AIN0225_compresed

AVIATION INTERNATIONAL NEWS

WORKPLACE: THE GENERATIONS COME TOGETHER

GOVERNMENT: WILL TAXES AND TARIFFS TIP THE SCALES?

ACCIDENTS: HOW THE COLGAN CRASH RESHAPED AVIATION

ROTORCRAFT: SAFETY UPGRADES A VAST IMPROVEMENT

Closing the Security Gap

In an increasingly troubled world, the aviation community is stepping up protections on and off aircraft

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Dassault Falcon business jet deliveries climbed in 2024

30 In Washington, taxes, tari s on upcoming agenda

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Embraer Executive Jets finishes o 2024 strong

6 FAA acknowledges G550 inflight object strike at FL270

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Business jet fatalities drop nearly 35% in 2024

Special Report: Securing your operation and being ready for ‘crazy’

Special Report: Mitigating the e ects of GNSS jamming and spoofing

Special Report: Cybersecurity takes steps forward

In multi-generational workplace, communication is key 34

Expert Opinion: What’s in and what’s out for 2025: you decide 36 Colgan Air Flight 3407: How a single crash sparked unprecedented reform 40 Future of European eVTOL aircraft pioneers remains uncertain

Embraer Executive Jets

finishes o 2024 strong

BY CURT EPSTEIN

Embraer closed out 2024 strong, with its 130 business jet deliveries landing in the center of its predicted range of 125 to 135 for the year. That also marks a 13% increase from its 2023 total.

In the fourth quarter, the airframer handed over 44 executive jets, split evenly between its Phenom light and Praetor midsize jet families. This represents an increase of three units over the third quarter, but five less than the fourth quarter of 2023, a testimony to the company’s goal of evening out its production schedule over the year rather than being more concentrated in the final quarter.

For the year, Embraer tallied 10 Phenom 100EXs, 65 Phenom 300Es, 28

Praetor 500s, and 27 Praetor 600s. While it shipped just one more light jet than it did in 2023, its Praetor deliveries rose year over year by 14. Last year saw the manufacturer’s highest volume of private jet deliveries in the past eight years, and it is now approaching its peak of 144 set in 2010.

“These aircraft delivery results highlight the impressive growth trajectory of Embraer Executive Jets,” Michael Amalfitano, president and CEO of the manufacturer’s business jet division, told AIN . “It is a testament to the strong market demand for our industry-leading Phenom and Praetor jets, and our relentless commitment to delivering the ultimate experience in business aviation.” z

Embraer Executive Jets saw its highest number of deliveries in the past eight years in 2024, led by its popular Phenom 300 family. The Brazilian airframer handed over 65 of the light jets last year, half of its total of 130 deliveries.

News Briefs

AIN ACQUIRES AIRCRAFT VALUATION FIRM AIRCRAFTPOST

AIN Media Group has acquired AircraftPost, a provider of facts-based insight, analysis, and statistics pertaining to business jets and their real-time market values. The acquisition builds on AIN Media Group’s growth strategy by adding a key property to its new data division, complementing its award-winning publishing and events divisions. “This represents a milestone in our ongoing mission to be the leading provider of independent business aviation news, journalism, content, data, marketing services, and events,” said AIN Media Group president Ruben Kempeneer. Jo-Anne Arruda, most recently AircraftPost’s COO, has taken the role of AIN Media Group’s head of data.

ATLANTIC AVIATION BUYS FERROVIAL VERTIPORTS

FBO chain Atlantic Aviation has made a major splash in the advanced air mobility (AAM) infrastructure arena with its acquisition of Ferrovial Vertiports, one of the leaders in the development of specialized eVTOL operations hubs. Ferrovial has been rebranded as Vertiports by Atlantic. The FBO chain is preparing to meet the coming AAM sector with ongoing installation of electric aircraft charging stations at key locations. Atlantic is commencing similar upgrades at New York City’s East 34th Street Heliport.

HONEYWELL TAPS NXP FOR ANTHEM AVIONICS CHIPS

Honeywell International and Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors are expanding their partnership to bring the latter’s processors to the former’s in-development Anthem integrated flight deck, enabling artificial intelligence features and eventually full autonomy functions. Honeywell Aerospace plans to implement NXP’s i.MX 8 chips in the Anthem flight deck. The partners will also collaborate on advanced cockpit display systems.

FAA acknowledges G550 in-flight object strike at FL270

BY MATT THURBER

The FAA confirmed to AIN that a Gulfstream G550 experienced a midair collision with a mysterious object at FL270 in Miami airspace on December 11 during a flight from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (KFXE) to New York’s Westchester County Airport (KHPN). According to the FAA statement, the twinjet diverted to, and landed safely at, Palm Beach International Airport (KPBI) “after the pilot reported striking an object in Miami airspace.”

Little information is available publicly about the incident, other than an entry on Flight Safety Foundation’s Aviation Safety Network website and a post on social media platform X by Ryan Graves, co-founder and executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reporting unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). According to Graves’ post, one of the G550’s engines failed after the encounter with “an unidentified metallic object…at approximately 27,000 feet.”

Graves describes the reporter, who is not one of the G550’s pilots, as a whistleblower. “The whistleblower is concerned because this altitude is highly regulated Class A airspace that requires flight plans and transponders, but in this instance, there were no flight plans for the object and the object was not squawking a transponder code.

“We can largely eliminate the possibility of common objects because: a weather balloon would have been transponding; this altitude is too high for hobby drones and illegal for any drone; there is no biological indicator of a bird strike; [and] video of the engine shows metal damage.”

Graves, a former Navy lieutenant and F/A-18F pilot, wrote, “I am concerned the incident is being downplayed by FAA. The report is being classified as an ‘incident’

News Briefs

PIPER ’ S M700 FURY SECURES UK CAA APPROVAL

The UK Civil Aviation Authority has approved Piper Aircraft’s M700 Fury turboprop single, including for flight into known icing. The approval in December cleared the way for the manufacturer to make its first delivery to the UK that month. Following FAA type certification in March 2024, Transport Canada became the first foreign regulator to validate the M700 in August. It has since been approved by EASA, Brazil’s Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil, and Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

FLEXJET MEETS SMS RULE AHEAD OF 2027 DEADLINE

and not an ‘accident,’ which would require public announcement, investigation by NTSB, and an explanation.”

As to whether a balloon and its payload could have been the UAP, not all balloons are transponder-equipped, according to the FAA: “Some operators have equipped their balloons with transponder beacons in addition to a radar reflection device or material required by 14 CFR Section 101.35, but at cruise altitude, the balloon’s communications equipment and transponder, if so equipped, are operated intermittently to conserve battery energy.”

Although the FAA declined to tell AIN whether it planned to investigate the G550 engine failure, an FAA investigation seems likely, because its Part 21 regulations (21.3(c) (10)) require that the aircraft’s type certificate holder report an engine failure. z

Fractional aircraft provider Flexjet has submitted its declaration of compliance to the FAA for new mandatory rules under Part 5 Safety Management System (SMS), meeting the regulatory requirements well before the May 2027 deadline. The decision to submit the compliance declaration follows Flexjet’s participation in the FAA’s SMS Voluntary Program since 2021. In addition to early compliance, Flexjet has garnered a series of safety credentials, including a platinum safety rating from Argus, an IS-BAO Stage 2 registration, and 25 FAA Diamond Awards for excellence in aviation maintenance training.

SKYRYSE UNVEILS COCKPIT

DESIGN FOR FLY- BY-WIRE R66

Skyryse has finalized the design of the cockpit in its Skyryse One helicopter, which is a conversion of the turbine-powered Robinson R66 to fly-by-wire flight controls with a single control stick and two main touchscreen displays. In Skyryse’s modified R66, a single flight control is positioned between the two front seats, and pilots can fly from either seat. There are no conventional helicopter controls; these are all removed as part of the conversion.

ADS-B Exchange captured the flight path of the Gulfstream G550 that experienced failure of one engine after collision with an object at 27,000 feet.

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Dassault Falcon business jet deliveries climbed in 2024

BY MATT THURBER

Deliveries of Dassault Falcon business jets climbed to 31 in 2024 versus 26 in 2023, although there were fewer than the 35 that Dassault had targeted for the year in the release of its first-half results in August.

Dassault doesn’t provide a breakdown of which models were delivered, but the total includes the Falcon 6X, the newest jet in the French company’s stable. The backlog for Falcon jets as of Dec. 31 is 79, a drop of five from the end of 2023. Net orders for new Falcons reached 26 during 2024, up from 23 a year earlier.

The Falcon 6X received concurrent FAA and EASA certification on Aug. 22, 2023, and entered service on November 30 of that year. The 6X can fly up to 5,500 nm with eight passengers and NBAA IFR reserves and has an Mmo of Mach 0.90.

On the defense side, Dassault delivered 21 Rafale fighter jets in 2024, up from 13 in 2023, against an end-of-2024 backlog of 220.

Meanwhile, Éric Trappier last month began his new role as CEO of Dassault, including Dassault Aviation, IT specialist Dassault Systèmes, and real estate division Immobilière Dassault. In a move

announced in February 2024, Trappier is replacing Charles Edelstenne, who has led Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault since 2018, while retaining his existing position as CEO of Dassault Aviation.

Trappier has spent his entire career with Dassault, having joined the company soon after graduating with an engineering degree from France’s Telecom SudParis university in 1983. He became the head of Dassault Aviation in 2013, taking over from Edelstenne, as well as holding the position of chairman of the company’s U.S. subsidiary, Dassault Falcon Jet.

Groupe Dassault, founded in 1929 by aviation pioneer Marcel Dassault, remains a family-owned venture, with four family members on its board. The group’s business interests also include French newspaper Le Figaro, auction house Artcurial, and a wine estate in the Bordeaux region.

Trappier also serves as president of French aerospace industry group GIFAS and defense group CIDEF. He will now oversee the strategic direction of the Dassault group, as well as leading its business and military aviation division. z

News Briefs

DAHER MARKS 11% INCREASE IN TBM, KODIAK DELIVERIES

Daher Aircraft last year delivered 82 turboprop singles (56 TBM 960s, 15 Kodiak 100s, and 11 Kodiak 900s), an 11% increase from 2023. The company also logged net orders for 100 TBMs and Kodiaks in 2024, with its aircraft backlog now extending into 2026.

More than half of the TBM deliveries last year went to repeat buyers of TBM family aircraft, according to Daher. The U.S. continued as the leading market for these aircraft, with 40 of the 56 TBM 960s handed over in 2024 going to customers there. The U.S. was also prominent in Kodiak utility aircraft shipments.

HONEYWELL EXAMINES AEROSPACE UNIT SEPARATION

Honeywell’s board of directors is evaluating a possible separation of its aerospace business as part of its ongoing portfolio review. This process began last year, led by chairman and CEO Vimal Kapur. Je eries Equity Research values Honeywell Aerospace as a standalone company at about $111 billion. Over the past year, Honeywell has made several strategic acquisitions, including Carrier’s Global Access Solutions business, Civitanavi Systems, CAES Systems, and Air Products’ liquefied natural gas business. Honeywell also plans to spin o its advanced materials division and divest its personal protective equipment business.

