Private equity firm New State Aviation Holdings today announced the purchase of aircraft performance company Blackhawk Aerospace in a deal that complements its December 2021 acquisition of TBM dealer Avex. Founded in 1999, Waco, Texas-headquartered Blackhawk develops engine upgrades for turboprop airplanes and provides aircraft modifications. It has more than 60 employees.
“This transformative acquisition more than doubles the size of our business and allows us to expand aircraft platforms serviced,” said New State Aviation CEO Chad Cundiff. “Avex is a market leader in sales, brokerage, and maintenance of the Daher TBM, and Blackhawk is the market leader in turboprop engine upgrades. Together, they will allow New State Aviation Holdings to offer a broader suite of services and meet more needs of light turbine aircraft owners, across a variety of aircraft manufacturers.”
Daniel Han, senior principal at New State Capital and chairman of New State Aviation, said the deal is “a significant step towards our goal of being the premier service provider for the light turbine market. We believe this combination will build on the strengths at Avex, expand our capabilities, and enable us to provide the highest levels of service, quality, and expertise in general aviation.”
The Campaign for Better Transport (CfBT) has called on the UK government to impose a tenfold increase in the air passenger duty (APD) for private charter flights. The environmental transportation group also wants business aviation to lose its current exemption from the country’s 20 percent value-added tax (VAT) and for this levy to be imposed on every aircraft movement, regardless of flight duration.
From April 2023, the UK’s APD rates for commercially-operated business aircraft will range from £78 ($94) for flights up to 2,000 miles, rising to £601 ($721) for flights longer than 5,500 miles. In a statement issued on December 30, the CfBT demanded that these increase to £780 and £6,010, respectively, claiming that this “super APD tax” could raise around £1.4 billion annually to support investment in public ground transportation. It stated that applying VAT for every aircraft movement would raise between £79 million and £623 million per year.
“Private jets are hugely damaging to the environment and are the preserve of the super-rich,” said CfBT director of external affairs Norman Baker. “We think it’s about time these individuals started paying for the damage their flights cause and the proceeds used to help improve public transport up and down the country.”
A 2015 Embraer Phenom 300 crashed on takeoff yesterday in Provo, Utah, shortly after 11:35 a.m. local time, killing one flight crewmember and seriously injuring another. The two passengers aboard received minor injuries.
The Part 135 charter airplane—tail number N555NR—was en route to Chino, California, when it crashed immediately after takeoff. N555NR is registered to Eagle Jet of Lehi, Utah. Witnesses said the aircraft crashed after attaining an altitude of approximately 10 feet. The airport was closed following the accident and is expected to reopen this afternoon. The closure forced the cancellation of several commercial flights at the airport.
Weather 17 minutes before the accident was reported as IFR with light snow and mist with three miles visibility, ceiling 800 feet overcast, and a zero temperature/dewpoint spread. The NTSB is investigating.
XO is expanding its popular shared flight offerings from New York to Florida with a route between Republic Airport in Farmingdale (KFRG) and Palm Beach International (KPBI) beginning January 6. The route will be operated twice weekly using a Bombardier CRJ-200 twinjet.
The air charter broker is “tripling down” on shared private flights between New York and South Florida after seeing a 93 percent increase in its shared flight offerings from the first half of 2021. Other shared flight routes XO operates from New York to South Florida include Westchester County to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Teterboro to Miami-Opa locka Executive Airport. XO also operates shared flights from New York and South Florida to Aspen, Colorado, and Los Angeles.
Flights from KFRG to KPBI can be booked via XO’s mobile app. Seat prices start at $1,500.
SmartSky is Live Nationwide and Everyone’s Talking
Inflight connectivity providers have long overpromised high performance, only to create frustration for passengers, crews, ground operations, and even those at the other end of the connection. Finally, there is a new network that provides a connected experience in the air that’s like on the ground—and people are talking.
The U.S. Coast Guard has called off the search for survivors of a Rotorcraft Leasing Bell 407 helicopter with four aboard reported crashed on Thursday morning shortly after it departed a Gulf of Mexico oil platform 10 miles from Southwest Pass, Louisiana. A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk dispatched to the scene found aircraft debris, but no survivors.
The NTSB confirmed late on Thursday evening that it had begun an investigation into the accident. Weather conditions did not appear to be a factor, according to authorities.
