Piaggio Aerospace Goes on the Block

Piaggio Aero Industries—and subsidiary Piaggio Aviation is officially on the block and hopes to find a buyer and close the deal by year-end, it announced today. The sale of the two companies, currently under “extraordinary administration” and operating under the Piaggio Aerospace brand, follows authorization from the Italian Ministry of Economic Development.

Italy-based Piaggio Aerospace, which also controls U.S. subsidiary Piaggio America, does business in the aviation and engine segments. The former focuses on the design, construction, and maintenance of civil and military aircraft, while the latter builds and maintains aero-engines.

“Those interested in the purchase of all or part of the business complexes of the two companies—which, despite being two different entities from a legal standpoint, represent a unicum from an industrial standpoint—will have to send their expressions of interest to the extraordinary commissioner, Vincenzo Nicastro, no later than April 3,” the company said.

"Just over a year since the extraordinary administration started, we have succeeded in creating a respectable order intake, which makes the company attractive for a buyer,” said Nicastro. 

Former HAI President Zuccaro Flies West

Matthew S. Zuccaro, 70, the immediate past president of the Helicopter Association International (HAI), has died, HAI announced today. He retired from HAI in January after a tenure that began in 2005 and was marked by successful industry-wide efforts to dramatically improve helicopter safety and reduce the overall helicopter accident rate. Zuccaro’s signature effort in this regard was HAI’s “Land & Live” campaign.

During his career, Zuccaro held several executive and operations management positions with commercial, corporate, air tour, scheduled airline, and public-service helicopter operations in the Northeast U.S. At the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, he served in operations management positions at John F. Kennedy International Airport and the Port Authority’s public and private heliports.

Before assuming the helm at HAI, Zuccaro served as the organization’s chairman, vice chairman, treasurer, and assistant treasurer, as well as a director for six years. He also served as a special advisor to HAI’s board.

Zuccaro also was a past president of the Eastern Region Helicopter Council (ERHC). He held airline transport pilot and certified flight instructor-instrument certificates for both airplanes and helicopters. He also was a recipient of the HAI Pilot Safety Award for 10,000 hours of accident- and violation-free flight hours, the NBAA Pilot Safety Award, and numerous other industry awards for his efforts and commitment to the helicopter industry.

Friends and family can be received at Beecher Flooks Funeral Home in Pleasantville, New York, on February 27 and 28, with funeral services to follow on February 29 at Church of Saint John & Saint Mary in Chappaqua, New York. 

View video interview with Zuccaro at Heli-Expo 2020.

Bryant’s Widow Files L.A. Helo Crash Suit

Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, filed a wrongful death suit in Los Angeles County Circuit on Monday against Island Express Helicopters, its holding company, and the estate of pilot Ara Zobayan. Vanessa Bryant is being represented by the Los Angeles mega-law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson and joined by the Kansas City aviation law firm of Robb & Robb, which specializes in helicopter accidents. Neither firm returned AIN’s request for comment. 

The suit does not specify damages, but alleges 27 negligence and fraud-related counts against the helicopter operator and the pilot. Retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball legend Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and six other passengers died January 26 when an Island Express Sikorsky S-76B flown by Zobayan crashed while on a VFR Part 135 flight near Calabasas, California. Information released by the NTSB suggests that the helicopter crashed while Zobayan was attempting to fly in an area of rising terrain and IMC. 

This legal action comes one week after various media outlets reported that Zobayan had received “counseling” from the FAA after penetrating Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Class B airspace without permission while flying an AS350 in May 2015. In that incident, Zobayan had requested a special VFR (SVFR) transition and was denied. FAA counseling for inadvertent or infrequent airspace or other types of violations is not uncommon.

Embraer Revives AOG Effort with TEAM Concept

Embraer Executive Jets (EEJ) has revived an organized AOG effort that it calls Technical Experts in Aviation Maintenance (TEAM). The two-year effort has led the Brazilian airframer to establish TEAMs at company-owned service centers at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida, and Sorocaba Airport in São Paulo, Brazil.

An EEJ spokeswoman told AIN the OEM stopped dedicating specific personnel to AOG in 2016. It instead pulled personnel from scheduled maintenance when AOG events arose. “We have now organized the teams as unscheduled manpower support and have rebranded the support function as the TEAM concept,” she said.

This year, EEJ will establish TEAMs at service centers at Melbourne International Airport in Florida and Paris Le Bourget Airport in France. Further expansion will be considered “as the need increases and we can prove the benefit of this concept,” the spokeswoman said. TEAMs are equipped with support vehicles and EEJ is reviewing the use of aircraft to support them.

Signature Expands Its Select Program

Signature Flight Support has expanded its Signature Select affiliated FBO program with the addition of Contact Aviation in Michigan and Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Executive Jet Center.