EASA GIVES NOD FOR PW545D ENGINE FOR CITATION ASCEND

EASA has approved Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PW545D engine that powers Textron Aviation’s Cessna Citation Ascend. The 4,200-pound-thrust engine— the largest and most powerful member of the PW500-series turbofans—received Transport Canada and FAA approvals in July. Textron Aviation is aiming to complete type certification and service entry for the Ascend this year, having launched the midsize twinjet in May 2023.

The Falcon 6X, Dassault’s newest business jet, entered service in 2023.

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Business jet accident fatalities drop nearly 35% in 2024

BY GORDON GILBERT

Fatalities from business jet accidents worldwide decreased from 32 in 2023 to 21 last year, according to preliminary data gathered by AIN. Five fatal accidents of U.S.-registered business jets resulted in 15 fatalities last year versus six accidents that claimed 23 in 2023. Non-U.S.-registered business

jets experienced three fatal accidents that resulted in six fatalities last year versus three accidents and nine fatalities in 2023.

Two of the fatal business jet accidents last year occurred while on charter flights, while the six other fatal accidents involved private flights.

TURKEY ’ S BAYKAR RECEIVES NOD TO BUY PIAGGIO

Turkish military drone maker Baykar has received approval from Italian authorities to acquire Piaggio Aerospace, clearing the path for the sale of the P.180 Avanti manufacturer after a protracted search for a new owner. Baykar said it outbid suitors from multiple countries for the acquisition of the OEM, which has been in receivership since 2018. It did not detail the terms of the acquisition, which Baykar said will enable it to expand deeper into the European aviation market.

TRANSPORT CANADA APPROVES CESSNA SKYCOURIER

Transport Canada Civil Aviation has awarded type certification for Textron Aviation’s Cessna SkyCourier utility turboprop twin. Textron Aviation expects to deliver the first SkyCourier in Canada this year to Air Bravo, an Ontario-based passenger, cargo, and air ambulance charter operator with facilities in Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Barrie, and Meaford. The SkyCourier received FAA certification in 2022 and is available in freighter or passenger versions, or a configuration for carrying both. A gravel kit is also available for unpaved runways.

BLACKHAWK ACQUIRES GLENDALE AERO SERVICES MRO

The Blackhawk Group, a provider of modifications and maintenance services for light turbine aircraft, acquired Arizonabased Glendale Aero Services’ maintenance, repair, and overhaul business. This marks Blackhawk’s fifth acquisition and expands the network of existing Blackhawk and Avex performance centers across the U.S. Glendale Aero will be rebranded as a Blackhawk Performance Center (BPC). Located at Glendale Municipal Airport (KGEU), BPCGlendale is a Part 145 certified repair station and is a factory-authorized service center for Cirrus Aircraft and Textron Aviation/Cessna.

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Securing your operation and being ready for ‘crazy’

BY KERRY LYNCH

Many flight departments are not prepared to prevent or even recognize security breaches.

Flight departments must close security gaps on the ground and in the air and remain vigilant of the constant presence of risks, security experts warn.

Four of these experts recently highlighted some of those concerns during a webinar hosted by NBAA. The thrust of their messages surrounded the need to research, plan, and prepare for contingencies. They also agreed that the vulnerabilities could be anywhere and involve anyone.

“Security gaps are those areas and those vulnerabilities that we end up falling into— we don’t even realize that they’re there,”

said Aviation Secure founder and president Kristopher Cannon. “Because we don’t realize they’re there—because we’re not really paying attention to it—we go on our day. It’s the same thing all the time. We call, we get transportation, we get catering, and we get the airplane ready. The CEO shows up, and we take off. Nothing actually seems to get in our way. Everything is always great until crazy shows up.”

He pointed to a recent incident in La Crosse, Wisconsin. “A guy walked through an FBO, and next thing you know, you got a barricaded suspect on a [Gulfstream] G500.”

Cannon pointed to another incident where a principal got into a vehicle that wasn’t his vehicle at the airport. The FBO sent the wrong driver or the right driver to the wrong airplane, picked up the CEO, and drove away. “The CEO finally realized that he wasn’t going in the direction he was supposed to be going in,” Cannon said.

These examples are a microcosm of security risks that aviation operations face, especially with global markets and global geopolitical conflicts. Added to this are a variety of concerns of protesters and potential adversaries.

Matt Burdette, country manager and v-p of business development for ASA Security Services, noted that recent events abroad as well as in the U.S. should encourage flight departments and others to take a careful look at their security. “There has to be a thorough review at this point. There needs to be the point where you pull out all of the folders from your file cabinet, turn them upside down, and carefully review them with the heads of all the departments potentially involved,” Burdette said. “Look at it from a what-if perspective.”

Each organization will have different risk tolerances, and that should be examined for all the employees. “That needs to be a no-holds-barred, looking at the situation, and then looking carefully for gaps,” he added.

Cannon added that with many companies, if a CEO wants to go somewhere, the flight department puts together a trip and goes. But often there is not a lot of input if an area carries a heightened risk or whether contingencies should be in place.

“We see a lot of these companies don’t actually have security plans and policies and protocols in place. And if they do, sometimes they’re very limited,” he said. “What are your tolerances? What’s on paper? If nothing’s on paper, now’s the time to get something together so everybody can agree on a more formal policy that you can operate in. If you’re not doing risk assessments, now’s the time to get started.”

Daniel Foust, president and founder of Corporate Aviation Security International, reiterated these comments. “In anything security-related, you have to be proactive in everything you do. You need to do an immediate assessment and audit of what the protocol is, how they’re doing it, and find out their vulnerabilities,” Foust said. “You can’t fix the vulnerabilities if you don’t know what they are. And key to that is finding out what your vulnerabilities are before the enemy does. And don’t think that they’re not trying to find them right

now, whether it’s through cyber, through physical, through structural, whatever they’re doing, they’re going to come after you that way.”

AVIATION SECURE FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT

 We see a lot of these companies don’t actually have security plans and policies and protocols in place. And if they do, sometimes they’re very limited... 

He added that operators have many resources to help build security protocols and contingencies, whether working through a third-party security specialist, bringing in more security-experienced personnel, or simply coordinating with a flight department next door that has a working system. “But understand that everybody has these vulnerabilities; they’re different, and they’re unique to each flight department.”

Foust agreed with the need for assessments and audits to make sure what is in place is working, as well as to look at what’s new, what has changed, and the current threats.

They offered further advice such as in the case of ground transportation. Cannon recommended that companies use a password that the limo driver must have before

anyone gets in the car. Further, the identification of the driver should be checked, and it should be confirmed that there is nobody else in the car. “I know it sounds like a big deal, but it’s really not. It takes about 30 seconds.”

Getting advance intelligence on the destination is critical, they agreed, and further stressed that “boots on the ground” are extremely important in gathering key information.

“When you’re planning, you are getting the vetting done beforehand,” Foust said. “It’s a security mindset. Who do you know in that area where you can get information?” There are government resources, online paid resources, and news articles, he noted. But people on location are “the best intel you can get.”

He pointed to instances where his company received queries about various locations such as in South America or Africa. “What’s really going on?” he asked. “We’ve had some instances where the news says it’s horrible, but where you’re going is an hour away and you’re safe...We’ve had just the opposite. We’ve reached out to our teammates [at a location], and they replied back with a full report. But the executive summary was two bullet points: ‘Don’t you dare come here. It’s a war zone,’ and ‘If you are going to come here, we need to know by close of business because all of the advanced work [that is required].’”

Burdette agreed. He noted that being aware of where people fly is crucial. He cited as an example Davos, Switzerland, which draws the World Economic Forum and protesters along with it.

“We’ve seen recent events that have been very anti-capitalist in nature,” he said, recalling the security breach during the 2023 edition of EBACE. “We’ve also seen in the last year a couple of penetrations of the perimeter security at airports and damage or more to aircraft. When you have an incident or you have an event happening that is probable to draw individuals or organizations like that, you’re going to

KRISTOPHER CANNON

have that opportunity there. You’re going to have a higher probability of bad guys or potential bad guys, even if they’re not trying to hurt people. Nonetheless, that affects your mission and your travel.”

Cannon further stressed the need to have a contingency plan in place that is updated. He cited what he called “the big four” for contingency plans: illness or injury (whether the flight crew or the people aboard); crime and/or protests; fire or other evacuations; and emergency departures.

“How do we handle that? What’s our contingency plan? Who do we contact?” he asked, and added, “This comes to culture; it’s the culture within the organization. It’s the buy-in that we need to get from each player in the company. We all have to take a look around us and say, ‘Hey, you know what? We are in a vulnerable job. We’re traveling to different parts of the world where we can’t guarantee that it’s going to be all rosy and sunshine when we get there. And certainly, we can’t guarantee that’s going to stay that way.’

“The last thing you ever want to do is execute that emergency reaction plan. You want to be well ahead of that, and that starts with communication, that mindset, and then getting that information way ahead of time so you can plan properly for something.”

Eric Moilanen, founder of Premier Corporate Security, discussed precautions necessary for the use of supplemental lift. Moilanen stressed the need for pre-vetting but also asked about situations where there is an unexpected, urgent need for supplemental lift and a company hasn’t planned for that contingency.

“Not planning is really not the best option. If you have at least a basic plan in place with some bullet points, [you have] some things to look at when you’re in the situation where this has come up right now and everybody in the flight department

Special Report

is going a million miles an hour trying to coordinate all the other things that go along with a zero-notice flight. Having at least some of a framework of what we should look for in the vetting is still going to be valuable even if you don’t have all the finite details of that particular situation.”

THE ENEMY WITHIN

Security risks aren’t always external. Sometimes that begins with the crew. Moilanen noted that companies go to great lengths to avoid being tracked at destinations, but the crew must be aware of their surroundings. “We go to the hotel lobby bar and we talk about work, we use aviation terms and company terms, and we sit at our high-top table and blab away. And we all have done it.”

But by having those discussions where anybody can hear, “we’ve taken everything that we tried to put in place, and inadvertently, we have become the insider threat just through our normal course of conversation,” Moilanen said.

Cannon cautioned against clothing with company logos at destinations. “We have to understand where we sit on that controversial scale and understand that there could be a threat against us. There could

be a threat against our principal or our company. And so when we’re wearing certain clothing, we become that commodity,” he said, adding that he’s a fan of simple black polos.

Also, crew communications are essential, especially while on the ground. “Flight departments have a general awareness of what corporate security is doing for the passengers, the principals, whoever is on this trip, and corporate security generally knows what the flight department is doing. But neither one of them gets into a lot of detail,” said Moilanen. That can become problematic.

He cited as an example a three-day trip. During the day in the middle, the flight crew may be laying out by the pool or using the day to catch up on emails. “But if that is the most critical day for the principal’s visit and that is the highest risk environment they’re going to be in, the corporate security department needs to know that aircraft is one of the biggest tools they have to resolve an issue with that principal.”

