Parachute Deployed in Crash of Cirrus Jet

On Friday, a Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet sustained substantial damage when it crashed in wooded and marshy terrain while on approach to Kissimmee Gateway Airport (KISM) near Orlando, Florida. Before crashing, the pilot deployed the Cirrus airframe parachute system (CAPS), which is designed to slow the descent and maintain the aircraft in a level attitude. The three occupants received minor injuries.

The 2018 single-engine jet took off in Miami and was on approach when it encountered “severe turbulence,” according to the FAA preliminary report. Thunderstorms with heavy rain were in the Orlando area at the time of the crash at about 3:15 p.m. Visibility was reported as 1.75 miles and wind was from 230 to 250 degrees at 17 to 20 knots, gusting 20 to 28 knots.

“This is the first deployment of the CAPS on a fielded Vision Jet aircraft,” a company spokesperson told AIN. “We are grateful to learn of the reported outcome of the incident and our thoughts are with those involved for a quick recovery.”

In addition to the SF50, CAPS is installed in the company’s SR-series piston singles. The Cirrus spokesperson said that CAPS has “returned over 230 people home safely to date” but declined to provide more details about deployments.

Study Finds Ligado Won’t Harm Most GPS Receivers

Since the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2020 authorized Ligado Networks to use radio-frequency spectrum near GPS and satellite service bands, aviation and other industry groups have asked the FCC to rescind the order. However, a report requested by Congress raises new questions about whether Ligado’s operation in the L-band will deleteriously affect GPS receivers used in aviation and by the military.

Although fairly detailed and filled with complex calculations of the possible effects of Ligado’s broadcasts in the L-band, the report concludes that “use of radio frequency bands…by Ligado Networks…will not cause most commercially produced general navigation, timing, cellular, or certified aviation GPS receivers to experience harmful interference. However, some high-precision receivers, used for applications such as farming, geodesy, and surveying and sold before about 2012, can be vulnerable to significant harmful interference. In addition, certain mobile satellite services provided by Iridium Communications Inc. and used by the U.S. Department of Defense and others will experience harmful interference under certain conditions.”

The report further adds: “It is within the state-of-the-practice of current technology to build a receiver that is robust to Ligado signals for any GPS application, and all GPS receiver manufacturers could field new designs that could coexist with the authorized Ligado signals and achieve good performance even if their existing designs cannot.”

Royals Fly Private as UK Prepares for Queen’s Funeral

An 11-day period of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II has resulted in extensive private jet activity as members of the UK’s royal family travel across the country for a busy schedule of official events. Meanwhile, the government is asking foreign leaders traveling to London for a September 19 funeral to use commercial flights, advising that business and government aircraft will not be permitted to use Heathrow Airport and will instead have to land at other airports around the UK capital.

On two trips to Scotland, where the Queen died on Thursday, her successor King Charles III arrived in an Embraer Legacy 600 operated by charter group Luxaviation. Other members of his family have been traveling in a pair of Dassault Falcon 900LX jets purchased earlier this year by the Royal Air Force to replace its BAe 146 Royal Flight aircraft. These aircraft—tail numbers G-ZAHS and GZABH—are operated by Centreline Aviation.

According to a September 11 report in Politico, the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office urged foreign leaders to take airline flights to the funeral, stressing that Heathrow will not be available for private aircraft and that helicopter flights between airports and city-center locations will not be permitted.

BEH Claims Dismissed against FlightLevel Aviation

Associate judge Cathleen Campbell of the Superior Court for the County of Norfolk, Massachusetts, has dismissed counterclaims by Boston Executive Helicopters (BEH) of alleged trespassing on January 21 by a FlightLevel Aviation fuel truck. The ruling is one of several recent actions in the Norfolk court between these two FBOs regarding their competing rights to leaseholds, licenses, and other areas of access at Norwood Memorial Airport (KOWD) in Massachusetts.

Campbell also allowed the standing of a temporary injunction “ordering BEH to refrain from interfering with FlightLevel's rights associated with access to its fuel farm.” She added: "There is little doubt that the granting of this preliminary injunction burdens BEH. But in assessing the equities of the dispute, the harm to FlightLevel in terms of its need for access to its fuel farm outweighs the injury this preliminary injunction places on BEH at this time."

Meanwhile, a special jury found BEH liable earlier this year for a number of “negligent and willful” actions in 2014 and 2015 “intended to do injury or harm” to FlightLevel, in addition to “unfair business practices causing loss of money or property to FlightLevel.” The jury awarded $13,757 in compensatory damages to FlightLevel, with other restitution pending. This trial stemmed from BEH’s 2016 lawsuit against FlightLevel asserting several offenses, all of which were dismissed in a summary judgment.

A complete guide of what to expect when buying and managing private aircraft

Clearly there are tons of questions when considering or managing private aircraft. Nashville-based Chip McClure, founder of Jet Acquisitions, joins Stevens for a video panel discussion touching on virtually every aspect that should be considered when buying or upgrading private aircraft. Let’s shed some light on what to expect. 

