Police and aviation authorities in Fresno, California, are investigating how a 17-year-old girl gained access to a Beechcraft King Air 200 and crashed it into an airport building early Wednesday morning at Fresno Yosemite International Airport. The unidentified minor was able to enter the aircraft, which was parked on the TechnicAir ramp, start one of the turboprop twin's engines, and move it.
Surveillance video shows the aircraft moving away from the repair facility building under power, pivoting 180 degrees after striking a chainlink fence and then returning approximately 200 feet to impact the repair facility’s hangar. According to airport officials, the 40-year-old airplane suffered substantial damage, and images from the scene show damage to the left engine.
In a statement, the airport noted the minor was seated in the pilot’s seat wearing a headset when police arrived on the scene. While uninjured in the accident, she was described as appearing disoriented and was uncooperative as she was taken into custody for attempted aircraft theft. She was booked at juvenile hall.
AINsight: Timely Air Taxi Safety Investigation
Much government, industry, and media time has been spent on the two Boeing 737 Max accidents that took the lives of 346 people in less than a five-month period between October 2018 and March 2019. But while the 737 Max story continues to be written, other intractable aviation issues remain that also deserve focused attention by government and industry. For that reason, I was glad to see Canada’s recent Transportation Safety Board (TSB) special report on air-taxi safety issues.
The Canadian findings and conclusions might have a bearing on U.S. accidents and are worth considering if you operate an air taxi or work for one.
According to the report, the TSB’s analysis of the period between 2000 and 2014 found that the type of occurrences that resulted in the highest numbers of aircraft fatalities—fixed-wing and helicopter—were flights that “began in visual meteorological conditions but proceeded to a point where the pilot lost visual reference with the ground.” While this is not a particularly surprising finding, what was of particular interest to me was that the pilots in these accidents had a combined average of 5,000 hours of experience. As the TSB concluded, it does not appear that pilot experience is a mitigating factor in preventing these types of accidents
The report further concluded that air-taxi accidents fell broadly into these categories: acceptance of unsafe practices and inadequate management of operational hazards.
Among the TSB’s many recommendations is that all commercial aviation operators be required to adopt a safety management system. Sound familiar? Indeed, implementing SMS in Part 135 operations is on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List for 2019-2020.
FAA Warns BlackBird, Pilots of Possible Rule Violations
BlackBird Air, a San Francisco, California-based charter broker that also offers customers the option to hire a commercial pilot and lease an airplane to travel to a destination, all under Part 91, has been warned by the FAA that pilots flying passengers via the company’s online platform and app under Part 91 “are holding out and thus are engaged in common carriage.”
The FAA doesn’t agree with BlackBird that this kind of operation is not a charter and it said that the company and/or pilots must obtain a Part 119 certificate to transport people or property for hire or compensation. The agency said it is planning to investigate BlackBird’s activities and possibly also pilots flying for it. In response, BlackBird has “paused” this feature of its offerings.
In a letter sent to BlackBird attorney Roy Goldberg on December 17, the agency’s Office of the Chief Counsel, Enforcement Division made a case that BlackBird’s pilot-hire and airplane-lease operation under Part 91 fits all the criteria that make an operation subject to obtaining a Part 119 certificate and operating under Part 135 charter regulations.
For its part, BlackBird earlier claimed in a June 10 letter to the FAA that it facilitates its customers with “leasing an aircraft and…separately hiring a commercial pilot to fly the aircraft the user has leased,” noting that “operational control of the aircraft remains with the user at all times.”
Central and Eastern Europe See Strong Bizav Growth
Central and Eastern Europe have seen pockets of strong growth of late, according to private aircraft brokerage Colibri Aircraft. The UK-based company noted the region’s business aircraft fleet has grown by 16 percent since 2016, from 148 to 172 aircraft, and now comprises 7.6 percent of Europe’s entire fleet.
Colibri described the Czech Republic as experiencing the biggest surge, up 41 percent in that period to 62 aircraft, followed by Poland, which from a smaller starting point has tallied a 37.5 percent increase. Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Hungary all saw increases of at least 10 percent.
While Europe’s overall 2019 departures for business aircraft have averaged a 1.7 percent decline, Romania has seen a boost of nearly 20 percent, while Serbia, Slovenia, and Slovakia also posted increases.
“In recent years, economic growth in Central and Eastern Europe has consistently exceeded that of the Eurozone,” said Colibri sales director Marian Jancarik, adding some countries in the region are now vibrant market economies, fully immersed in the European supply chains. “It is the European Union’s fastest-growing region, and this has resulted in strong growth in its business aviation market.”
