Wrong-surface landings are one of the FAA’s top-five safety hazards, and to help mitigate the threat of pilots lining up to land on taxiways the agency has completed its enhancement of ground radar systems at 43 airports with an ASDE-X Taxiway Arrival Prediction (ATAP) upgrade. These airports already had either ASDE-X or similar ASSC ground radar systems.
The ATAP software analyzes the flight paths of arriving aircraft and anticipates when one is lining up for an improper landing. It will then issue visual and audible warnings to alert controllers.
“ATAP is a great technology aid to assist controllers in mitigating these events, and has proven to be effective,” said Bridget Singratanakul, runway safety representative for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and co-lead for the National Collaborative Workgroup on ATAP.
Since its first implementation in 2018 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the system has prevented more than 50 attempted taxiway landings. There have also been eight alerts already this year among the 43 airports so equipped.
“Aircraft as small as a Cessna Caravan 208 up to a Boeing 757 have been sent around due to an ATAP alert,” explained Giovanni Dipierro, former manager of the FAA’s runway safety group. Later this year the agency will begin testing in Omaha of a comparable system for airports that do not have ASDE-X or ASSC systems.
AINsight: Contract Issues Remain Hot as Jet Sales Cool
The preowned market for business jets is trending away from the near-manic demand and harsh seller terms we have experienced over the last few years. Ostensibly driven by the pandemic fears and the exuberance of first-time buyers, purchase prices skyrocketed and enabled sellers to restrict the due diligence of purchasers who often willingly accepted severe contract limitations to close an aircraft deal.
Despite and perhaps because of these extreme market conditions, the momentum in the preowned aircraft sales market remains strong and resilient—but not impervious—to inexorable headwinds of high inflation, rising interest rates, global economic and geopolitical risks, stock market wealth contraction, and incessant discussion of a recession.
Amid these strong market forces and slightly rising inventory of used jets for sale, pricing and contractual terms in aircraft purchase and sale agreements (APAs) appear to be rebalancing roughly to pre-pandemic norms. This comes even as some sellers resist lowering their sales prices or easing back on negotiating four major issues in APAs: hard and soft deals; aircraft delivery condition; inspection scope; and defaults and remedies for purchasers and sellers.
House aviation subcommittee chair Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) yesterday stressed the importance of addressing the many challenges the general aviation community is facing in the next reauthorization bill to ensure it is on sound footing. Speaking during an FAA reauthorization hearing yesterday focused on general aviation needs, he noted issues such as difficulty in obtaining airport funding and said, “The time is now to make smart investments in general aviation."
Graves added that the Treasury Department has been a “complete pain and given us the ‘Heisman’ for months as we try and get confirmation on the eligible use of [airport] funds.”
AOPA president Mark Baker, who testified during yesterday’s hearing, expressed concern about a lack of designated pilot examiners (DPEs), saying it is harming the ability to certify new pilots. He also expressed concerns about a lack of hangar space, citing a 2021 survey of 800 airports that found 71 percent have a shortage of individual general aviation hangar space.
Also testifying was NATA president and CEO Curt Castagna, who said aviation is facing FAA inefficiency and inconsistency at a time when the industry is experiencing unprecedented growth and innovation. Noting FAA's certification queue has tripled over the past year, he urged the committee to look at modernizing the Part 135 certification process.
PHI MRO Services will be the system integrator and provide retrofits and support for the Helix integrated flight deck upgrade for the Sikorsky S-76C++ and other legacy helicopters. The upgrade features Innovative Solutions & Support’s 10.4-inch displays and Avidyne’s Helios flight management system.
The Helix system adds 3D synthetic vision, electronic charts, ADS-B In weather and traffic, and SBAS/LPV approach capability. The first certification is planned for the S-76C++, and once that is completed later this year by PHI, pricing of the package will be revealed, according to Avidyne. PHI’s global MRO locations will do the retrofits and provide support for Helix upgrades.
“We see the Helix system as a terrific upgrade solution for helicopter operators facing legacy avionics obsolescence issues,” said PHI MRO Services president Tom Neumann, “and want to improve reliability and dispatchability of their fleet.”
“In addition to the S-76C++, we see plenty of opportunity for follow-on programs and platforms for Helix, and our partnership with PHI MRO Services will be instrumental in bringing those to market as well,” said Avidyne v-p of worldwide sales John Talmadge.