This was the second crash for the operator in two weeks, its second fatal for the year, and its third in the Gulf of Mexico since October. On December 15, a Rotorcraft Leasing Bell 206L-4 with three aboard crashed while taking off from a platform 35 miles south of Terrebonne Bay, Louisiana. In that accident, one of the helicopter’s skids caught under the helipad’s perimeter railing, and the aircraft fell into the water below. All three occupants were hoisted to safety by a Coast Guard MH-60 dispatched from Air Station New Orleans.
The December 29 crash is the second fatal accident in the Gulf region for Rotorcraft Leasing last year. Another of the company’s Bell 407s crashed on January 14 near Houma, Louisiana, killing both occupants.
The U.S. government is requiring proof of a negative Covid-19 test for all passengers ages two or older flying from greater China areas into the U.S., effective at 12:01 a.m. January 5, NBAA reported. According to NBAA, officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Homeland Security, and FAA clarified that requirement in a recent call with U.S. airlines and aviation industry groups.
This requirement applies to all passengers—regardless of nationality or vaccination status—flying to the U.S. from China, Hong Kong, or Macau. It further covers passengers who transit from China through Incheon International Airport in Korea, Toronto Pearson International Airport, or Vancouver International Airport.
Passengers must have tested negative within two days of the flight but the tests may be either PCR or a self-administered antigen that is monitored by a telehealth provider. Passengers who tested positive more than 10 days before a flight can provide documentation of recovery in place of a negative test. Operators must confirm the tests before boarding and deny boarding if documentation or a negative test is not present.
NBAA noted that Lisa Rotz, acting director for the division of Global Migration and Quarantine at CDC, had said the testing is necessary because of “a veritable explosion in cases and transmission.” The CDC is also planning to expand its Traveler Genomic Surveillance voluntary program to detect emerging variants.
At least four are dead and three more critically injured after the midair collision of a pair of Airbus EC130B4 tour helicopters near the Sea World Marine Park in Main Beach, Queensland, Australia, on Monday. The accident occurred at 1:59 p.m. local time.
Video from a variety of broadcast news and social media sources shows the helicopters collided while one was ascending after takeoff and the other was descending for landing. The helicopters were approaching each other perpendicularly.
The ascending helicopter sliced through the windscreen of the descending helicopter. The pilot of the descending helicopter executed an emergency landing on a nearby sand bank. The impact also caused the separation of the aft portion of the tail boom, including its anti-torque Fenestron, of the ascending helicopter sending that aircraft down onto the same sand bank, with the main body of the wreckage coming to rest inverted.
All of the fatalities and critical injuries were reported by authorities to be aboard the ascending helicopter. The helicopters were both painted black in the Sea World livery and were registered in November. They were being operated by Sea World Helicopters, an entity described by the parent corporation of the theme park—Village Roadshow Theme Parks—as “an independent professional operator.” The Australia Transport Safety Bureau is investigating.
Canadian business aviation services provider Fast Air has established air charter service at Abbotsford International Airport (CYXX) near Vancouver, British Columbia. Service there will be provided with a refurbished Beechcraft King Air, and the company has broken ground on a facility that will accommodate most large business jets.
With services available from Canada’s customs service at CYXX, Fast Air will be able to operate charter flights to the U.S. “This new project has been underway for several years and it is exciting to see our operations begin,” said Fast Air president and CEO Dylan Fast. “We have been very pleased with the great support and collaboration of the Abbotsford International Airport leadership and area business community. We look forward to providing the same safe and professional flying services to the region that have led to our success in other regions.”
Fast Air, founded in 1995, is an FBO operator in addition to providing MRO, charter, aircraft management, and sales.
People in Aviation
Hartzell Engine Tech named Caleb Walls as controller. Walls previously served as controller for lumber producer West Fraser, corporate controller for JVL Laboratories, and controller for Global Solutions & Logistics. He was also a financial operations manager at Tucker Communications.
Aviator and journalist Danna Kusianovich Henderson, 88, passed away at her home in Easton, Maryland on November 20. Her career as an aviation journalist spanned approximately 50 years having worked for publications including Aviation Daily as a reporter, managing editor of American Aviation, and as a freelance journalist for AIN. Henderson spent most of her career writing for Air Transport World, retiring in 2011
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