That may not be the best day to be dressed down and nowhere near the airplane, he cautioned. “If there’s a critical

On June 7, 2023, protesters from Letze Generation broke through fencing at Sylt Airport in Germany and damaged this Cessna Citation CJ1+ then glued themselves to the ramp.

timeframe where an extraction might be the most sensible thing to do, that comes back to the communication,” Moilanen said.

The corporate flight department can educate the security apparatus in the company on what their capabilities are, how long it takes to get the airplane started, whether the aircraft is left fueled—all the pieces that are necessary if the crew gets word: “We’re headed to the airport right now, the boss is injured, there was a threat, we got to get him out of town.”

On the other hand, the flight department needs to know all the details to adjust to the sudden departure. “Maybe there’s some aircraft capabilities, parking, weight, and things like that factor into that.” From the corporate side, that may be minutiae, but all those details take up valuable minutes when a critical incident occurs.

A LACK OF PRIVACY

One critical area that operators grapple with—and one where there’s no clear resolution—is privacy of movement. Congress reinforced protections in place to prevent flight trackers from releasing realtime flight information of aircraft in cases where the operator has asked for privacy.

However, with the ability to track aircraft by ADS-B, few flight-monitoring organizations or individuals with such capabilities honor that. The ones that do are wellknown and respected companies such as FlightAware. But most are not. This has resulted in high-profile cases such as the tracking of Taylor Swift’s aircraft.

Moilanen noted that this is a scenario where supplemental lift can be helpful to avoid such issues. He noted that many flight departments feel they have plenty of aircraft and question why they would go outside for carriage of their principals.

“Regardless of your wishes to have your travels and your tail number blocked, it is still accessible to the general public. So that in itself can generate the need for a supplemental lift,” he said. This could be through a variety of means, either via a Part 135 charter, a partnership, a fractional operation, or even just a close confidante/ friend of the company with a Part 91 aircraft. But, Moilanen reiterated, when a flight department goes that route, it brings up the question of vetting and how wellknown the entity is.

Foust called the tracking situation “a big issue.” He noted other precautions put in place such as the FAA’s Privacy

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Address (PIA) program that allows aircraft owners to request an alternate, temporary IACO address that is not specifically assigned to the owner in the Civil Aircraft Registry. But he called the PIA process “kind of long and tedious to get it taken care of, and it’s very limited” in how far it extends.

Another tool is using double trusts. “There’s multiple sources for that, but there’s no solid 100% solution against that tracking,” he said, noting that there is substantial criminal activity to ignore laws about this.

Until there is a foolproof solution, Foust added, “You’re going to have to stack up, you’re going to have to do multiple layers of protection.”

He cited as an example deceptive operations, such as swapping airplanes by entering a different hangar with a pre-vetted operation. “We all did it in the military,” he said, “and I’ve seen a company do this.”

Another example is in ground transportation, having multiple cars leave in different directions, obscuring the true path of the principal. “The hangar’s door is closed before the cabin door drops open, and then you have three different cars leaving in three different directions, and if anybody’s watching, they don’t know who went where. If somebody does, it’s probably an insider. And that’s a big threat right now too,” Foust said.

Cannon stressed that this all comes down to communication and preparedness. “It’s just a matter of educating our flight department, educating our crews, getting over the ‘nothing’s ever going to happen’ routine,” he said. “Because every incident that we’ve ever talked about was the first time that it happened to that particular crew. And so first times do happen, and they can be pretty devastating… It comes down to just getting back to the basics of let’s get down to a security mindset and let’s communicate across company lines and talk about this openly with our teams.”

Collins Aerospace’s FlightAware flight-tracking service fully complies with the FAA’s Privacy ICAO Address program that allows U.S.-registered aircraft to be blocked from tracking.

Mitigating the e ects of GNSS jamming and spoofing

In what may be the first civil aviation accident involving GPS jamming, an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crashed in December after reportedly being hit by debris from an exploding anti-aircraft missile near its destination in Grozny. While it appears that local GPS jamming against drones was occurring, it is not known whether this contributed to the accident. However, blockage of navigation signals likely was not helpful during an extremely stressful situation for the unfortunate pilots, both of whom died, along with a flight attendant and 35 passengers.

Jamming and spoofing of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals continues to be a serious issue, and while it seems to be confined to conflict zones, it can happen anywhere to any aircraft that uses GNSS for navigation. GPS is a type of GNSS, as are other systems such as Russia’s Glonass, China’s Beidou, and Europe’s Galileo.

Spoofing occurs when a GNSS receiver is tricked into calculating a false position by equipment transmitting from the ground, which can show the aircraft in a different location than its actual position and prompt the navigation system to send the aircraft off the desired course. Jamming blocks the GNSS signals from being received and essentially renders the receiver useless until the jamming is switched off or the aircraft exits the area.

The problem with spoofing and jamming isn’t just the effect on the navigation capability of the aircraft but on equipment that is dependent on accurate GNSS signals, according to an FAA presentation from early last year. Spoofing and jamming can

BY MATT THURBER

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also harm communications systems including satcom and controller-pilot data link communications (CPDLC); ADS-B and -C surveillance; terrain awareness and warning systems (TAWS) and enhanced ground proximity warning systems (EGPWS); autoflight systems; and support equipment such as electronic flight bags or tablet apps. Pilots have reported autopilot failures, spurious EGPWS and TAWS warnings, and other anomalous avionics behavior such as clock changes due to jamming and spoofing.

L3Harris Flight Data Analytics has been studying jamming and spoofing activity after airline and business aviation customers brought up issues they saw with spurious changes in flight information captured by flight operations quality assurance (FOQA) data from onboard flight data recorders.

“We started helping them understand what the potential causes could be at that time, based on their flight plan,” explained Mitesh Patel, general manager of L3Harris Flight Data Analytics. “Our role is to analyze flight data coming off the aircraft, correlate that with pilot reports, and then try and make sense of any unusual events, anything that would have compromised flight safety, to help the airlines with their safety management processes.”

L3Harris customers include airlines and business aviation operators such as Luxaviation. Data from airlines flows in at a much faster rate, with airline customers logging 28,000 to 30,000 flights a day, far more than L3Harris’ business aviation clients. However, data from business aviation operators tends to be more “eventful,” according to Patel, because they fly to many more airports that airlines don’t use.

Before the influx of jamming and spoofing events began about 18 months ago, there were sporadic reports, but then they became more prevalent, he said, “especially in conflict zones. [Customers]

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wanted us to analyze the data in more detail to understand what was causing those issues. Could we detect GPS spoofing based on the data that was captured within the flight data recorders?”

The L3Harris team wrote algorithms to analyze the data so analysts could see where spoofing was occurring. Older aircraft have limited data sets, so a combination of extrapolation of data and tapping other data sources was needed, Patel explained, “to try and correlate those data items to see if there’s any deviation from one to the other, which could then potentially indicate a spoofing or a jamming situation.”

Ultimately, having this information allows operators to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for dealing with jamming and spoofing and to update pilot training. “So when it actually happens in real life, pilots are more prepared,” he said. “They can identify something that’s happening and then correlate that with their training to take the right actions.”

L3Harris has a pilot training division, and it has developed spoofing scenarios for flight simulator programs. “We set them up as malfunctions on non-normalcondition situations. Then those would be introduced during a flight profile from one airport to another, introducing the startle factor. The pilots deal with it, and effectively it trains them so that they’re more

confident when it does happen in real life. They know exactly how to deal with the situation, and they’re familiar with the SOPs and the non-normal procedures as well.”

The data that L3Harris captures also supports its efforts to inform customers about where jamming and spoofing are likely to occur, so they can share this information with their pilots. One airline customer uses that information to brief pilots on jamming and spoofing risks and also to develop alternate routes to avoid high-risk areas, Patel explained.

“Avionics companies and OEMs are working towards finding solutions,” he said, “looking at encrypting GPS signals, providing more directional antennas, multiple ways of ensuring that the GPS signal itself doesn’t get compromised. There’s a lot of work already in progress around mitigating GPS jamming and spoofing. We’re continuously working with our airline partners and customers to support them along that route.

“One of the areas that I was surprised at that gets affected is CPDLC and FANS, because they have date and time stamps. Once the GPS time stamps are compromised, then systems that use that information can be compromised as well. If applications that have a license key that expires at a certain date, if a GPS date is shifted to a point where a license becomes invalid, then those applications potentially could not be available to the pilots.”

OpsGroup’s spoofing report outlined the profile of a typical GNSS spoofing event.

A problem that also could occur with a date shift is that the recorded data might show up as a flight done in the past or future, and analysts then need to find other data to recalibrate the flight to its proper parameters.

“It’s amazing how modern aircraft are so complex and use GPS signals for things that you never have thought about previously,” Patel said.

MITIGATING JAMMING AND SPOOFING

The FAA issued a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO 24002) on Jan. 24, 2024, giving advice to pilots on operations in a GNSS-disrupted environment. In its recommendations, the FAA urges pilots to assess potential risk before departure, including checking notams, and determining if there are alternative arrival and approach procedures at the destination and alternate airports that use non-GNSS nav sources.

Operators should also consult with manufacturers of their aircraft and avionics for specific advice on detecting and mitigating jamming and spoofing.

While in flight, the FAA advises: “Be vigilant for any indication that the aircraft’s GPS/GNSS is being disrupted; verify the aircraft position by means of conventional navaids, when available; assess operational risks and limitations linked to the loss of GPS/GNSS capability, including any onboard systems requiring inputs from a GPS/GNSS signal; ensure navaids critical to the operation for the intended route/ approach are available; remain prepared to revert to conventional instrument flight procedures; promptly report disruption to ATC, followed by a detailed written report post-flight at: https://www.faa.gov/ air_traffic/nas/gps_reports.”

OPSGROUP SPOOFING REPORT

Last August, flight operations advisory provider OpsGroup convened a group of 950 people from airlines, business jet operators, air traffic control organizations, regulators, GPS specialists, and aviation

organizations to study the spoofing problem and in September published the “GPS Spoofing Final Report.”

In the report, OpsGroup extracted a crew guidance document that expands on the FAA’s advice and provides more detailed instructions on how to prepare for and handle spoofing encounters.

While the advice came from “best practices collected from the flight crew participating in the GPS Spoofing Workgroup, as well as OEM and other expert input,” OpsGroup noted, “nothing here is intended to replace or override company procedures, OEM advice, or legal requirements.”

OpsGroup split its advice into four key operational areas: preflight, pre-spoofing, within spoofing area, and recovery.

PREFLIGHT

GPS spoofing should be treated as a full briefing, OpsGroup recommends. As such, operators should evaluate likely entry and exit points of spoofing areas, using online spoofing maps such as the SkAI Data Services Live GPS Spoofing and Jamming Tracker Map at spoofing.skai-data-services. com. L3Harris has also identified high-risk areas based on its captured data.