Airbus expects its Racer (rapid and cost-efficient rotorcraft) technology demonstrator to fly in the second half of this year after supply-chain constraints forced the most recent first-flight delay from 2022.
The high-speed demonstrator—expected to reach speeds up to 400 km/h (216 knots)—features two pusher propellers mounted to a fixed double wing, or “wing box,” and a five-blade main rotor. Its unique wings actively enhance the helicopter’s performance by providing additional vertical lift and the ability to fly farther and faster than conventional helicopters. At cruise speed, roughly half the helicopter’s lift comes from its fixed wing. Meanwhile, its asymmetric tail boom produces a performance gain of up to 10 percent in hover.
A pair of 2,500-shp Safran Aneto-1X engines provide 25 percent more power than similar-size engines, according to Airbus. The demonstrator can achieve up to a 15 percent reduction in fuel burn when the pilot places one of the engines in standby mode during cruise flight—a configuration Safran calls “eco mode.”
Racer builds on the expertise Airbus Helicopters developed with its self-funded X3 high-speed demonstrator, another compound rotorcraft design that set a speed record of 255 knots in forward flight in June 2013.
MedAire360 portal users can now access almost a decade of data from the travel risk management group’s airport assessments. The platform’s Airport Comparison feature, introduced this week, filters past alerts to reveal patterns, trends, and potential risks from medical, safety, and security issues at most airports covered by the system.
The company said it introduced the feature in direct response to requests from customers. Aircraft operators and travelers can use past data to assess which airports to use, taking into account what level of risk they consider acceptable.
MedAire launched the airport risk assessment service in 2021 and the historical data available goes back to 2016 for its aviation security alerts and to 2015 for the travel health and security alerts from the database of its parent company, International SOS.
Since 2021, the company has used open-source feeds on security incidents powered by artificial intelligence and a machine learning tool. Users of MedAir360 can search and compare up to seven airports at a time. They can click on the charts presented to retrieve details on specific incidents.
Helicopter Association International (HAI) launched a new initiative to help member operators keep current their pilots’ training, testing, qualifications, certifications, and compliance requirements. Under the HAI Flight Training and Checking Program, Helicopter Institute in Fort Worth, Texas, can manage all or some of those requirements for the operator.
The program, announced this week at Heli-Expo 2023, meets FAA OpSpec A031 requirements for third-party contract training and checking. At discounted rates for HAI members, Helicopter Institute will oversee all training and evaluations, including scheduling, tracking, and verifying pilot proficiency and competency. The company offers flight and ground instruction and can send designated pilot examiners to visit customer bases for FAA Part 61 and Part 141 check rides.
“The program is customizable across multiple pilots, aircraft types, and missions. One contract covers all,” said Helicopter Institute owner Randy Rowles. “Because it is approved and accepted by insurance underwriters, we can streamline flight training, checking, and an annual insurance review into one event, reducing the time operators spend on compliance.”
Training available for Part 91 and Part 135 operators covers the Bell 206 family; Bell 407 variants; Bell 505 JetRanger X; Airbus AS350/H125 models; MD Helicopters MD500 series; and Robinson R44.
Leonardo announced Wednesday that Saudi Arabia’s The Helicopter Company (THC) and Abu Dhabi Aviation (ADA) had each ordered six more AW139 intermediate twin helicopters. THC also placed options for an additional 20 over the next 18 months. After delivery of its six on firm order, THC will have 49 AW139s and uses the type for search and rescue, air ambulance, and corporate/VIP transport.
Established by the Saudi Public Investment Fund as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 diversified investment plan, THC has been operating since 2019. It is the kingdom’s first and only commercial helicopter operator and has quickly built one of the largest commercial helicopter fleets in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, ADA will take delivery of its six AW139s between 2024 and 2026. They will join the company's current fleet of 33 Leonardo helicopters, which includes several models. ADA's AW139s are used primarily in support of the offshore energy industry.
ADA’s fleet of Leonardos logs more than 10,000 hours annually and is supported with MRO, training, and flight simulator services by the AgustaWestland Aviation Services joint venture in the United Arab Emirates.
Picture-perfect descent. Corporate pilot Tony Pape nicely captured the sun setting from the Embraer Phenom 300 he was piloting at FL290 while descending to Conroe/North Houston Regional Airport (KCXO). We’re all impressed with the composition, lighting, and photo quality using nothing more than your iPhone. Thanks for sharing, Tony!
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