Fatalities from U.S. Bizav Accidents Rise in 1H23

Four fatal U.S.-registered business jet accidents, three of them while under Part 91 personal flights, claimed the lives of nine people in the first half of this year versus zero such fatalities in all of 2022. Separately, two people were killed in one non-U.S-registered special missions business jet in the first six months, compared with six who perished in one non-U.S-registered charter jet accident in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, five accidents involving U.S.-registered turboprops took 17 lives in the first six months of this year, compared with four accidents and 13 fatalities in the same period last year. The fatal accidents in both periods occurred under Part 91, except for the Feb. 24, 2023, in-flight breakup of a Pilatus PC-12 on a Part 135 ambulance flight, killing all five aboard. Non-U.S.-registered turboprops were also involved in five fatal accidents, claiming 11 lives. This matched the number of fatal accidents in the first half of last year, but the fatalities numbered 17.

Runway excursions are typically the most common mishaps for turbine airplanes. In the first half of this year, 39 of the 134 accidents and incidents worldwide involving business jets and turboprops were classified as runway excursions. These occurrences caused no fatalities, but some did result in injuries and aircraft damage.

Cessna Citation Longitude Reaches a New Latitude

Textron Aviation delivered the first Mexican-registered Cessna Citation Longitude to a customer who plans to use the twinjet for business travel throughout Mexico and North America, the Wichita-based company said today. The Longitude received type approval from the Mexican Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) in 2022.

“The Citation Longitude’s performance, efficiency, and cabin experience make it the perfect aircraft for passengers and pilots alike, and we are pleased to deliver this for our customers in Mexico,” said Textron Aviation senior v-p of global sales and flight operations Lannie O’Bannion. “We’re grateful for the owners and operators who continue to choose Citation business jets for their business and personal travel.” 

According to Textron Aviation, the Longitude owners and operators in Mexico can fly nonstop city pairs such as Monterrey, Mexico, to Asuncion, Paraguay, and Toluca, Mexico, to Belem, Brazil. With one stop, the jet can fly from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, to Tokyo, it added.

Meanwhile, the company recently announced that the 100th production Longitude rolled out of the factory and is expected to be delivered later this year.

NASA’s Supersonic X-59 Prepping for Ground Tests

NASA’s X-59 supersonic demonstration aircraft has moved “closer to the runway,” the agency declared yesterday, as it updated the latest progress toward first flight this year. The aircraft last month moved from its development station to the flight line, a space between the hangar and the runway at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. NASA called the move a milestone, preparing the Mach 1.4 aircraft for a series of ground tests that will be the precursor to the first flight.

The 100-foot-long X-plane, developed in partnership with Lockheed Martin, is part of a “Quesst” mission to gather noise data that could ultimately make supersonic operations over land possible in the U.S. Quesst will involve supersonic flights over various regions of the U.S. to measure human reaction to a quieter March 1.4 aircraft. The X-59 is designed with new technologies that would emit a lower boom, described as a soft thud, to buffer the impacts of the shockwaves associated with supersonic flight.

Once the trials are complete, NASA plans to hand the data over to U.S. and international regulators to reevaluate supersonic restrictions.

Wheels Up Sues FlyExclusive after Passengers Stranded

Wheels Up filed suit against FlyExclusive yesterday, claiming that the company arbitrarily and illegally terminated its charter flight agreement over the July 4th weekend. The move disrupted the flights of 75 Wheels Up passengers. Wheels Up is seeking damages in “excess of $75,000.” For its part, FlyExclusive claims Wheels Up has an unpaid fuel bill of $917,000.

In a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for New York’s Southern District, Wheels Up accused FlyExclusive of “baselessly” demanding $600,000 in two separate additional payments for flights over the weekend that Wheels Up said it had already paid for via “tens of millions of dollars in deposits” provided to FlyExclusive under a “fleet guaranteed revenue program agreement.”

FlyExclusive claims that Wheels Up was in breach of its agreement by not paying invoices from May and June. Thomas J. “Jim" Segrave—founder, chairman, and CEO of FlyExclusive—terminated the agreement with Wheels Up via email on June 30, then temporarily recanted after a $300,000 payment was made. Wheels Up alleges that when Segrave demanded a second $300,000 payment to cover flights on Sunday, it declined to do so and made other flight arrangements for its customers.

Progress Being Made on Duncan Aviation’s LNK and BTL Hangars Due to Open in January 2024

Duncan Aviation is in process of building its largest hangars to-date at both its Battle Creek, Michigan (BTL), and Lincoln, Nebraska (LNK), MRO facilities. The new hangars are expected to open in January 2024 and construction is well underway at both locations.