The briefing should include plans for dealing with spoofing, assessment of

the availability of ground-based navaids, expected equipment effects and spoofing/jamming indications, and how spoofing might affect required navigation performance (RNP) requirements later in the flight, especially during arrivals and approaches.

Pilots should review EGPWS impact and decide how to respond to alerts in cruise, whether to use terrain override, and how to handle alerts during an instrument approach. “Be fully prepared for unusual EGPWS behavior.” In addition to the FAA list above, synthetic vision may revert to an ordinary attitude direction indicator.

A key consideration should be contingency planning—for example, if engine failure or depressurization occurs within a spoofing area. A diversion inside a spoofing area may require daylight VMC, and pilots need to be aware of minimum safe altitudes.

While some avionics vulnerabilities can be generalized, pilots should to know how jamming/spoofing affects their aircraft, including the difference between conventional and hybrid inertial reference systems (IRS). A hybrid IRS uses GPS information to update the IRS position, and it should be possible to deselect IRS hybrid mode.

Crews can get insight via the SkAI Data Services Live GPS Spoofing and Jamming Tracker Map.

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OpsGroup suggests making sure pilots synchronize a mechanical watch with a known source before departure in case of clock failure in the avionics.

Notams are not a reliable source of information, even though the FAA suggests checking them for jamming/spoofing information. “Don’t rely purely on notams to give comprehensive warnings of spoofing locations,” OpsGroup said.

If departing from an airport inside a spoofing area, turning off the GPS receiver before aligning the IRS can help mitigate spoofing. “Carry out a manual alignment. Be vigilant for automatic capturing of the spoofed GPS position during alignment.”

Arriving at a spoofed-area airport, pilots should avoid using GPS/RNP arrival or approach procedures.

PRE-SPOOFING

Once aloft, preparations should commence 45 minutes or 300 nm before entering a spoofing area. It may be wise to decline direct routings and remain on airways that are based on ground navaids.

Pilots should go over the plan for spoofing encounters and be ready for avionics effects, especially an EGPWS alert while in cruise.

Pilots should monitor estimated position uncertainty (EPU) and actual navigation performance (ANP). The GPS status can be viewed on the flight management system’s sensor/pos ref page.

“Anticipate jamming to commence before spoofing: the typical spoofing encounter now commences with a period of GPS jamming, which makes the GPS receiver more vulnerable to spoofing.”

OpsGroup recommends monitoring position with a separate external GPS, and this can be connected to a tablet running moving-map software. It may help to keep the external GPS’ antenna in sight of satellites but shielded from the horizon by the airframe structure, to prevent the jamming/spoofing equipment from affecting its receipt of satellite signals.

“Any disagreement between aircraft GPS and external GPS will suggest spoofing,” OpsGroup advised.

There are alerting apps and systems that can warn pilots of spoofing activity, and OpsGroup recommends using products such as NaviGuard.

Aircraft Performance Group’s (APG) NaviGuard is a free GPS anomaly detection app for Apple iOS devices. NaviGuard o ff ers users a way to verify position data using traditional navaids such as VOR and NDB. Potential spoofing zones are updated with EASA data.

The app is meant to be a tool for situational awareness and position verification, not navigation. Additionally, the app allows users to export data, whether saving it to their own devices or reporting anomalies to regulators.

Send Solutions offers an add-on to its Airtext+ Iridium satcom that can not only identify and report GPS jamming or spoofing but also help pilots stay on the proper track when such incidents cause faulty navigation inputs, using Iridium information.

In addition to the Airtext+ and Iridium antenna, Send’s Spoof Proof system requires an annunciator, either carried on

Typical indications accompanying GPS jamming and spoofing, as identified by OpsGroup.

board as temporary equipment or installed in the flight deck.

By monitoring at least three GNSS constellations and Arinc 429 flight management system (FMS) labels, Airtext+ can compare the aircraft’s FMS position to a known good position and detect jamming and spoofing quickly, then notify the crew via the annunciator that there is a questionable navigation status.

At the same time, Airtext+ sends a text or email message to air traffic control and designated entities such as a company’s dispatchers to notify about the corrupted position information. Finally, Airtext+ uses the last known qualified position to provide a high-resolution dead reckoning position that pilots can input into the FMS to facilitate continued navigation.

OpsGroup also recommends pilots listen for air traffic controllers or other pilots reporting jamming/spoofing, keep a current navlog in case of the need to navigate by dead reckoning, and watch the GPS date on the avionics sensors page. “A date change is a strong indicator of likely problems recovering the GPS receiver post-spoofing.”

The last steps for pre-spoofing preparation include deselecting GPS input to the FMS; deselecting IRS hybrid mode to remove GPS input; setting the clock to “internal” or manual, “if possible, to protect

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CPDLC and other datalink functions”; inhibiting EGPWS look-ahead mode to “prevent false alerts at cruise altitude;” and stow the head-up display.

INSIDE SPOOFING AREA

Jamming usually occurs before spoofing, but once spoofing sets in, a variety of failures will occur, ranging from rapid increases in EPU or ANP, position-disagree cautions for GPS and IRS or FMS position, clock time changes, transponder failure with an “ATC FAIL” message, sudden autopilot turns, and ADS-B failure.

Synthetic vision may revert, wind indications shift or show illogical data, sensor page GPS information shows unusual values, and EGPWS calls out an audible “PULL UP” warning while in cruise.

Pilots might see a difference in a handheld GPS position compared to the avionics, a dramatic difference between GPS 1 and 2, and ACARS messages from operations centers that see unusual values in downlink messages. It’s important during a jamming/spoofing encounter to continue flying the airplane and then check that systems settings are set for spoofing protection, according to OpsGroup. Pilots might want to fly on heading mode while troubleshooting and should report the event to ATC and request vectors or confirmation of correct position and track.

Using non-GNSS navigation is important, if available, and OpsGroup suggests inhibiting EGPWS terrain alerts, which “avoids false ‘PULL UP’ etc. warnings triggered by spoofed altitude data.”

RECOVERY

After exiting the spoofing area, the sensor page should show the time and date back to normal, groundspeed consistent with true airspeed and nav display, and consistent position and altitude. GPS can be reselected for input to the FMS but, if allowed, the GPS receiver and GPWS computer should be reset. If some systems are still failed, let ATC know. CPDLC mandates can be disregarded, and this won’t result in denial of airspace entry, OpsGroup explained. It’s still a good idea to use conventional navaids for arrivals and approach procedures, including at alternate airports.

“Brief intentions for different alert types.” The briefing should also include possible alerts that might occur on final approach.

POST-FLIGHT

The final steps for a jamming/spoofing encounter should be to report what happened to the applicable authority, note the anomalies in the tech log, and send a report about any unusual system impacts to the avionics manufacturer. z

Cybersecurity takes steps forward

BY KERRY LYNCH

The FAA released a long-awaited rulemaking as it attempts to catch up with its European counterpart.

In the past couple of decades, cybersecurity protecting aircraft and their systems has increasingly captured the attention of government leaders and stakeholders worldwide as global communications evolve, along with potential vulnerabilities. Those activities have intensified more recently, including the long-awaited release of a notice of proposed rulemaking [NPRM] that came out last year along with updated standards, congressional directives, and even a White House memorandum.

“It’s been a really busy year from a regulatory policy and technical perspective in the cybersecurity land,” said Jens Hennig, v-p of operations for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).

Many of these efforts are the culmination of work that began in the 2000s. Before 2007, FAA regulations and safety guidance did not specifically address key airborne network and data security concerns as global communications were still maturing. The FAA instead began

issuing various special conditions to new and updated aircraft and their systems to ensure that they provided adequate cybersecurity projects.

These conditions have required applicants to show that their designs provide for isolation from or protection against unauthorized access; show that the designs prevent inadvertent and malicious changes; and establish procedures to maintain cybersecurity protections.

This began with the Boeing 787, the FAA noted, but continued with every other new and upgrade project. As such, Boeing asked the FAA to explore the possibility of more blanket guidance, and that spawned the early work on creating standards.

The agency collaborated with companies such as Honeywell and Collins Aerospace, in addition to Boeing, on the issue, and that initially culminated in guidance issued about a decade ago through the standards organization RTCA, in concert with the European organization EUROCAE.

More than a half-dozen documents were released and have since been updated multiple times, most recently last year, as the community learns more and technologies evolve. “We’ve learned a lot in the last 10 years,” Hennig noted.

Meanwhile, as it continued to issue the special conditions, the FAA contemplated how best to address the cybersecurity landscape. Could it be folded into safety requirements? The agency concluded that cybersecurity was unique enough that it needed a rulemaking committee to work on it.

Ultimately, a government/industry Aircraft Systems Information Security/ Protection working group was chartered in 2015 to explore necessary regulatory changes that build on the standards-setting efforts.

That group not only included the U.S. community, but also international regulators such as EASA, Brazil’s ANAC, and Transport Canada, and other communities

such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Department of Defense.

It issued 30 recommendations in 2016 on airworthiness regulations that would specifically address cybersecurity, according to Hennig, a co-chair of that working group.

EASA moved forward relatively quickly on a notice of proposed amendment and issued its rulemaking in 2019. That effort went into effect in 2021.

However, Hennig noted ongoing challenges with the FAA’s rulemaking. “It had ground to a halt several years ago,” he said. “There were challenges getting anything out of the agency.”

GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce appealed to lawmakers noting key issues such as cybersecurity were languishing. Congress took notice and so too did the FAA.

“The rulemaking office was paying attention, and if you’ve seen the volume of regulatory proposals that have come out this [past] year, it’s really impressive,” Hennig said, adding that leaders “have unclogged the backup that had occurred for many, many years.”

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One of those rulemakings was the cybersecurity NPRM released in August 2024. That rulemaking aligns with the working group recommendations but is narrower in scope than EASA’s rulemaking, focused primarily on Parts 25 (transport category airplanes), 33 (engines), and 35 (propellers).

“We’re having some discussions about the rotorcraft community where they see a regulatory gap,” Hennig said. “It’s not a difference of philosophy that we wouldn’t do cybersecurity in the United States. But it’s always additional bureaucracy when there’s a difference in rules.”

But closing those gaps is important. “The requirements aren’t harmonized, and that’s not good,” he continued, adding that the NPRM may need an amendment, or the FAA may need a second NPRM to align with Europe.

As for the NPRM, the FAA maintained that the proposal largely reflects currently required practices established through special conditions. “Thus, the impact on applicants and operators [of the proposal] would not be significant,” the agency said. These regulations are increasingly necessary, the FAA added, because newer aircraft have designs with much more system

integration and connectivity, including to outside sources such as field-loadable software, maintenance laptops, airport gate link networks, USB devices, portable electronic flight bags, and GPS, cellular, and satellite communications. “Regulators and industry must constantly monitor the cybersecurity threat environment in order to identify and mitigate new threat sources.”

