more than 100 commitments for installation in Excel/XLS twinjets, which includes charter and fractional provider FlyExclusive.
The G5000 replaces the Excel/XLS’s Honeywell Primus 1000 avionics with three landscape-oriented flight displays featuring split-screen capability that allows pilots to simultaneously view maps, charts, checklists, terrain avoidance and warning system, traffic collision avoidance system, flight plan information, and weather. These displays also permit the viewing of electronic charts and Garmin SafeTaxi airport diagrams that are georeferenced.
Touchscreen controls serve as the pilot interface to the flight deck and are intended to provide ease of operation and seamless transition between pages.
Sustainable fuel technology developer and producer LanzaJet noted a milestone this week in the construction of its Freedom Pines Fuels project in Soperton, Georgia. This facility will bring sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production to the East Coast.
The company explained that the fabrication of the alcohol-to-jet production technology, developed in partnership with the U.S. Energy Department’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, is complete and that installation of the equipment that converts ethanol—derived from waste-based feedstock—into sustainable fuel has begun at the location.
When LanzaJet's first full-scale facility—located less than 100 miles from Savannah—begins operations next year, it is expected to produce 10 million gallons of SAF and renewable diesel annually, doubling the current U.S. SAF production.
LanzaJet has declared its ambition to eventually produce one billion gallons of SAF a year in support of the U.S. government’s SAF Grand Challenge, which targets three billion gallons of U.S. SAF production a year by 2030 and sufficient SAF by 2050 to meet the aviation industry’s decarbonization goal of net-zero emissions.
“We are showing the world that we can create domestic supplies of sustainable fuel, create secure supply chains, create new jobs, and support local industry,” said Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of parent company LanzaTech. “Freedom Pines Fuels highlights a way to harness local-waste carbon and support a just energy transition for a better future for all.”
The first class of airframe and powerplant apprentices at Flexjet have graduated and received their A&P certificates after completing 30 months of paid, on-the-job training from the fractional jet provider. The 10 graduates also received full-time offers of employment from the Cleveland, Ohio company.
“The successful completion of our program and subsequent award of their FAA-issued license positions them perfectly for a rewarding and financially lucrative career,” said Flexjet senior v-p of maintenance Jay Heublein. “In addition to their technical development, they are exposed early on to our culture of safety and professionalism that is difficult to teach in a traditional classroom environment.”
A&P apprentices at Flexjet must pass an aptitude test and go through an in-depth interview process. Those candidates selected for the program earn $50,000 a year during training. Once complete, apprentices who are offered full-time employment receive base compensation of $80,000 and benefits. Other perks of the apprenticeship program include a Snap-On toolbox and a starter set of tools valued at nearly $30,000, which the technician can keep after three years of employment.
Flexjet said it plans to hire at least 100 more A&Ps over the next 12 months.
On Monday, Boeing submitted a Form 8-K to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission outlining the impact of a “cybersecurity incident” affecting subsidiary Jeppesen. In early November, Jeppesen warned customers via its website that it is “currently experiencing technical issues with some of our products, services, and communications channels.”
In a statement provided to AIN shortly after the incident began, Boeing said, “There has been some flight planning disruption, but at this time we have no reason to believe that this incident poses a threat to aircraft or flight safety.” Jeppesen's notam feed was also disrupted.
In the Form 8-K, Boeing explained, “…we promptly notified law enforcement and regulatory authorities and customers, launched an investigation, and took additional steps to protect the integrity of our systems.”
While Boeing will not confirm that the incident was a ransomware attack, the Form 8-K noted: “During the investigation, we learned that the criminal ransomware actor claims to have stolen information from Jeppesen systems. We continue to work with outside forensic firms, customers, and relevant authorities to mitigate any potential impacts, including any possible release of personally identifiable information.
“We continue to be confident that this incident poses no risk to flight safety, and we believe that it has not had a material impact on either Jeppesen’s business operations or Boeing’s business prospects or financial results.”
To support a growing North American customer base for Universal Avionics’ ClearVision EVS-5000 multispectral enhanced vision cameras, the Tucson, Arizona unit of Elbit Systems has established a repair capability for the product at its Part 145 facility. The added capability also augments its worldwide support for the EVS-5000.
“ClearVision EVS-5000 is one of the most sophisticated electrical optical systems for aviation of its time. Successful implementation of repair services paves the way to additional high-end technology work in our Tucson facilities,” said Universal v-p of operations Steve Pagnucco. “This project has showcased Universal Avionics’ ability to develop optical test equipment and transition complex technologies across a global corporation.”
ClearVision provides enhanced visuals with real-time synthetic information to improve flight safety and operations, merging six sensors from visible light to longwave and high-definition cameras into a single combined image. That provides pilots with complete situational awareness in a variety of weather conditions day or night, as well as during takeoff, approach, and landing.
