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August 6, 2008
By The AVweb Editorial Staff
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 If you've ever missed a turn, set the altitude bug incorrectly or committed any of thousands of sins that air traffic
controllers routinely catch and help correct every day without much fuss, those days are apparently over. The FAA has apparently ordered controllers to violate pilots for any and all errors and has
threatened to discipline them if they don't file the reports. While the FAA says it's just enforcing rules already in place, the head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association say it's yet
another burden an an already-overworked workforce that will pit controllers against pilots. "We are not the FAA police! The FAA's and controller's mission is to provide the safe and efficient movement
of live air traffic," said NATCA President Patrick Forrey. "The fact that the FAA is now disciplining controllers for not 'policing' pilot actions as they relate to flight regulations is indicative of
the tyrannical and oppressive culture the FAA has created." The FAA, as might be suspected, has a different view.
In an email to AVweb, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said it's alway been controllers' jobs to report pilot infractions and she stressed there has been no change in FAA policy in this regard.
However, in a quote from an unnamed senior staff member in the Air Traffic Organization (ATO) it's clear that reporting infractions is now being stressed. "The bottom line is there has been no change
in ATC requirements just reinforcing the reporting piece," Brown quoted one of the ATO managers as saying. For the record, controllers are supposed to write up errors and supply supporting evidence to
the FSDO manager and the decision to sanction pilots is made there. Make sure those clearances and readbacks are clear ... .
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 Within a week of the departure of former CEO Vern Raburn, the new management of Eclipse Aviation has reportedly dropped all court actions
aimed at uncovering the identities of bloggers who had uncomplimentary things to say about Eclipse. The company had asked the courts to order Google to release the identities and IP addresses of about
30 contributors to EclipseCriticNG in an attempt to ferret out employees (who are covered by strict non-disclosure agreements) it
believed were supplying insider information to the blog site. "Basically, [Eclipse] caved," EclipseCriticNG overseer Shane Price told AVweb.
Shortly after the court action was launched, several of the named bloggers and some who hadn't been named began organizing a defense that ultimately convince the company to withdraw actions
launched in New Mexico and California, Price said. Of course EclipseCriticNG has been lively with discussion in recent days with the surprise departure of Raburn in a very public fashion on the
opening day of EAA AirVenture last week.
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Corporate aircraft have been flying into China for years, of course, but the launch of the Olympics in Beijing this week will bring general-aviation aircraft into the country in unprecedented numbers,
and the country's aviation infrastructure will never be the same. U.S. officials are pressuring China to open up its skies, which are 80 percent under military control. "We certainly remain hopeful
that ... there will be shifts to accommodate the civil aviation growth that has been forecast," Dorothy Reimold, the FAA's acting assistant administrator for international aviation, said on Monday. The GA fleet in China could expand from just over 700 aircraft today to as many as 10,000 by
the year 2020, she said. FBO operator Jet Aviation is readying to serve that market, with a brand-new facility opening at
Beijing's Capital International Airport (PEK) this week just in time to help handle the Olympics influx. The FBO will provide "around the clock in-house border police and customs clearance, security
checks, baggage screening and metal detection capabilities ... for fast, secure passenger and baggage handling," the company said in news release. Also, earlier this month, aviation regulators in
China sought to "rein in" pilots and restrict them from shopping around for jobs during the rise in traffic, Reuters reported. Such job-hopping was characterized as a threat to air safety.
Those who fly commercial also will encounter changes, including new security procedures. Atlantic Monthly writer (and Cirrus pilot) James Fallows, who is based in China, recently met with a new
request while flying from Chengdu to Beijing. "I had to hold my [bare] feet up while a young security officer waved a metal-detecting rod around the top, bottom, and sides of them," he wrote in his blog last week. "'Those are my feet,' I helpfully pointed out to her. 'For the Olympics!' she said, with what looked like a
smile."
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A Repeat Performance Sure to Evoke a Soaring Ovation
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Antonov Jet Can't Be Beat ... In at Least One
Respect |
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 Although reliability and performance are always mentioned in promotional material for business jets, Russian planemaker Antonov
has carved out a pretty difficult niche for competitors of its Antonov Business Jet to match. "The head of Russia's Business Aviation lobby Maksim Fedotov admits he'd rather have [a well-known
business jet] than a domestic jet," Russia Today is reporting. "But on a Siberian gas field at minus 50 degrees Celsius, he
says, only a Russian plane can be trusted to start and take off.
And while other makers might argue with that sentiment, the high-wing Antonov with wing-mounted engines out of the path of most debris that might be stirred up by the wheels does appear to be less
vulnerable to FOD damage although to what degree is likely debatable. For the record, Fedotov claims the Antonov is 270 times less likely to get a rock in the blades but there's no indication where
that claim comes from. Another sales pitch from Antonov, which showed off the jet at the recent Domodedovo Airshow is that its airplane is cheaper than others of comparable size and that the lack of
service network means sales have been slow and there are delivery slots available in 2010, compared to 2013 for the earliest deliveries from other companies ... .