Contact Aviation, one of six service providers at Detroit-area Oakland County International Airport (PTK), offers a 20,000-sq-ft terminal that includes offices, passenger lounge, a pilot lounge, 10-seat conference room, showers, snooze room, and crew cars. The Epic Fuels-branded FBO’s five-acre leasehold features 23,000 sq ft of hangar space that can accommodate aircraft up to a Gulfstream IV, and the company operates a Part 145 maintenance facility and full-service avionics service center.

Fort Lauderdale Jet Center (formerly Sano Jet Center) occupies 8.4 acres at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and has a 5,000-sq-ft, two-story terminal with a passenger lounge, pilot lounge with snooze room and shower facilities, flight planning room, kitchen, eight-seat conference room, and crew cars. The Phillips 66-branded location also has 61,000 sq ft of hangar space to shelter the latest big business jets.

“Signature Select allows owners to retain control of their business while benefitting from Signature Flight Support’s proprietary customer service, sales, and marketing expertise, and alignment with our global Signature network,” said Owen Busch, v-p of sales for Signature Select. “Value for both the FBO owner and Signature is created through extending the program and providing customers with a superior FBO experience.”

Flying Colours Ramps Up with Bombardier Asia Expansion

With an expansion of Bombardier’s Singapore service center expected to be completed in the second half of this year, Flying Colours Corp. PTE is also working to ramp up its operations at the facility that will quadruple its size to 430,000 sq ft. Flying Colours, which provides interior repairs and refurbishments at the Bombardier facility, is working to double its employment there, add equipment, and adjust its workflow.

“It is an exciting time for Flying Colours Corp. as we continue to strengthen our brand in the Asia Pacific region while working in tandem with Bombardier to deliver the expertise needed for the regional fleet,” said Flying Colours managing director of international operations Paul Dunford.

The company is training four new recruits for the finishing and cabinetry departments and plans to add and train 14 more in the next year. It also is revising its layout at the facility to accommodate new equipment and improve workflow. That includes the addition of a second sanding booth and a polishing room that not only will support the finishing of wood veneers but also granite countertops used in the galleys and lavatories of Bombardier aircraft. Lastly, its upholstery section will move to a larger area as part of the service center expansion.

FAA Rule Targets Enhanced Pilot Professionalism

The FAA is taking steps to further enhance pilot professionalism with a rule calling for air carriers to ensure new pilot hires have the opportunity to observe flight operations and procedures before adding them into the flight line. Released yesterday, the FAA final rule also directs carriers to provide leadership and command and mentoring training for all pilots in command (PIC) and upgrade other areas of the curriculum. “This final rule will mitigate incidents of unprofessional pilot behavior and reduce pilot errors that can lead to a catastrophic event,” the agency said.

The rule, which phases in requirements through April 27, 2023, applies to Part 121 carriers, but certain aspects also cover Part 135 and Part 91K operations that voluntarily comply with Part 121 Subparts N and O pertaining to crew training and qualifications.

Proposed in late 2016, the final rule requires that operations familiarization include a minimum of two operating cycles and that the familiarization is completed before beginning operating experience. PICs must also undergo initial and recurrent ground training on leadership and command mentoring. SICs that are qualified for PIC roles must complete leadership and command training, but not necessarily mentorship.

Covered Parts 135/91K operations must comply with training requirements in cases where PICs serve in operations with two or more pilots. However, they are exempt from operations familiarization mandates.

GTN 650/750Xi Certified for Variety of Helicopters

The FAA has approved Garmin’s new GTN 650Xi and GTN 750Xi GPS navcoms for installation in the Airbus AS350B2/B3, EC120B, and EC130B3/T2; Bell 206B through 206L-4 and 407; Enstrom F-28F, 280FX, and 480B; and MD Helicopters 369E/F/FF. For existing GTN installations, the touchscreen GTN 650Xi and GTN 750Xi are slide-in replacements, and prices are $13,505 and $19,005, respectively.

According to Garmin, the most significant change to the GTN Xi is faster dual-core processors, which allow for quicker startup, faster map rendering, a wider viewing angle for the high-resolution display, and smoother touchscreen map panning. Pilots can overlay geo-referenced approach procedures on the map page. Helicopter terrain awareness and warning system is optional, while the units come standard with terrain alerting with audible and visual terrain-proximity alerts such as “terrain ahead, pull up” and “obstacle ahead, pull up.”

The new GTNs can also be wirelessly connected to mobile devices running Garmin Pilot and FltPlan Go apps when the optional Flight Stream 510 is installed. This allows updating of aviation databases and flight plan transfer from the mobile device to the GTN, as well as sharing ADS-B In traffic and weather and GPS position information.

Count on AIN for Full Coverage of NBAA S&D Conference

NBAA’s Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference (SDC2020) will be held from Tuesday, March 10 through Friday, March 13 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Exhibitors with news to share ahead of the show should contact AIN senior editor Curt Epstein.