Hennig agreed: “The rule is obviously not a surprise to anybody because most manufacturers were at the table when we wrote the draft, and most manufacturers are also at the table in the development of technical standards. There’s a great degree of experience across manufacturers for doing the technical work, to meet the rule when it finally goes final.”

The rulemaking essentially codifies what has already been ongoing, he added. “It will simplify the bureaucracy and harmonize standards between Europe and the United States,” he said. “It’s an efficiency rule, and it also finally clears up that this is what we’re doing.”

The proposed regulations take a highlevel look at all the systems and not just in the flight deck. In-flight entertainment is one such example. “In order to be on an aircraft, an in-flight entertainment system has to have a supplemental type certificate [STC]. You cannot just slap it in there. The FAA will look at this through the lens of the standards that are on the books,” he said, adding that as the STC process is ongoing, “the topic that always pops up is addressing cybersecurity.”

Further, the rule, again on a high level, sets the template for how to consider other aspects. “A big component of cybersecurity protections are the processes around how you manage it.” This includes maintenance instructions, particularly as the connected aircraft becomes more prevalent.

Now laptops or computers connect to aircraft for maintenance or other data purposes. “This laptop should obviously have

a set of protections to it as well so that that doesn’t become the pathway through which bad things can happen,” he said. “It’s an entire ecosystem of protections. It’s through the lifetime of the aircraft that we’ve got to look at it as well, and training, of course, the pilots and mechanics and others for their roles within that system.”

But also important for the rulemaking, he added, is that numerous federal agencies have jumped into the cybersecurity space. “There have been conversations about which agency, which department owns cybersecurity for transportation, aviation, and so forth,” he said. “The release of this NPRM ensures that the FAA clearly occupies the space of cybersecurity for aircraft and aircraft systems. That’s been the trajectory we’ve been on.”

The FAA had already been establishing its path through special conditions. “But when we get beyond the FAA, a special condition is hard to explain,” Hennig added. “It’s much clearer to say, here’s a [rule]. We own this, we’re managing this part of the risk equation.”

Hennig conceded that some parts of security are better handled outside the agency, such as airport and air carrier requirements from the TSA. “That makes sense. Airports and air carriers are regulated entities by the TSA. Manufacturers are not,” he said.

Also last year, the White House helped delineate cybersecurity responsibilities through a “National Security

 The release of this NPRM ensures that the FAA clearly occupies the space of cybersecurity for aircraft and aircraft systems. That’s been the trajectory we’ve been on. 

Memorandum on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience.” The White House made it clear that it’s a dual jurisdiction between DHS and DOT, Hennig said.

While the White House essentially deemed, “You each own a piece of the equation,” he said that was not what was playing out. With the NPRM, the FAA has come out and said: “We got the aircraft. We

got the aircraft systems,” Hennig added.

On top of all this activity has been Congress, which included numerous measures on cybersecurity in the most recent FAA reauthorization bill that was adopted last year. These included a dedicated subtitle and prodded the FAA on the rulemaking, along with calls for protections in areas such as air traffic control.

Meanwhile, as the FAA mulls the comments for a final rule, cybersecurity is not remaining static. This is especially topical with new entrants. “They’re already looking at the numerous technical approaches to addressing cybersecurity,” he said, particularly as some of the systems involve operations outside of the aircraft. There will be multiple layers of protection, he surmised. For the current regulations, “we are dealing with aircraft that still have a pilot on board.” However, for remote pilot, this is an issue that must still be explored. z

WINGX GLOBAL INSIGHT POWERS GROWTH

JENS HENNIG

V-P OF OPERATIONS FOR THE GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION

In multi-generational workplace, communication is key

BY KERRY LYNCH

As industry leaders grapple with labor shortages, focus has begun to turn on an increasingly complex workplace that now spans five generations. But experts agree that bridging that gap is an imperative not only to recruiting and maintaining that workforce, but also to fostering an organization’s culture, and therefore its safety mission.

 The safety of our industry and our community literally hinges on our ability to e ectively communicate with each other. 

“We recognize that having five generations in the workforce, it adds complexity—it adds tremendous complexity sometimes,” said Jennifer Pickerel, president of Aviation Personnel International, during Bombardier’s most recent Safety Standdown.

However, Pickerel suggested that workers “flip that paradigm” as they look at the

— Jennifer Pickerel president, Aviation Personnel International

various generations. “We’ve never had a broader skill set in the workforce. We’ve never had this many talented, passionate, skilled professionals in our workforce.”

Pointing to discussions surrounding the critical role communications plays in safety, she added, “The safety of our industry and our community literally hinges on our ability to effectively communicate with each other.”

But for communication to be effective, it has to be quality and respectful, she said, and posited:

“What might be possible if we turn to each other as resources, if we assume good intent, if we elevate our influence by leading by example, and—in the words of Ted Lasso—if we are curious and not judgmental?”

Pickerel moderated a panel during Safety Standdown that spanned the different generations. She opened the panel by discussing the different generations and the attributes they are often believed to bring:

Traditionalist : those born in 1945 or before who prefer face-to-face encounters, have a strong work ethic, are loyal to a company, respect authority, and value teamwork and structure.

Boomer : those born between 1946 and 1964 who are optimistic, competitive, vie for career advancement and recognition for achievement, are workaholics, and value teamwork.

Generation X : born between 1965 and 1980 and are independent, self-reliant, skeptical, prioritize flexibility and worklife balance, and are known as the latchkey generation.

Millennial: born between 1981 and 2000, are tech savvy, collaborative, prioritize opportunities, and value purpose, career development, and meaning in their work.

Generation Z : born between 2001 and 2020, are “digital natives” and highly adaptive to technology, entrepreneurial, socially conscious, and prioritize diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Pickerel brought together a panel with members from various generations to provide insight into views from their generational standpoint. Despite their differing backgrounds, common themes of communication, knowledge transfer, and respect emerged.

Brandon NeSmith, a captain with CocaCola Bottling Consolidated, pointed to the perceptions between the generations: Millennials may be viewed as more concerned about themselves and Boomers may be seen as very mission-focused.

Calling himself an “old millennial,” NeSmith noted how important appreciation is between the generations. Not only can it be a key retention tool, but it also fosters collaboration between the generations. “It helps bridge the gap, especially from a younger person, showing appreciation to an older person.”

This includes admitting when you don’t know everything. “The one thing I can do is show appreciation to being surrounded by other people who have expertise and defer to them…It tremendously bridges the gap,” he said. “When someone from my generation doesn’t show that type of appreciation, it’s not very well received.”

Also, he added, communications go a long way simply through taking an interest in somebody and respecting their time, showing you are not just concerned about yourself—“doing some of that additional stuff, going that extra mile, that blends across all of the generations.”

MARTIN “MARTY” GRIER DIRECTOR, AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE

 Probably one of the stereotypes of Boomers is that we want to keep [or] retain our knowledge and not share it necessarily, because I think sometimes people are threatened by younger, more energetic people... 

Work-life balance remains important, but there has to be an earnest desire to contribute, NeSmith said. He noted that this becomes especially notable as benefits are changing in a competitive workplace.

“One of the bones of contention, when I was first hired with this particular company, is that I was gifted—right off the bat

from being hired—three weeks vacation,” he said, noting that the older generations “thought that was just preposterous. They had worked for years and years and years to get that amount of vacation. And I didn’t ask for that at the time.”

Pickerel agreed, noting that 25 years ago, three weeks of vacation may not even have been a thought. “But as things evolve and it becomes more competitive, we know we’re in a pilot shortage, a maintenance shortage, those things have to be increased not to the fault of the people who are receiving them.”

Martin “Marty” Grier, director of maintenance for The Home Depot aviation department who is chair of Safety Standdown’s Advisory Committee and described himself as a Boomer, also agreed with NeSmith. “It all starts with the leadership, the communication you have with your team, and the transparency you’re willing to share with them,” Grier said. “They have to be on board, then they have to understand the market you’re working with.”

He noted the market has been up and down and “all over the place” in the years he’s been in the industry. “Right now, we’re all aware of the fact that the industry is starving for new talent and so supplydemand rules…Over the last two years, it’s just been an off-the-charts dynamic,” he said. “If I include my team in understanding that I may have to provide a little more incentive to this person to come on board our company, they’re much more likely to understand and support that.”

He also stressed the importance of culture in all of this. “If you have a good culture, and I’ve been very happy to say we’ve had a great culture, people don’t leave,” Grier said. Even if turnover is low, “you still have to stay in tune with the market.”

As far as bringing in younger people, Grier noted the importance of knowledge transfer. “Probably one of the stereotypes of Boomers is that we want to keep [or] retain our knowledge and not share it necessarily, because I think sometimes

people are threatened by younger, more energetic people,” he said, but added, “We all have something to offer. And so I think it’s critical that you cultivate that attitude, that it’s a top-down, bottom-up everybody working together to build the team and to share knowledge.”

He added that as a Boomer, “I want the energy, the questions, and the ideas from the younger generations to incorporate into our operation…Everybody can bring ideas.”

The older generations need to transfer knowledge as they exit the industry, he said, noting that the industry is seeing a wealth of knowledge leave. “I see it at a lot of the MROs where we go. Now you have this unbalanced situation where you have so many lesser experienced [workers] and it’s producing conditions and quality escapes. So how do we manage all that?”

Mentorship is one of the key paths for that knowledge transfer, said Emma Rasmussen, a recent Robertson Fellow & Safety Science graduate student at EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University who is now with NetJets. “I think one of the most valuable things to my aviation career and my personal life is having really fantastic mentors, people who are 50-plus years older than me,” Rasmussen said. “And I think it’s really important for the younger generations to find those mentors.”

To have that exchange of information is one of the best ways for younger workers to show respect toward the generations that come before them, Rasmussen added, noting that in her experience, older generations are anxious to show their airplanes and take people flying once they see an interest in aviation.

“The biggest way that we can close the gap between the generations is to pay respect to the older generations, but also uplift the new generations that are entering the workforce.”

She noted accusations of Generation Z being lazy or entitled and having it easy, but added, “Every generation has

its own unique challenges that we all just don’t understand unless we’ve been through them.”

She said one thing she appreciates about her generation is the open-mindedness. “I feel like I can bring my most authentic self to the table, and if we’re going to make our industry stronger and better for the future and leave it better than we found it, I think we have to bring our most authentic selves to the table.”

Rasmussen also pointed out that her generation is extremely safety-conscious, a point that Pickerel agreed upon. Generation Z workers grew up with seat belts and bike helmets, unlike the older generations.

Meanwhile, Cullen Gahagan, a 26-yearold who joined the corporate world as a pilot and director of operations for CSM Companies after a little more than a year with an airline, discussed how technology plays into it, especially since younger generations are more adaptable to a digital cockpit whereas older generations may have more stick-and-rudder skills.

“Really, it comes down to training,” Gahagan said, noting that it doesn’t matter whether a person grew up with typewriters or computers. “Obviously, you have

the older generations where those people had been flying with the steam gauges for years and years and now have had to transition into a glass cockpit and use head-up displays and all the bells and whistles,” he said. “That’s been a transition.”

