News

Lin Yu-fang of Taiwan’s Nationalist Party this week has demanded that his government sell its majority share of Sino Swearingen Aircraft. The San Antonio-based aircraft manufacturer received FAA certification for its SJ30 twinjet in November 2005, some nine years after the Taiwanese government acquired a stake in the company. However, Sino Swearingen has experienced numerous […]

According to reports from Reuters, French authorities have limited helicopter flights to Saint-Tropez after receiving numerous aircraft noise complaints. The decision to close the helipad that accounts for about 30 percent of helicopter traffic to the exclusive resort came after a voluntary agreement failed to curb the number of flights, local official Francoise Souliman told […]

The Latin American Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (LABACE) made a comeback late last week after the 2006 event was canceled due to airport construction at Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Like the previous three LABACE shows, this year’s three-day event was held in Sao Paulo and jointly organized by the U.S. National Business […]

Bombardier Aerospace last Friday officially opened a new spare parts depot near Sao Paulo, Brazils busy Congonhas and Guarhulos International Airports to better serve Latin American operators of its Learjet, Challenger and Global business jets. The new 3,000-sq-ft depot, operated by Armazns Gerais Columbia, will house some 2,300 individual high-demand parts, totaling over 75,000 pieces […]

On Tuesday, Berkshire Hathaway-owned NetJets named Benjamin Murray as president and CEO of its aircraft charter and management subsidiary Executive Jet Management (EJM). Murray replaces Albert Pod, who held the top spot at EJM since 2000. A spokesman told AVweb that NetJets has made the decision to explore the concept of expanding its business to […]

The FAA is advising operators to become familiar with risk assessment tools [as described in Advisory Circular (AC) 120-92], which “create numerical thresholds that trigger additional levels of scrutiny prior to a go/no-go decision for the flight.” The tool works by facilitating the identification of known hazardous parameters particular to the flight and assigning a […]

Dassault Aircraft Services on Tuesday announced expansion plans for its Little Rock (Ark.) Service Center that will double the facility’s square footage when completed later next year. Groundbreaking for the nearly $10 million project will be in the third quarter, and the new hangar will be able to accommodate up to six additional aircraft and […]

Garmin is aggressively working with suppliers and OEM partners to resolve an issue with the G1000 unit and resume deliveries, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The problem stems from a sudden increase in failure rates during recent flight tests of new GRS 77 AHRS (Attitude Heading Reference System) units used in G1000 […]

Columbia Aircraft of Bend, Ore., announced on Monday evening that it laid off about 300 workers after avionics supplier Garmin said it would delay shipments of the primary flight display used in the Columbia 350 and 400. Garmin said the delay was caused by “an inherent problem in the AHRS (Attitude, Heading & Reference System) […]

It didn’t take long for Columbia Aircraft to get its first members of its 300-Knot Club. The club was announced at EAA AirVenture and six Columbia 400 pilots have provided photographic evidence of flying at a ground speed faster than 300 knots. The fastest recorded speed so far is 334 knots, which is about 100 […]