News

The investigation into the May crash of a Sino Swearingen test aircraft continued in June, as additional details were publicly disclosed. The manufacturer lost its chief test pilot, Carroll Beeler, when the SJ30-2 twinjet he was flying crashed in rugged terrain north of Del Rio, Texas. Beeler, 59, had taken off from San Antonio, and […]

With the U.S. economy in the dumps and aircraft sales almost nil, several general aviation manufacturers hoped to turn the tide in May by showcasing their product lines overseas at the largest European business aircraft event. Held from May 7 to 9 in Geneva, Switzerland, the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition, or EBACE 2003, […]

Reacting to “uncertain worldwide economic conditions,” Cessna Aircraft announced a series of measures in late March to reduce production of its turbine-powered aircraft models and cut personnel costs through furloughs and layoffs. Acting to offset the effect of lower earnings, Cessna said it was also looking at outsourcing activities not related to building airframes. Aside […]

The first annual Latin American Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (LABACE) was held in mid-March amid much fanfare. The exhibition featured nearly 80 exhibitors in 185 booth spaces at the Transamrica Expo Center in So Paulo, Brazil, and 16 aircraft on static display at the Congonhas Airport. [more] On March 6, Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation […]

In early February, in St. Cloud, France, Dassault performed the first simulated flight of the Falcon 7X, establishing a preliminary standard for its fly-by-wire controls. And on Jan. 29, at Dassault Aviation’s facility in Mrignac, France, 2000EX EASy serial number 6 took to the skies for the first time. Dassault’s EASy flight deck, a fully […]

On Jan. 9, Pratt and Whitney Canada announced it would build a new type of small, efficient turbofan to power Cessna’s new entry-level Mustang, which was introduced at last year’s NBAA Convention. Trying to beat Eclipse at its own game, Cessna heavily promoted its smallest jet ever and chose the PW615F to power the new […]

Celebrating The Best (And Worst) Of 2003 The past 12 months offered our readers a host of business aviation headlines. In addition to the news, the monthly business aviation feature originally called BizAV was replaced in November by Business Avflash, the new biweekly business aviation news product. As we prepare for the future, lets take […]

The FAA has published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that is applicable to certain Dassault Model Mystere-Falcon 900 series airplanes. This proposal would require revising the Abnormal Procedures section of the airplane flight manual to advise the flight crew to avoid use of certain display modes during approaches. This proposal also would require replacing […]

The FAA has issued Final Special Conditions for Israel Aircraft Industries Model 1124 airplanes modified by Garrett Aviation Services. The FAA advises, “These modified airplanes will have a novel or unusual design feature when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport category airplanes.” The modification incorporates the installation of […]

The FAA proposes to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2002-01-09, which applies to all Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. Models PC-7, PC-12, and PC-12/45 airplanes that incorporate a certain engine-driven pump. AD 2002-01-09 currently requires you to inspect the joints between the engine-driven pump housing, the relief valve housing, and the relief valve cover for signs of fuel […]