Given Colorado’s Aspen-Pitkin County Airport’s (KASE) reputation as an operationally challenging airport, the county board of commissioners last week approved the establishment of a flight operations safety task force. The Aspen/Pitkin County Vision Committee recommended to the commission the establishment of an advisory group composed of 12 local pilots with familiarity of the airport to maximize safety and reduce aviation accidents.
Over the past several decades, KASE has experienced dozens of general aviation aircraft accidents in its vicinity due to factors such as its altitude, surrounding mountainous terrain, weather, and a sloping runway.
This past year alone, the airport was closed on four separate occasions after GA aircraft accidents that, while causing no serious injuries or fatalities, led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in airport property damage. On February 21, a Hawker 800XP overran the runway during an aborted takeoff, seriously damaging the aircraft and causing a fuel spill. This accident also closed the airport for nine hours.
Among the group of seasoned aviators whose attention will focus primarily on general aviation safety are FlightAware founder Daniel Baker, ForeFlight founder and commercial pilot Tyson Weihs, Mayo Aviation pilot William Landis, and retired commercial pilot Brett Detwiler.
The task force will formulate recommendations for consideration by the airport advisory board and the county board of commissioners, as well as liaise with various aviation organizations.
Pilatus and KCAC Aviation have approved Eagle Creek Aviation in Indianapolis as an authorized PC-12 service center. With the approval, Eagle Creek can perform maintenance on all variants of the Swiss OEM’s turboprop single, including the PC-12NGX.
“The addition of Eagle Creek as a Pilatus-authorized PC-12 service center demonstrates our commitment to delivering top-quality service throughout our territory,” said KCAC general manager Tony Mateer. “It was important for us to partner with a center that shares our commitment to providing excellent customer service. We’re excited to welcome Eagle Creek to the Pilatus Authorized Service Center Network.”
KCAC, based at Johnson County Executive Airport in Olathe, Kansas, is an authorized dealer and service center for Pilatus in a nine-state region. Eagle Creek joins Premier Jet Center in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, as a PC-12 repair center in KCAC’s Midwest region.
Founded 40 years ago, Eagle Creek is one of 12 operations under aviation management company Jet Access. “As a global leader in the aviation industry, Pilatus appreciates how important convenient access to top-quality service can be to our owners and operators,” said Pilatus Business Aircraft CEO Thomas Bosshard. “The addition of Eagle Creek in Indianapolis is another example of our commitment to bringing ‘Pilatus-class’ service closer to our customers worldwide.”
Airbus’s recent survey of senior executives of U.S. companies with annual revenue surpassing $500 million shows that 89 percent expect their organizations will increase their use of business aviation in 2023. Of that amount, one quarter believes it will rise by more than 50 percent, 7 percent anticipate no change in usage, 2 percent were unsure of their 2023 usage, while just 2 percent say it will decline.
When respondents were asked why they expect their usage to increase, the highest amount (81 percent) indicated an increasing reliance on business aviation during the Covid pandemic, yet two-thirds attributed it to the increasing ease of reducing the carbon footprint of private aviation flights. More than 60 percent cited continuing problems in the commercial aviation sector and 54 percent viewed the increase as the organization’s growing focus on the well-being of its staff. Lastly, 36 percent of those survey responses indicated they expect to spend more time next year visiting clients and business prospects.
“Our research shows many senior executives want to make greater use of business aviation next year as they recognize the benefits of flying privately,” said Sean McGeough, v-p for commercial Airbus Corporate Jets North America. “However, this growth is also being fueled by the improving sustainability record of the sector.”
Requires replacement of the engine fire detectors. Prompted by reported occurrences of spurious engine fire warnings. A subsequent investigation identified a manufacturing non-compliance on the fire detectors, which caused a shift of the detection threshold towards temperature values that are lower than specified, potentially leading to a spurious engine fire warning.
Model(s): Global Express, XRS, 5000, 5500, 6000, 6500
Published: December 9, 2022
Effective: January 13, 2023
Prohibits using certain versions of the aircraft maintenance manual tasks for the passenger door. Prompted by reports of the passenger door failing to dampen during opening at regularly scheduled maintenance checks, causing the door to open more rapidly than normal. An investigation found that a contributing factor was erroneous aircraft maintenance manual procedures.
Model(s): AS350B/B1/B2/BA/BB, AS350D, AS355E, AS355F/F1/F2, and AS355N
Published: December 12, 2022
Effective: December 26, 2022
Requires repetitive inspections of each main rotor blade and, depending on findings, replacement. Prompted by several reported occurrences of debonding of the main rotor stainless steel leading edge protection, resulting in significant unbalance of the main rotor and, consequently, a high level of vibration. If not detected and corrected, this condition could lead to the failure of the main rotor and/or the main gearbox.
Requires modification of the weather radar redundant wiring. Prompted by an occurrence where an incorrect wiring arrangement was detected around the weather radar system on certain PC-24s. In case of a lightning strike event, some avionics functionalities could be affected due to the incorrect wiring.
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