Chicago To Be Charter Operator GrandView’s Next Base
GrandView Aviation will open a new base at Chicago Executive Airport (PWK) early next year, the Maryland-headquartered air charter operator announced this week. The new base, its third, will be served by a 2017 Embraer Phenom 300 light twinjet.
“We’ve had many clients inquire about expanding our service to the Chicagoland and Midwest region,” GrandView chief operating officer Jessica Naor said. “With our bases in Maryland, Texas, and now Illinois, we can serve clients from the East Coast to the Midwest, creating more options for private jet clients who demand newer, Wi-Fi-equipped aircraft.”
Operating a fleet of five Phenom 300s and a Sikorsky S-76D intermediate-class helicopter, GrandView is a Part 135 operator offering on-demand charters and transport to medical teams for organ transplant missions. It carries a Wyvern Wingman safety rating as well as IS-BAO and Argus Gold ratings.
Naor told AIN that GrandView will acquire its sixth Phenom 300 early next year.
Enstrom Marks 60 Years
Enstrom Helicopter is marking 60 years in business on December 22. Over the period, the company has delivered more than 1,300 helicopters to customers in 50 countries. The company’s roots derived from the garage-produced prototypes of Michigan mining engineer Rudy Enstrom in the 1940s and 1950s.
Enstrom was formally incorporated in 1959 and its first production helicopter, the F28, was certified in 1965, beating out the iconic Ford Mustang automobile for “Michigan Product of the Year.” An additional piston engine model, the 280, was added in the 1970s, the same decade production peaked at 100 aircraft per year from the company’s plant in Menominee, Michigan. Enstrom went on to develop the single-engine turbine model, the 480, in the 1990s.
The company has had multiple ownerships over the years including the Purex Corporation, celebrity attorney F. Lee Bailey, and inventor Dean Kamen. Today Enstrom operates from a modern 160,000-sq-ft plant in Menominee and is owned by China’s Chongqing General Aviation Industry Group (CGAG). Current production models include the F28F and 280FX turbocharged piston engine models and the turbine engine 480B.
Trade-A-Plane magazine, a staple for aviators and would-be aviators for more than eight decades, will cease publication after its third December issue, the family-owned publisher Cosby Harrison Co. announced. The publisher is opting instead to move to a strictly online and digital format with Trade-A-Plane and two other magazines targeted at the heavy construction and oil-and-gas industries.
“The biggest decision behind it, as with everything, is cost,” Cosby Harrison CEO Adam Strachn told AIN. “While it’s a sad thing, because it’s been such a mainstay—you see them lying around FBOs everywhere—this is not a bad thing as far as we are concerned. We are very excited about what we can do, how we can continue to help our customers…and do it in a new way and continue to innovate within the aviation marketplace, itself.”
While the economics of printing Trade-A-Plane were difficult, it’s hard to argue its intangible value to readers over the years who found the magazine more than just a way to find their next new airplane or hard-to-find part or service. For many, the magazine was a stepping stone for those who dreamed of flying or finding a way to make a living in an industry they loved.
Up until its recent outsourcing, the magazine was published in-house at Cosby Harrison’s offices in Crossville, Tennessee, on printing equipment that was well beyond its useful life, Strachn said.
Delta Air Lines and Colorado-based producer Gevo have signed a new long-term sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) offtake agreement that will see the commercial operator accept 10 million gallons of SAF a year. The fuel is expected to be available for use by the airline in the 2022-2023 timeframe, after Gevo completes the expansion of its advanced biofuel production facility in Luverne, Minn.
“Long-term investments such as our agreement with Gevo are critical to Delta’s goal to lower our carbon footprint while planning for a more sustainable future,” said Graeme Burnett, the carrier’s senior vice president for fuel management. “Fuel is an airline’s biggest area of impact and therefore presents our greatest opportunity to drive solutions that care for the planet.”
SAF provides significant environmental benefits over conventional jet fuels since its lifecycle carbon footprint can be up to 75 percent less, and Gevo’s product is synthesized from inedible industrial corn products. Its patented process separates the sugars from the proteins and uses them to make jet fuel, while the remainder is used for livestock feed. The manure is collected and used in biogas digesters to produce natural gas, while the solid matter is reclaimed as fertilizer for the fields, creating a continuous renewable production cycle.
Catch up on the 2019 podcasts you may have missed!
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