AINalerts: December 22, 2005 | Printer Friendly

In observance of the holidays, AINalerts will not be published on December 27 and December 29.

Chalk’s Grounds Mallards in Wake of Accident

Chalk’s Ocean Airways has voluntarily grounded its remaining fleet of four Grumman Turbo Mallards after investigators found a serious fatigue crack in the wing spar of the Mallard that crashed off Miami Beach on Monday. Meanwhile, NTSB investigators spent yesterday poring over flight and repair records and scrutinizing Chalk’s maintenance program, developed for the salt-water environment and rough landings the amphibians encountered each day. Although salvage crews recovered the cockpit voice recorder yesterday along with most of the wreckage, the device malfunctioned and revealed no clues. The airplane carried no flight data recorder. The 1947 Mallard G-73T (N2969) had taken off Monday shortly before 2:40 p.m. for a flight to Bimini in the Bahamas, when only seconds later it broke apart in an inferno and fell into Government Cut channel. All 18 passengers and two crewmembers died in the crash.

Competitor Gets Control of MedAire
Health and security assistance provider MedAire disclosed that its two largest shareholders have reached a letter of agreement "outlining mutual goals and strategies in relation to the direction and control of MedAire" that would effectively place control of the company in the hands of its largest competitor, International SOS (ISOS). One of the shareholders is MedAire founder, chairman and CEO Joan Sullivan Garrett, who owns approximately 32.5 percent of the company’s outstanding voting stock. The other is Best Dynamic Services, which has acquired 22.78 percent of MedAire’s outstanding voting stock and is also a subsidiary of ISOS. The current four-member MedAire board of directors will be replaced by a new board made up of six members to be named by Best Dynamic Services and three by Sullivan Garrett. The agreement also calls for the appointment of James Williams, a senior ISOS executive who previously ran ISOS operations, to the MedAire board. An insider said the move is neither a merger nor an acquisition, but is in essence "a de facto takeover" of MedAire by ISOS.

Air Traffic Organization’s Keegan To Leave
An announcement is expected imminently that Charles Keegan will be leaving the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO) for a senior position at Raytheon. As v-p for operations planning at the ATO, Keegan, 47, has been one of its most visible spokesmen and a strong advocate of system modernization and the application of new technology. A pilot, he joined the FAA in 1979 as an air traffic controller, and subsequently occupied a variety of senior ATC posts. In his current position at the ATO, he has been responsible for the FAA’s Flight Plan, the agency’s operational evolution plan and the joint program development office, in addition to overseeing other agency functions. "Charlie may have been short in stature," said a colleague, "but he’s leaving a very large pair of shoes to fill." The ATO was established in February 2004 with the objective of turning ATC services into a "performance-based" organization that operates more like a business with clear lines of accountability.

Shadin ADC-2000 Computers Subject of AD
An FAA airworthiness directive, effective January 26, mandates replacement of a batch of Shadin ADC-2000 air-data computers installed in about 450 aircraft, including a handful of King Airs, Citation 501s and Conquests. The AD was prompted by the discovery of potential errors in some units that could cause them to display incorrect altitude information on their Chelton FlightLogic EFIS displays. Air-data computers are permitted a maximum of 25 feet of altitude error on the ground, but tests showed the effected Shadin units potentially could show erroneous deviations of 100 to 8,000 feet, according to the FAA. Shadin will reimburse owner/operators for cost of a new ADC, as well as for labor to remove and replace the ADC and for shipping.

UK Charter Bails Out AvCraft Aerospace
Bankrupt regional aircraft manufacturer Avcraft Aerospace has been bought by UK Corporate Jet Services, parent company of Southampton-based executive charter operator Club328. The new owner will not be resuming aircraft production, but will instead run Avcraft as a support organization for existing Dornier 328 jet and turboprop operators under the name 328 Support Services. The deal, which takes effect January 2, supersedes a letter of intent that the bankrupt administrator had signed last month with Ruag Aerospace in Berne, Switzerland. According to Club328, the administrator chose to sell the company to the UK firm because it was prepared to purchase more of its assets and also to employ a larger number of the former manufacturer’s personnel. From Avcraft’s headquarters at Oberpfaffenhofen Airport near Munich in southern Germany, 328 Support Services will repair and overhaul some 220 of the Dornier 328 jets and turboprops in service worldwide and will also provide spare parts, refurbishment and other engineering support functions.

Also Noted...

Following a meeting Tuesday with the FAA, Platinum Jet Management was given until January 9 to submit to the FAA additional written information on its case. The company faces a proposed fine of $1.86 million for its part in the February 2 accident involving a Challenger 600 at Teterboro, N.J.

The Flight Options union drive has achieved the goal of getting organizing cards from 65 percent of the fractional’s pilot workforce. IBT Local 1108, the union that represents NetJets pilots, will take these cards to the National Mediation Board early next month, meaning a union vote at Flight Options will take place in the spring.

Sales of the Airbus A318 Elite, the newest member of the Airbus Corporate Jet family, have reached 13 aircraft. The Elite, introduced at the NBAA Convention last month, is a 4,000-nm-range aircraft intended to compete with the Gulfstream G550 and Global Express XRS.

Rates increase January 1 for certain federal excise taxes for Part 135 on-demand air taxi operations. The per-passenger domestic and international facilities fees increase to $3.30 and $14.50, respectively, and the fee for departures from Alaska and Hawaii will be $7.30 for next year.

In the December 20 issue of AINalerts, it was implied that the Conquest II Meggitt Magic RVSM solution is the only one available. I would like it made known that West Star Aviation has been installing RVSM solutions for the Conquest II since July. The FAA-approved equipment is the Honeywell AM-250 altimeters with a Skylight AIU interfaced with the Rockwell Collins APS-65 autopilot. West Star Aviation agreed to supply the necessary static-source error correction curves to Meggitt. Meggitt then incorporated this curve into its ADAHRS. Authority to fly the Meggitt Magic system in RVSM airspace has recently been added to the West Star Aviation RVSM STC and is the basis for the Meggitt Magic RVSM approval.

Ron Echols
Avionics Repair Department Manager
West Star Aviation
Grand Junction, Colo.

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