Now, students learn in a glass cockpit. “When you get a type rating now on autopilot, you don’t learn the stick-and-rudder skills,” he added. “I think that trying to find a balance between the two for both generations, whether you’re learning initially in the new stuff or learning as a transition in the new stuff, is important.”

Pilots need those initial basic skills but also must be able to manage the technological advancements. “It’s important to approach training from a fundamental standpoint first—learn the airplane, how to fly it, how it feels, how it works, what its limitations are—but then welcome the technology.”

Gahagan also reiterated the views of the other panelists. He noted that, as a younger person, “Sometimes we’re intimidated to stand up because you guys have a ton of experience. But I want to learn from that experience, and that gap is just bridged by communication.” z

Aviation Personnel International president Jennifer Pickerel (left) shared ideas about five generations working together by e ectively communicating at the Bombardier Safety Standdown.

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March 27, 2025 | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, LA

Join us for AIN’s FBO Dinner & Awards Gala, a prestigious event dedicated to celebrating excellence in the business aviation industry, as we announce the top performers from our survey.

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In Washington, taxes, tari s on upcoming agenda

BY KERRY LYNCH

As the new Congress and Administration arrived in Washington in January, the aviation community looked ahead to new opportunities, such as the potential for bonus depreciation renewal, and watched for pitfalls, such as tariffs or the resurrection of privatization talks.

But important for the industry was ensuring the implementation of many key provisions and reforms included in the massive FAA reauthorization package signed into law last May.

“We’re approaching [this year] with a lot of excitement to build on a lot of the things that we have accomplished over the past several years, including strong awareness of both business aviation’s societal benefits and our commitment to an advancement towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen.

“We’re really excited for the chance to build on all of that. We’ve got an opportunity with

a new Congress, of course, to get our community engaged, make sure that the people on Capitol Hill know who we are, who the folks back home are, and who cares about business aviation.”

During the transition, some of the pieces of what to expect in Washington became clearer, with President-elect Trump naming Sean Duffy, a former congressman who sat on the House Financial Services

Committee, as Transportation Secretary. House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Missouri) was granted a waiver from a committee leadership term limit to return to the post. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Washington) also has opted to return to his post as ranking Democrat on the panel.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, John Thune (R-South Dakota), a former Commerce chair, became Majority Leader, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) took over as chair of the Commerce Committee, working alongside Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), who moved from the chair position to ranking Democrat.

“We do have a lot more clarity,” Bolen said, pointing to the selection of Duffy as the nominee to lead transportation as well as the first new Republican majority leader in the Senate since 2007. “Things are beginning to fill in. But, there is still an awful lot that is not known.”

The business aviation industry is hopeful of bonus depreciation renewal but wary of the e ects of potential tari s.

SEAN DUFFY TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY NOMINEE

This includes the leadership at the FAA with Administrator Michael Whitaker opting to step down a little more than a year into his five-year term. Also, Deputy Administrator Katie Thomson departed the agency on January 10 and Mark House, assistant administrator for finance and management and 20-year FAA veteran, was named acting deputy administrator at that time.

Their departures leave a vacuum at an agency that was just beginning to stabilize under Whitaker’s leadership and at a time when the FAA is facing a mountain of mandates under the most recently passed FAA reauthorization bill.

IN CONGRESS

As Congress realigns, it is paving the way for debate on the extension of taxes adopted through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that are due to expire at the end of the year. Plans call to use the expedited reconciliation process for this package.

Congressional leaders indicated that the tax package may not be the immediate priority, but the incoming administration has indicated a desire for a large catch-all reconciliation bill that included taxes.

For aviation, this package gives hope for the potential return of full accelerated, or bonus, depreciation. Under the Jobs Act, accelerated depreciation has been phasing out in recent years, but a tax measure proposed last year would have returned it to 100%. That measure passed in the House but stalled in the Senate over disputes on unrelated items.

Tax bills “always provide opportunities to move forward or move backward,” Bolen said.

“The tax bill is going to be an important priority for us,” said Paul Feldman, v-p of government affairs for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.

On bonus depreciation, he noted that the sense is there is support for it on Capitol Hill—“We would hope to have that restored to 100% again”—but he cautioned, “They’ve got a lot of different competing

priorities and a lot of potential costs associated with different revenue measures. So, we’re just going have to see how it fares.”

Bolen agreed: “Historically, we have seen our industry has done well with accelerated depreciation as to all capital goods. That’s something that we’re looking closely at.”

“Phasing out the bonus depreciation initiative hurt the private aviation business in this country,” said Ben Shirazi, president of aircraft dealer-broker SmartJets and president of VIP Completions. “It is my hope, and it seems to be an industry-wide expectation, that the incoming Trump Administration will reverse the phaseout, reset bonus depreciation to 100% for 2025, and—possibly—offer retroactive refunds.”

PAUL FELDMAN GAMA V-P OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

In addition, the tax bill opens the door to other potential measures, such as a return of full research and development expensing, which also was a part of the tax package that died in the Senate last year.

As for full R&D expensing, rather than the three to five years of amortization, Feldman noted, “that one has a lot of political support.” Pointing to the fact that both bonus depreciation and R&D were in a tax bill earlier in 2024, he added, “Hopefully that’s a pretty good sign that those have strong support.”

In addition, industry leaders are eyeing possibilities for provisions such as further blender’s tax credits or other research incentives.

“We are interested in sustainable aviation fuel incentives. I don’t know how

those will fare in the new environment,” Feldman said, noting skepticism among some conservatives on funding sustainable initiatives. “I’m sure there will be broad industry coalition support for some of those and [we’ll] see where those end up.”

Bolen, however, noted that momentum has grown on Capitol Hill on sustainable fuels, with the agricultural communities stepping up to support it as well as the advent of Sustainable Aviation Caucuses in both chambers. “I think with sustainability, it’s been exciting to see the scope of the support growing for sustainable aviation.”

But further, with new propulsion possibilities, he said, “there’s a lot of room to grow, a lot of recognition that technology can be our friend and that we want to bring new technologies and create an environment that allows for investment and growth. We’re looking forward to being actively engaged and helping people understand the type of manufacturing jobs and other jobs that are associated with our industry.”

Feldman also mentioned looking at potential other investments such as an R&D tax credit to further research such as electric propulsion. “Those are all areas that are going to get a lot of attention. The alternative fuels, I think, is going be a tougher road over the next couple of years.”

But he added, “It’s never just been about sustainability. It’s been also about the resiliency of the fuel supply and national security. If you have more sources of energy, that’s a good thing.”

As for some of the tax provisions proposed by the Biden Administration, such as lengthening the depreciation schedule for business jets or increasing the jet fuel tax, Feldman said, “I don’t see a lot of momentum for that,” particularly since such measures usually accompany an FAA reauthorization bill—and one just passed. “I don’t think people see a reopening of the reauthorization bill. So, I don’t see those proposals going anywhere quickly.”

BRACING FOR TARIFFS

On the flip side, industry leaders are wary about potential tariffs. While much talk has centered on them, little was known leading up to the inauguration last month about how they will be implemented. Trump initially indicated that he plans for 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada unless the borders are secured and 10% on China goods. He can impose such tariffs without congressional support under the guise of national security and defense. However, the leaders of both Mexico and Canada have already met with him, so it is unclear whether that has at all reshaped his plans, what additional tariffs may look like, and whether there would be exemptions.

“We don’t know that we know exactly what those tariffs will look like, how extensive they will be,” Bolen said. “But clearly, business aviation is inherently international. We’ve got a global supply chain, we have manufacturers from around the world. We hope that the markets are able to function well as we move forward.”

While under the guise of border and security, Trump would have the authority to move forward on initial tariffs, but Feldman, who couched that he was not a tax legal expert, believes that some others may have to go through Congress. Further on tariffs, “A lot of times, they set up an exemption process or a way to exclude certain things. But that’s a lengthy process. And even under that scenario, the tariffs that the president would propose would probably continue for some period of months, but then maybe eventually get changed,” he said. “That’s an issue that could change from week to week, day to day.”

Feldman agreed with Bolen on the international weave of the industry. “For aviation, the concern is the global nature of the industry, but also trade and bilateral safety agreements,” he said. “We’re part of trade agreements,” and tariffs could threaten those agreements.

 We don’t know that we know exactly what those tari s will look like, how extensive they will be, but clearly, business aviation is inherently international. We’ve got a global supply chain, we have manufacturers from around the world. We hope that the markets are able to function well as we move forward. 

— Ed Bolen, NBAA president and CEO

“We make market access decisions based on safety through our bilateral safety agreements,” he added. “We also think there’s a danger of introducing tariffs in an arena where the U.S. has a positive balance of trade and is a world leader. And we benefit from that. We also already have a fragile supply chain that we just think the tariffs are not the right idea in aviation products.”

In aviation and aerospace, manufacturers can’t easily switch locations or even products used on an aircraft. “It’s a real challenge for manufacturers,” Feldman said.

PRIVATIZATION REDUX?

Also, leaders are remaining watchful for the potential of air traffic control privatization. It is a concept strongly supported by conservative organizations such as the Reason Foundation and Heritage Foundation, which continue to push for smaller government and have the ears of some of the potential incoming cabinet members, notably the candidate for the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought. “Converting America’s air traffic control system into a user-funded system is a bipartisan issue,” Robert Poole, the

Reason Foundation’s director of transportation policy, said in a posting in December. “Legislation to that effect was developed by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) during the Clinton administration as part of its reinventing government agenda. A detailed proposal to take the ATO [air tra ffic organization] out of DOT and convert it into a userfunded nonprofit corporation was supported by the Trump Administration and was twice approved by the House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee (in 2017 and 2018)… That recent effort won the support of the airline industry, the air tra ffi c controllers’ union, and the Business Roundtable. It was endorsed by the editorial pages of many of America’s largest newspapers.”

In addition, former Rep. Bill Shuster, who chaired the T&I committee while in Congress and is now a senior policy advisor for the multinational law firm Squire Patton Boggs, raised the issue during a lunch in November, saying it is something that needs to be considered once more.

“In the context of privatization, we’re always concerned. But, it’s the early days of the administration, and they have a lot of priorities,” Feldman said. “This hasn’t been necessarily mentioned as one, but there’s been speculation. We haven’t gotten a lot of sense of real momentum behind it.”

Pointing to the potential tax bill measures, Bolen cautioned, agreeing with Feldman, “We also know sometimes taxes require pay [in] force. Through the years, there have been a lot of really bad ideas floated related to that. It’s really hard to kill a bad idea in Washington D.C. They seem to just keep resurfacing.

“The idea of privatizing air traffic control, essentially, giving it to the airlines, has been an idea that has been thoroughly debated by bipartisan legislatures for a long time. We look at what has happened in other countries. We see how the cost to the users goes up at times it can least be

a ff orded,” Bolen continued, “We’ve seen the massive bailouts that have gone to those operations. We’ve seen the outages associated with it, the inefficiency that you see flying in Europe and other places. So, routinely, what we have seen is after thorough bipartisan exploration of the idea, bipartisan majorities in the House and the Senate have rejected it.”