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Aircraft Financing to Fit Your Needs
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A Hawker 800 jet that crashed in Minnesota last Thursday, killing all eight on
board, had already touched down but then ran about 1,000 feet beyond the end of the runway into a grass field where a wing hit an ILS antenna, the NTSB said late last week. "The antenna stands about 8
feet high and straddles the width of the runway," said Steven Chealander, of the NTSB. He added that according to witnesses at the scene, after touching down, the engines powered up and it appeared
that the crew was trying to take off again, but the jet never became airborne. When the wing hit, the airplane rolled over and broke apart, coming to rest in a cornfield. The airplane, operated by
East Coast Jets, crashed about 10 a.m. last Thursday at Owatonna Degneer Regional Airport in Minnesota during a light rain. "We are looking at everything," Chealander said. "There is no single focus
at this point. It is a multiple-focus accident investigation." Former NTSB chairman Jim Hall said the FAA should require flight data recorders or
cockpit video recorders in corporate and charter aircraft to aid in accident investigations.
"We see this time and time again -- an accident occurs with air taxis or corporate airplanes, and recorders were not required to be installed, forcing NTSB accident investigators into a search for
other data, such as radar tapes from air traffic control, to infer what happened," Hall said. "A supposition, however well educated, is simply not good enough." The Hawker did have a cockpit voice
recorder on board. The single runway at the airport is 5,500 feet long.
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Diamond DA40 XL Demonstrator Sale
For a limited time only, while quantities last, Diamond DA40 XL Demonstrator models are available at a special price of $299,950. The aircraft also qualify
for special 2008 tax incentives. You can enjoy owning a Diamond DA40 and write off up to 93% of the purchase price.
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Aircraft now for more information. 
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Original, Exclusive Videos from AVweb
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Reader-Submitted & Viral Videos
This year at EAA AirVenture we brought you fourteen video reports over the course of seven days. We realize the news was flying fast and furious during the show, so just in case you
missed any of our reports, you can catch them all here.
Click here to watch. (The main frame contains all of our videos, or you can click
over to a particular video if one interests you more than the others.)
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Envision® Integrated Flight Deck Available for Retrofit Installation in Select Cessna 300-Series Aircraft!
Avidyne has added the popular Cessna 320/335/340 piston-engine twins to the growing list of Envision® Integrated Flight Deck–approved aircraft. The big-glass Envision
system is the industry's easiest-to-use integrated flight deck, providing state-of-the-art situational awareness and safety, with a highly-reliable all-solid-state ADAHRS, a full-featured moving map,
electronic approach charts, color lightning, traffic avoidance, and satellite datalink weather.
Click here for more
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| Steve Taylor |
Steve Taylor is the new Vice President of Aircraft Management Sales for Executive Jet Management, covering the western U.S., including Hawaii and Alaska. He comes from NetJets where he was most
recently International Operations and Special Programs Manager.
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| Andrew Geist |
Aircell has promoted Andrew Geist to Senior Vice President of Business Aviation Solutions. Geist has been with the company since 1997 and has held several leadership positions.
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| Bernie McShea |
Space Florida has hired Bernie McShea as Vice President of Business Development. He was most recently senior vice president of business investment for the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance.
Get a promotion or a new job? Your colleagues want to know about it, and AVwebBiz can get the word out. Drop us a line about the staff
appointment, with a nice recent photo, and we'll do our best to include it in our new section, "Who's Where." The items will be permanently archived on AVweb for future reference,
too.
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Attention, All Maintenance Facility Managers!
Dr. James Allen's Working Healthy specifically addresses the long- and short-term hazards common in the aviation maintenance and flightline environment with proven guidelines on how to
protect an FBO's most valuable assets, students and employees. Implementing these guidelines will reduce cancellations, absenteeism, work delays and Workman's Compensation bills. One prevented minor
injury will pay for this book 100 times over! Available now in book or eBook format (along with other fine publications) at
AVwebBooks.com. 
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The Top Reporter on Our Crack Staff ... Is
You! |
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 Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 200,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips
via email to newstips@avweb.com. You're a part of our team ... often, the best part.
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AVwebBiz is a weekly summary of the latest business aviation news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the internet's aviation magazine and news service.
The AVwebBiz team is:
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Timothy Cole
Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli
Editor-in-Chief
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Contributing Editors
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Glenn Pew
Features Editor
Kevin Lane-Cummings
Webmaster
Scott Simmons
Contributors
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Jeff van West
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