Harrods Goes All-electric on Customer Transport

London-area FBO operator Harrods Aviation has completed the transition of its passenger vehicle fleet to all-electric power. The company, which operates at Stansted and Luton airports, noted that its new Mercedes-Benz vans are quieter and more efficient than its previous conventionally powered vehicles and provide increased comfort, as well as reduced operating costs. An added benefit is the reduction of exhaust emissions at its facilities.

“Due to the nature of our business, our primary airside vehicles perform a lot of short journeys,” explained Dan Holian, Harrods's director of operations. “The latest EV technology is the perfect solution to support these operational needs.”

The move is part of the company’s goal of reducing its overall carbon emissions. The operations department is still in the process of electrifying its ground service equipment, with about 65 percent switched over thus far.

A company spokesperson told AIN that all of its towbar-less aircraft tractors are electric, along with its baggage tractors and conveyor belt loaders and a six-seat golf buggy. She noted that the large pushback tractors at Stansted, as well as the fuel tankers, are still diesel-powered, but as technology evolves Harrods intend to also transition these to electric.

ExecuJet Malaysia Completes Several Falcon Heavy Checks

ExecuJet MRO Services Malaysia has completed back-to-back maintenance checks on Dassault Falcon 2000EX, 900LX, 7X, and 8X jets since the start of the year. Based at Malaysia’s Subang Airport, the company continues to see increasing demand for its maintenance services from regional operators.

ExecuJet has expanded its range of Falcon service activities, from pre-purchase inspections to scheduled inspections. In a recent case, the service center repainted the livery and refurbished the cabin of a Falcon 8X and performed scheduled heavy maintenance work to exploit ground time.

“Our status as the region’s major Dassault MRO facility is driving new demand,” said Ivan Lim, ExecuJet MRO Services regional v-p for Asia. “The customers appreciate that our engineers and technicians are trained by Dassault, coupled with our regional experience for which we have numerous testimonies from our clients over the years…We now support all in-production Falcon models and most legacy models. With the increasing number of Falcon aircraft in Asia, we are witnessing a surge in demand for line and base maintenance work as well as pre-purchase inspection work.”

Falcon work now accounts for more than half of the MRO provider’s Malaysia business. It continues to accelerate efforts to recruit mechanics, including hiring maintenance technicians and engineers certified to work on Falcon aircraft.

LCI Delivers Helicopters for U.S. Offshore Wind Ops

Aircraft lessor LCI is delivering the first dedicated offshore wind turbine support helicopters in the U.S. The pair of Leonardo AW169s—one new and one preowned—are being leased to HeliService USA in support of GE contracts based in Quonset, Rhode Island, and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The helicopters are equipped with hoists to airlift technicians to and from the wind turbines and can operate across a variety of sea states.

“Helicopters are vital to efficient offshore wind operations, and we are excited to be bringing proven procedures and strong safety culture to this new clean energy industry,” said Michael Tosi, managing director of HeliService USA. “Working in partnership with LCI, and leveraging the experience of the world`s largest offshore wind helicopter operator [HeliService in Europe], we look forward to supporting our customers’ offshore wind operations using these assets.”

Large parcels of the ocean of the eastern seaboard have already been leased to offshore wind energy providers as part of the Biden Administration’s commitment to deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, and 110 gigawatts by 2050. The White House claims that meeting the 2030 target will trigger more than $12 billion per year in capital investment, create 77,000 direct and indirect jobs, and generate enough power to meet the demand for more than 10 million homes for a year.

Aviapages, FL3XX Team on Flight Time Calculator

Business aviation IT solutions provider Aviapages has teamed with aviation management and scheduling platform FL3XX on a flight time calculator tool in the latter company’s platform. The new tool is made possible through the integration of Aviapages’s flight time and route calculator into the FL3XX platform.

Thanks to Aviapages’s automated countries and flight information region avoidance feature, FL3XX users can get flight time estimations with 97 percent accuracy, according to the companies. The flight time calculator also provides real-time data on airway routes, fuel planning, and cost estimates.

Further, the tool facilitates direct charter requests to operators' FL3XX profiles and enables the promotion of empty legs to Aviapages users. This in turn fosters increased collaboration and opens new avenues for business growth, Aviapages and FL3XX said.

“We are proud to achieve this milestone and develop cooperation between our platforms,” said Aviapages CEO Evgeny Chuprov. “It was a long and challenging process from a technical point of view. The end product will be beneficial for all parties. Our aim is to further develop the features within the tool, adding new parameters to calculate in the future.”