He conceded that the concept has “its promoters and they are always looking for opportunities.” But he further pointed to the recent passage of the bipartisan fiveyear reauthorization legislation with overwhelming majorities in both chambers without such a proposal. “We recognize that that is a tremendous national asset that the public airspace belongs to the public, to the taxpayers,” Bolen concluded. More urgent for the industry as a whole is a focus on proposals to better leverage the Airport and Airway Trust Fund to provide more money to the FAA for ATC investments, Feldman noted. “Right now, it’s probably better that we work together and make progress than to go into our respective corners and start to battle out something which may or may not come to fruition.”

In fact, a coalition representing a broad swath of industry—airlines and business aviation alike—wrote to then- Presidentelect Donald Trump in December offering to find common ground to help improve ATC equipment and operational efficiencies, as well as ensure predictable funding. The letter did not mention “ATC privatization” but instead asked for collaboration “to find a unified path forward to create efficiencies within the FAA that will ensure our nation’s aviation system remains the safest in the world for all users.” This includes funding to support needed improvements to modernize FAA facilities and ATC equipment.

FAA REAUTHORIZATION

However, Feldman emphasized the importance of keeping an eye on reauthorization.

“There’s so many different dynamics going on right now with the new appointments, people leaving, people coming in, obviously a new Congress, and some big goals,” said Feldman. “But I think for us, we are really focused on implementation of the FAA reauthorization bill.”

Not only does this mean working with the agency, but also the key committees on Capitol Hill to make sure those initiatives are implemented, he said. Among the top provisions, Feldman pointed to regulatory process improvements, including appointing an assistant administrator for such restructuring.

Also, he mentioned ensuring workforce development grants get funded and following through on a study of the future state of certification and how it can be more effective and leverage safety- enhancing technology changes. These are among many key measures the industry is watching, he said.

Bolen agreed. “We’re anxious to implement the FAA reauthorization bill that was just passed,” he said.

While getting these put in place as the FAA undergoes another leadership change may be more challenging, Bolen pointed to many positive factors ahead. On Capitol Hill, he noted that the caucuses on general aviation and advanced air mobility, in addition to sustainable aviation, pave the way for positive discussion on many of these issues. “Lots of opportunities for people to get engaged from our industry and a lot of people who care about our industry from a variety of angles.” z

What’s in and what’s out for 2025: you decide

I spent a portion of the last week of 2024 like many readers of this piece may have: trying to make sense of everything that happened in aviation in the past year and sizing up what it might mean for what will happen in 2025. Maybe you actually read through the trade journals and media sites that make detailed lists of these kinds of things (I confess that I did). But if you’ve been in aviation for long, you know that yesterday is as good as ancient history in our field; most aviation professionals are oriented toward the future instead of being fixated on the past.

In one widely-read and respected journal in our industry, there were no less than five of these lists, and as I was reading through them, it occurred to me that many of the things that some industry experts are sure are “ out ” or “ trending down ” in 2025 will soon be “in” again and “trending up.”

To add to all of this prognosticating, just as I was sitting down to write this article, the tragic news of the Jeju Air Flight 2216 accident broke. Perhaps by the time this article is in print, we’ll know more than we do now and surely there will be many lists of safety topics to discuss in the coming years from that accident. Some of these lessons may be new, but like the lists of “what’s in and what’s out for 2025,” many of them will have been discussed before only to find new life in the present.

Pilots are known for having their own individual views on almost every topic under the sun, including lists pertaining to flight safety. I instructed for more than 25 years, in both military and civilian settings, and continue to work today with some of the newest pilots in our profession. Each

BY CHRIS LUTAT MANAGING PARTNER, CONVERGENT PERFORMANCE

and every one of the many hundreds of pilots I have worked with has their own individual “safety profile”—much like their own “personal fingerprint of error” described by my colleague and friend Tony Kern in his book, Blue Threat: Why to Err is Inhuman (2009). None of them—and none of us—are the same. We all commit errors, and all of us in aviation do it slightly differently.

At the same time, if we’re honest about it, we are all working on something that we can be better at, even if we’re mostly private about what that is. I’ve never gotten in the cockpit and had a fellow pilot tell me, “ Hey, just wanted to let you know that I’ve been making a lot of mistakes lately, but I’m working on them.”

So, before the accident investigators and influencers across our profession gather up everything new that we should be thinking about as a result of the latest mishap, I wanted to o ff er a short list of things that are “still in” when it comes to managing our individual safety profile—through the eyes of a practicing pilot who still makes errors and is constantly working on something. To be fair to fans of “What’s out,” I have added a list for that, too.

‘IN’ FOR 2025

1. Knowing the design logic of your aircraft’s flight management system (FMS) better than they teach it at the schoolhouse; making a professional point to understand every function of the FMS and being able to help others understand better as well.

2. Eliminating, one error at a time, “clunky” and “awkward” interactions with the autoflight systems—no more sudden jolts when the autopilot is disconnected, no more autoflightinduced errors that impact the flight path, even just a little bit.

3. Adopting as standard—on 100% of all flight legs—a debriefing protocol that recaps every error made on the flight deck, no matter how small, with a complete understanding of why it happened.

4. Looking beyond just the family of publications that define your professional job (company standard operating procedures and aircraft operating instructions) and considering the vast amount of information (yes, much of it very relevant to current flight operations) available in SAFOs, advisory circulars, and safety reporting systems like NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS).(To get started, read SAFO 17007 on Manual Flight Operations Proficiency, AC 90-105A on RNP Operations in the U.S., Oceanic and Remote Areas, and just for fun, put your aircraft type into the ASRS search engine along with the phrase “flight path deviation.”)

1. Coming off a long period of days off (vacation, sick time, et cetera) in the same way you’d come to work when you’ve been flying regularly; instead, change your routine on these days to arrive at least a couple of hours early to go over your basic procedures and review flight-critical knowledge, to include your flight department’s stabilized approach policy and fatigue risk management protocols.

2. Post-flight briefings that sound something like this: “ I don’t have anything for you, you got anything for me? ” Instead, implement a meaningful flight debriefing protocol that includes questions and not statements: “ Did we do anything that was unsafe today in any way? Did we do anything non-standard? Did we understand everything that occurred with respect to

the aircraft autoflight system? Have we reported every discrepancy to aircraft maintenance and engineering?”

3. Adding to the already divisive “noise” in our industry that focuses on the differences between the most experienced professionals and the newest entrants to aviation—across every specialty. Instead, try asking questions that can lead to a genuine exchange of vital viewpoints as we all move ahead together—for example: “Where do you want to be in your career field in five years? In 25 years?” and “What has been the most interesting as pect of your entire career and how did it impact where you are today?”

4. “Mailing it in” when it comes to your own recurrent training. Instead of focusing only on “checking the training box,” use every valuable minute of your training time—in

the briefing, in the training device itself, and in the debrief—to totally “fill up” the recurrent training experience with more than just the minimum required.

We have a lot to look forward to this year. It’s never too late to get started on improving your routine and becoming better at your profession than you were last year or even yesterday.

I think it’s a reasonable ask to accomplish everything on both of these lists and improve not just your own safety margins, but those of your colleagues and fellow professionals. Personally, I’m anxious to see how I improve my personal airmanship over the next 12 months. Who wants to join me? z

The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily endorsed by AIN Media Group.

LOOKING FOR

Air Transport

Colgan Air Flight 3407: How a single crash sparked unprecedented reform

BY STUART “KIPP” LAU

A Continental Connection Bombarder Q400 operated by Colgan Air similar to this one was involved in the fatal 2009

On Feb. 12, 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprop, crashed about 5 nm from Buffalo-Niagara International Airport in Buffalo, New York. Impact forces and a post-crash fire destroyed the aircraft, killing all 45 passengers, two pilots, two flight attendants, and one person on the ground.

The crash sequence began as the flight crew was slowing and configuring the aircraft for the approach before landing. Both pilots overlooked low airspeed cues and indications on the primary flight displays. As the airspeed continued to decay, the captain improperly responded to an impending aerodynamic stall by overriding the stick shaker, pulling aft on the control column, which led to a complete loss of control of the aircraft.

The entire sequence of events leading to the crash, from stick shaker activation to impacting a residential structure on the

ground, took only 25 seconds. However, in the years that followed, this accident’s impact on commercial aviation safety and regulations would be enduring, significant, and sometimes controversial. It also coalesced the families of the victims in a way not seen before, and to this day, those families remain actively involved in aviation safety matters with the hopes of warding off future disasters.

Almost one year after the crash, on Feb. 2, 2010, the NTSB published its final aircraft accident report. Safety issues identified in the report were plentiful. The report focused on flight crew monitoring failures, pilot professionalism/sterile cockpit rules, fatigue, remedial training, pilot training records, airspeed selection procedures, stall training, FAA oversight, voluntary safety programs, and the use of personal portable electronic devices in the flight deck. The NTSB addressed many of

these concerns in its final report by making formal recommendations to the FAA.

NTSB PROBABLE CAUSE

In its report, the NTSB determined that the probable cause of this accident was the captain’s inappropriate response to the activation of the stick shaker, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which the airplane did not recover. Contributing to the accident were (1) the flight crew’s failure to monitor the airspeed in relation to the rising position of the low-speed cue, (2) the flight crew’s failure to adhere to sterile cockpit procedures, (3) the captain’s failure to effectively manage the flight, and (4) Colgan Air’s inadequate procedures for airspeed selection and management during approaches in icing conditions.

Fatigue was not considered a contributing factor to the accident by the NTSB. The entire Safety Board concurred with

crash.

the findings, probable cause, and recommendations contained in the final report but debated whether fatigue was a contributing factor.

All board members acknowledged that the pilots were fatigued based on numerous “yawns” recorded on the cockpit voice recorder and mismanaged rest opportunities before the flight by the pilots. However, it could not be determined if fatigue adversely affected their performance during the flight. As an example, the captain—the pilot flying during the accident—had a history of FAA and company check ride failures due to his shortcomings in aircraft handling, judgment, and other procedures. Thus, the majority (two out of three) of the board members decided that fatigue was not a contributing factor.

SWEEPING CHANGES

Outcomes from the Colgan Air crash included sweeping regulatory changes that were codified in the Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-216). President Barack Obama signed this act into law on Aug. 1, 2010. Before the crash, the NTSB had been continuously pressing Congress to pass legislation that would improve airline safety standards; without this accident and the organized lobbying efforts of the crash victims’ friends and families, this bill may have never been passed.

was the result of icing and/or fatigue. Surprisingly, the NTSB, which I was a board member of at the time, found that icing did not affect the aerodynamic characteristics of the airplane. Further, there is no NTSB finding that fatigue was the cause of the crash. Nevertheless, not letting facts get in the way, Congress mandated that FAA create an entirely new set of regulations regarding flight and duty times.”

