FAA Emergency Order Renders Iran Airspace a No-fly Zone
As a result of growing tensions from Wednesday's downing of a U.S. military surveillance drone off the coast of Iran, the FAA issued an emergency order this morning prohibiting operations by all U.S. civil aircraft in the Tehran Flight Information Region (TFIR). The order creates a no-fly zone “until further notice due to heightened military activities and increased political tensions in the region, which present an inadvertent risk to U.S. civil aviation operations and potential for miscalculation or misidentification."
The unarmed reconnaissance RQ-4A Global Hawk was flying over the Straits of Hormuz when it was taken down by a surface to air missile (SAM) fired from within Iran. Iran’s account of the incident differs from that of the U.S., which said the UAV was over international waters. Iran claims it was within its airspace.
Besides the dangers of aircraft misidentification, OpsGroup warned, “The missile system used by Iran was a domestically-built Raad anti-aircraft system, similar to the Russian Buk that was used against [Malaysian Airlines Flight] MH17 [over Ukraine in July 2014]. Any error in that system could cause it to find another target nearby—another reason not to be anywhere near this part of the Straits of Hormuz."
OpsGroup further warned of the possibility of military retaliation by the U.S. in the near future.
Business aviation does not rank high among the identifiable sources of greenhouse gas emitters. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) estimates that business aviation is responsible for about 2 percent of civil aviation’s CO2 emissions, which are themselves just 2 percent of worldwide human-induced emissions. That implies that business aviation is responsible for .04 percent of the global total.
Newer, more fuel-efficient engines, lighter-weight airframe materials like carbon fibers, electronic cockpits, fly-by-wire flight controls, more direct flight routings, and procedures, and the wider use of various types of biofuels all bring the promise of greener and greener skies ahead. On today’s and the near-term horizon, experimentation with various types of hybrid and electric propulsion systems is advancing at a remarkable pace and is soon to evolve into real-world capability demonstrations.
The challenges to getting to what could be very green skies ahead are absolutely daunting, but the rewards are so clear and compelling that this will almost certainly be our future. As a whole, business aviation has been making slow, steady progress in mitigating its environmental impact, something that is likely to become a front-and-center issue in the years to come. Despite being a demonstrably small emitter today, commercial and business aviation are growth industries. Accelerating this growth, whether through advances in aerodynamics, aerial vehicle design, non-emitting propulsion systems, and onboard energy storage, is a stakeholder imperative.
Airbus Helicopters has restricted the maximum forward speed of its H175 super-medium twin to 80 knots after a substantial crack was found in a horizontal stabilizer on one aircraft. That H175 was operated by Babcock International in the North Sea. The horizontal stabilizer crack ran from the leading to near the trailing edge. Babcock is grounding its two H175s.
Another North Sea H175 operator, NHV, has “paused” flights of the aircraft. Approximately 19 H175s are operated in the North Sea, serving oil-and-gas customers there. EASA is expected to issue a safety bulletin mandating inspections of the H175 fleet.
The first H175 was delivered in 2014 and the helicopter is currently flying offshore energy missions in the Scottish and Dutch North Sea, Mexico, and off the West African coast. The helicopter also has been delivered to a variety of para-public and private customers. More than 100 of the aircraft have been ordered.
The H175 is powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-67Es (1,776 shp each) and features the Helionix avionics system with four-axis autopilot. The aircraft has a maximum speed of 160 knots and a range of 136 to 600 nm depending on load. In March NHV announced that its then fleet of 11 H175s had accumulated 30,000 flight hours.
AeroTec, magniX To Electrify Caravans
U.S.-based aerospace testing and engineering specialist AeroTec and electric aircraft propulsion system manufacturer magniX announced plans this week at the Paris Air Show to test and certify the 750-hp magni500 system on a Cessna 208 Caravan. AeroTec will be responsible for the Caravan’s modification design, integration, and flight tests. The modifications are already under way at AeroTec’s flight test Center in Moses Lake, Washington, with first flight coming by year-end, AeroTec said.
“The electric aviation revolution is very real, and AeroTec is the right team to help innovative aviation companies like magniX bring their technology to the market sooner,” said AeroTec president and founder Lee Human.
Calling a first retrofit on the Caravan “no small feat,” magniX CEO and founder Roel Ganzarski said, “Electrifying existing aircraft enables flexible, clean air-travel and package delivery options at a fraction of the cost” of operating conventionally powered aircraft.
Los Angeles World Airports’ (LAWA) Van Nuys Airport (VNY) in California recognized 36 general aviation companies on June 13 with its Friendly Flyer Awards for outstanding compliance with established noise abatement regulations and achieving at least 99 percent compliance with the airport’s voluntary noise abatement programs during calendar year 2018. “We congratulate and thank each of our award recipients for their commitment to quiet flying practices, which reduce noise and enhance the quality of life in our neighboring communities,” VNY manager Flora Margheritis said.