Flight Attendant Gathering To Return at NBAA-BACE

With its origin as a last-minute happy hour gathering at NBAA-BACE in 2018 by a group of flight attendants, the Flight Crew Mix and Mingle has evolved into a social and networking event and will return next month to the show after a Covid-induced hiatus. According to organizers Young Park and Christina Depew, this year’s event—to be held in Orlando, Florida, on October 18—will be double in size compared to the formal, pre-pandemic event held in Las Vegas in 2019. That gathering was a success with approximately 100 attendees.

The event’s creators hoped to build on that momentum at the 2020 business aviation convention, but Covid put those plans on hold. “While the world was locked down, many new and aspiring flight attendants sought individual mentorships and professional guidance from experienced flight attendants,” said veteran flight attendant and Mix and Mingle founder Young Park. This year’s event will focus on connecting mentors to new flight attendants, with lead flight attendants from various Part 91 operations and aircraft management companies expected to be in attendance.

“This year, as the industry trends back towards normalcy, we feel 2022 is an excellent time to host Flight Crew Mix and Mingle to reignite the flame and reconnect,” Park told AIN. Free registration will open on September 18 for the event, which is receiving strong industry sponsorship.

FAA Publishes Instrument Approach Procedures for KJPX

The FAA this week published new instrument approach procedures for the embattled East Hampton Town Airport (KJPX) on New York's Long Island, a move hailed by NBAA and other stakeholders seeking to preserve public access to the general aviation gateway.

The airport has been operating under a temporary restraining order since May 16, when a New York State Supreme Court judge blocked the town of East Hampton’s plan to shut the facility and reopen it as a private-use airport, with restrictions on access designed to curtail flight operations.

Though the airport remains open and accessible due to the last-minute court ruling, some technical alterations were already made ahead of the FAA’s May 19 chart cycle, including the change of the airport identifier from KHTO to KJPX, and from public use to private. As well, privately-funded instrument approach procedures associated with the newly-renamed KJPX were introduced, causing difficulties for pilots wishing to use them before FAA publication.

“This marks an important step toward enhancing safety and improving access to the airport while the battle to ensure its future continues,” said Alex Gertsen, NBAA's director of airports and ground infrastructure.

General Atomics AeroTec Completes ‘Challenging’ Refurb

General Atomics AeroTec Systems’s business jet unit in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, has delivered what it said was a “very challenging” exterior and interior refurbishment project on an Embraer Legacy 650. The delivery to an Indian customer was made on time last week.

Begun in April, the project included new VIP exterior paint and a complete cabin refurbishment, including the use of fine wood and leather materials, as well as the installation of an ionizer air and surface purification system. Cabin lighting replicating sunrise and sunset and controlled by a mobile app also was included.

“The paint job and technical execution are excellent. I was particularly impressed that even the finest details of the paint job were executed precisely with desired sharpness and quality,” said Apco Infratech-India managing director Anil Kuma Singh. “My sincere appreciation to the entire team for coming up with the interior finishes, particularly the wood veneer, polishing, and leather work, executed exactly the way it was envisioned at the beginning of the project.”

Bristow Wins Equinor SAR Contract

Helicopter services company Bristow Group has been selected by Equinor (formerly Statoil), Norway’s state-owned energy company, to provide three search-and-rescue-equipped Sikorsky S-92s. Two will be based on a pair of offshore platforms in the Norwegian North Sea, with a backup stationed onshore. The two offshore helicopters will be based on the Johan Sverdrup and Statfjord B platforms. The contract has an initial term of four years with options for three single-year extensions. 

“Search-and-rescue (SAR) is a strategically important service for Bristow, and we are all extremely proud to be chosen as the preferred operator for SAR services to Equinor’s emergency preparedness,” said Heidi Wulff Heimark, Bristow's managing director in Norway. Bristow has been an Equinor aviation partner for more than 25 years supporting the Norwegian Continental shelf for crew-change and search-and-rescue services. In addition to Norwegian operations, Bristow also provides helicopter services to Equinor in Brazil and the U.S.

An increasing amount of Bristow’s revenue is derived from SAR contracts. In July, the company announced it had been awarded a $1.9 billion, 10-year contract for the Second-Generation Search and Rescue Aviation program by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Transport.

AIN’s Inaugural Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit (CALS)

CALS—a senior-level and laser-focused peer-to-peer networking summit—will address the latest and most cutting-edge topics, strategies, and solutions in corporate aviation. The summit is attendee-centric and serves as an educational and social platform, connecting select corporate aviation professionals with colleagues, industry experts, and solution providers in a relaxed, informal environment. We invite U.S.-based flight department leaders to apply to attend this event as our guests, which will be hosted Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, 2022, in Bonita Springs, Florida. Seats are limited, so don’t wait to apply.