The voluntary Fly Friendly/Quiet Departure Program for jets was established in 1994. In 2012, LAWA created the Friendly Flyer Award to validate operators that not only complied with all noise abatement policies and procedures, but also adhered to the voluntary No Early Turn, Fly Friendly and Quiet Departure programs.
Among the 36 recipients were eight companies that were separately recognized as Friendly Flyer Legacy honorees. Legacy winners are those companies that have received Friendly Flyer awards since the recognition program’s inception. The 2018 Legacy honorees were: Clay Lacy Aviation, Dreamline Aviation, Flexjet, Flight Options, JetSuite, NetJets, Tutor-Saliba Corp., and XOJet.
Officials To Conduct Drone Flights at Wichita Airport
The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) Division of Aviation is planning to conduct drone operations at Wichita Eisenhower National Airport (ICT), the state’s largest commercial airport, as one of nine lead participants in the FAA’s small UAS Integration Pilot Program, Kansas director of aviation Bob Brock told AIN yesterday. Airport officials contacted Brock’s agency to look at ways drones could be used in airport operations, he said.
“They approached us about starting a new drone program that could help make their airport more efficient and safer,” Brock explained. “We said we’d be glad to help with that because it fits perfectly inside the Integration Pilot Program.”
This week, teams from the FAA, KDOT Aviation, and Wichita Airport Authority met to discuss the research project and formulate procedures for drone operations within airport property. Drones could be used to conduct airfield inspections as well as the perimeter fencing of the airport, which serves seven airlines as well as business jet OEMs Textron Aviation and Bombardier.
Over the next six weeks, KDOT Aviation, the airport, and partners that include Kansas State University and Wichita State University will be working to complete a plan to conduct drone operations at the airport. Following FAA approval, they will begin test flights, Brock said.
FAA: Helo ELTs Affected by Possible G-Switch Failures
An FAA Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB CE-19-12) alerts owners of certain serial numbered Artex emergency locator transmitters G406-4, C406-1, C406-1HM, C406-2, C406-2HM, C406-N, and C406-NHM installed in helicopters that they may not transmit alert and location signals in case of an accident due to an inoperative or a deteriorated G-switch. The agency has received reports of ACR Electronics ELT model C406 failures because the G-switch was inoperative.
Specifically, ELTs located in high-vibration environments “could have its acceleration sensor deteriorate and fail after five years,” said the FAA. To address this condition, ACR Electronics has published Service Bulletin (SB) 1000A, identifying those ELTs fitted with the original G-switch, prescribing testing replacement of the G-switch at five year intervals, or alternatively, reducing the normal inspection intervals after five years of service.
The FAA said an ELT that has been previously modified with a new hermetically sealed longitudinal G-switch (P/N A1-12-0135) is sufficient to address the concerns of this SAIB. Similar SAIBs have been issued by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the European Union aviation Safety Agency.
An ACR Electronics spokesman could not identify how many units are covered by the SAIB, but told AIN that Artex ELTs have been in production for four decades, and that Artex is a “market leader for ELTs on general aviation aircraft up to the largest commercial aircraft flying today.”
ASI Names Mexican Distributor
Omaha, Nebraska-based Aircraft Specialties, Inc. (ASI) has named Mexican aircraft support company Aerospares Services, headquartered in Mexico City, its exclusive authorized Mexican sales representative. Aerospares Services brings vast sales knowledge and the many strong relationships it has developed in Mexico to the ASI brand.
ASI has served the aviation industry with wheel and brake repair, overhaul, and exchange services from its FAA Part 145 repair station for the past 33 years. It is a distributor for Rapco products and in the past year has become a dealer for the Hot Stop L lithium-ion battery fire-protection kits, Skyflix portable in-flight entertainment systems, and U.S. Manufacturing & Design Company’s line of fluid transfer products for shops. The company also opened a repair-management division that provides customers with cost-effective solutions for their repair and purchasing requirements on accessories, GSE, avionics, and instruments.
“Having Aerospares Services on board as our authorized sales representative in Mexico just continues our recent growth strategy of adding new markets, in additions to new products and services to help further the ASI brand not just domestically, but internationally as well,” said Gene Portela, Aircraft Specialties' director of sales.
Embraer’s Praetor 600 Flies at Paris Air Show 2019
Israel Aerospace Industries subsidiary Elta Systems and Embraer signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly develop an airborne early warning (AEW) variant of the Praetor 600 business jet at the Paris Air Show. The P600 AEW is targeting a new segment of the airborne early warning market, namely one for air forces with lower defense budgets that want to be able to operate this type of capability, but is typically only operated by a limited number of nations.
The aircraft has recently earned both FAA and EASA certification after previously earning Brazilian ANAC type approval. It has a range of 3,900 nm and is an upgrade of the Legacy 500.
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