ROBERT

SUMWALT FORMER NTSB CHAIR

 The crash of Colgan 3407 resulted in the most widespread and profound changes in my lifetime, which at this point spans nearly seven decades. 

of a regional airliner could get hired with a commercial pilot certificate and as little as 250 hours of flight time. The new rule, enacted in July 2013, specified that the minimum requirements for a new hire at a Part 121 airline be to hold an airline transport pilot (ATP) or restricted airline transport pilot (R-ATP) certificate. An ATP requires 1,500 hours of total time and a minimum age of 23 years, whereas an R-ATP can be obtained with a minimum of 750 hours at age 21. The R-ATP is issued to qualified candidates trained through a four-year college flight program, the military, or a Part 141 flight academy.

Former NTSB chair Robert Sumwalt recently shared his thoughts on the passage of the Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act of 2010, saying, “The crash of Colgan 3407 resulted in the most widespread and profound changes in my lifetime, which at this point spans nearly seven decades.”

Sumwalt, now the executive director of the Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, added, “Congress mandated changes in the way airline pilots are selected, trained, and scheduled. Most people would tell you that this accident

In addition to new flight and duty time limitations, PL 111-216 specified several additional provisions to improve airline safety such as crew member screening and qualifications, crew member training that includes stall and upset recognition and recovery training, pilot records database, pilot professional development and mentoring, regional air carrier ticket disclosure, and safety management systems.

ATP/R-ATP REQUIREMENT

One of the most impactful and controversial provisions of the new regulations was changes to the required qualifications and flight experience levels of Part 121 airline pilots. Before the new rules, a first officer

Complaining that this rule is exacerbating a potential pilot shortage and provides an entry barrier, particularly for the regional carriers, airline lobbyists have urged alternatives such as more simulator credit in lieu of actual flying hours. They argue that, as is, pilots are forced to build hours in operations dissimilar to airliners. This became a focal point in the debate surrounding the most recent FAA reauthorization bill. However, proponents of the measure point to an unprecedented safe period since the law was passed, and key backers on Capitol Hill suggested requiring additional simulator time in place of flight time. The Air Line Pilots Association disputes discussions around the pilot shortage and thus the need for changes.

This measure was adopted even though the captain had 3,379 flight hours and the first officer 2,244. However, the first officer was a commercial pilot—not an ATP.

FATIGUE RULES

Another major change resulted in an entirely new set of flight and duty time regulations for all Part 121 passenger airlines (cargo carriers are exempt). FAR Part 117 was developed to implement science-based flight, duty, and rest requirements for flight crewmembers. These regulations were implemented in January 2014 and account

for the effects of circadian rhythm on the human body, the number of takeo ff s and landings in a duty period, and the number of time zones crossed, as an example. Past flight and duty limits simply provided a limit on the maximum duty period allowed or flight time during a 24-hour period— regardless of the report time.

In addition to establishing FAR Part 117 for all scheduled passenger airlines, all Part 121 airlines were required to submit a comprehensive fatigue risk management plan to the FAA for approval. These plans must include current flight time and duty period limitations and a strategy to identify and mitigate fatigue in its operations. In addition, annual training is required to increase the awareness of fatigue and its effects and to review fatigue countermeasure strategies. However, the rule exempted cargo carriers—to the dismay of pilots’ unions.

UPSET TRAINING

During its investigation, the NTSB determined that the captain of the accident flight inappropriately responded to an impending aerodynamic stall by overriding the stick shaker and pulling aft on the control column. This led to a stall and loss of control of the aircraft. Additionally, actions by the first o ffi cer, such as retracting the flaps during the stall, were also contrary to industry-recognized aerodynamic stall recovery procedures.

As a result, the FAA mandated that airlines provide additional training to all pilots that focuses on upset prevention and recovery strategies. This new training emphasized reducing the angle of attack of the aircraft versus the old method of maintaining altitude during a stall recovery. These new simulator-based training requirements included upset recovery maneuvers, recoveries from full stalls with stick pusher activation, bounced landings, slow flight, and unreliable airspeed scenarios. In addition, pilots must manually fly instrument

Air Transport

departures and arrivals and takeoffs and landings in gusty crosswind conditions to improve manual handling skills.

The deadline to begin this training was March 2019; many airlines and training providers had to modify the aerodynamic models of their full-flight simulators to enable this extended envelope training. This new regulation also required new ATP candidates to complete upset preventation and recover training.

PILOT RECORDS DATABASE

One of the most complex aspects of the Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act of 2010 was to establish a centralized/national electronic database of pilot records to be used for employment verification purposes. NTSB investigators examining the training records of the Colgan Air Flight 3407 flight crew found many inconsistencies and deficiencies in recordkeeping at the airline.

Known as the Pilot Records Database (PRD), each air carrier, before allowing an individual to begin service, must access and evaluate information pertaining to the pilot. The PRD serves as a clearinghouse of information from the FAA (airman and medical certificate information, practical test failures, and any legal actions), air carriers (training records, disciplinary actions, terminations, et cetera), and the national driver registry records (violations such as a DUI). The PRD

replaces previous records required by the Pilot Records Improvement Act; the new records are much more detailed and include the training, qualifications, and professional competencies of the pilot to include comments by designated check airman recorded during training and checking events.

The applicant pilot must provide written consent for an airline to access the PRD. Likewise, under the provisions of the law, pilots can access their own records and correct any inaccuracies. Access to the PRD, by air carriers, is limited to using the records only to assess the qualifications of an individual for employment considerations; the pilot is afforded privacy protections.

The final PRD rule was published on June 10, 2021. Full implementation of the PRD by the FAA was completed in September 2024.

MENTORING, LEADERSHIP, AND COMMAND

NTSB noted the captain’s failure to effectively manage the flight and the crew’s lack of adherence to sterile cockpit rules as contributors to the accident of Colgan Air Flight 3407. Following the passage of PL 111-216, the FAA convened an aviation rulemaking committee (ARC) to develop procedures for Part 121 airlines that focused on mentoring, professional development, and leadership and command training for airline pilots.

A training program o ers Pipistrel Alphas for pilots to log time toward the 1,500-hour mark.

Outcomes from these rulemaking activities now require newly hired pilots to observe flight operations, typically on the jumpseat of a scheduled line flight, to increase their familiarization with procedures before serving as a flight crewmember. Likewise, airlines are required to provide mentorship and leadership and command training to all pilots. FAA AC 121-42, published in March 2020, provides guidance to operators in establishing leadership and command training.

SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Before the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407, many operators had begun to voluntarily develop safety management systems (SMS) to help identify and mitigate risks in their operations. Most major airlines felt an SMS was a natural extension to other voluntary safety programs that were already implemented, such as flight operational quality assurance (FOQA), line operations safety audits (LOSA), advanced qualification programs (AQP), and aviation safety action programs (ASAP). At the time of the Buffalo crash, however, only a few regional airline operators had implemented FAA-approved FOQA, ASAP, or AQP programs.

Following the Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash, the Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act (sections 213-215) emphasized the use and promoted the effectiveness of these voluntary safety programs including proposals to mandate ASAP and FOQA for all Part 121 airlines. The FAA established an ARC to explore implementation of voluntary safety programs throughout Part 121; in the end, only SMS was mandated for Part 121 airlines; the final rule was published in January 2015 with a requirement for airlines to have a functional SMS by March 2018.

Today, code-sharing agreements between regional airlines and their mainline partners, or other auditing standards (such as IATA’s IOSA), have become the de facto regulator for smaller airlines to employ proactive safety programs such as ASAP and FOQA. The FAA has since

Safety management systems are now required for charter operators and other entities.

expanded on the SMS rule, which established a new Part 5, extending the requirements to charter operators, air tours, airports, and manufacturers.

TICKET DISCLOSURE CODE SHARE PARTNERS

Colgan Air Flight 3407 was marketed as a “Continental Connection” flight operating from Newark, New Jersey, to Buffalo, New York. At the time of the accident, there were no requirements to disclose the name of the airline operating code-sharing flights. Following the accident, it is now considered an “unfair or deceptive practice” not to disclose the name of the air carrier providing air transportation, and if there is more than one flight segment, the name of each air carrier must be disclosed. Likewise, if the ticket is sold online, the name of the airline must appear on the first page of the website.

The crash of Colgan Flight 3407, as tragic as it was, may have been the tipping point for the industry because it was the last of four high-profile regional airline accidents in the U.S. over a five-year period (2004 to 2009). Other accidents during this timeframe included Comair Flight 5191 (“Delta Connection”), Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 (“American Connection”), and Pinnacle Flight 3701 (Northwest Airlink). Combined, these accidents—including Colgan Air Flight 3407—resulted in 114 fatalities.

These investigations highlighted several safety issues in the “fee-for-departure” segment of the regional airline industry. Fee-for-departure is a common scheme where regional airlines are paid per segment by their code-sharing major airline partners.

NTSB made many recommendations to the FAA to improve airline safety following each of these accidents. The crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 further highlighted many of these recommendations, and with strong lobbying efforts from the crash victim’s family and friends and support from Congress, these recommendations became law. These new regulations significantly impact the level of safety in commercial aviation. Since the Colgan Air accident 16 years ago, there have been only two fatalities on Part 121 passenger airline flights (Southwest Flight 380 in Pennsylvania and PenAir Flight 3296 in Alaska) in the U.S. As for the families, they not only lobby in Washington but work to spread a safety message. At the most recent Air Charter Safety Foundation Safety Symposium, Scott and Terry Maurer, parents of Colgan Flight 3407 victim Lorin Maurer, highlighted issues facing families when accidents happen.

“This is a tough subject,” Scott Maurer said. “I want all of you to know we’ve done this many times, we want to do it for you, and it’s also a way of us honoring those loved ones we’ve lost…Put the families first, do not be defensive, do not impede the message, and I can’t say enough, communicate, communicate, communicate.” z

Future of European eVTOL aircraft pioneers remains uncertain

BY CHARLES ALCOCK

A deal to inject new capital to continue development of the Lilium Jet was expected to close in January.

The futures of at least two eVTOL aircraft developers hang in the balance as Lilium and Volocopter scramble to firm up urgently needed new capital to prevent bankruptcy. Over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, the financial foundations at both German companies— founded respectively in 2015 and 2011— shifted precariously against a backdrop of ever-starker contrasts between the sector’s “haves” and “have-nots.”

While sector leaders Joby and Archer in California keep adding to their investment war chests, some European companies appear to be struggling to generate sufficient ready cash to keep their aircraft moving towards type certification that had been expected to come to fruition by the end of 2024. The past year has seen multiple aspiring eVTOL programs atrophy for lack of capital, resulting in a small group of front-runners emerging in the race to

market that once spanned literally hundreds of contenders.

Volocopter filed for insolvency with the court in Karlsruhe on December 26, and a day later attorney Tobias Wahl was appointed administrator, tasked with finding “a viable solution to maintain regular operations outside of insolvency proceedings.” Under German insolvency laws, the company and its employees can continue to conduct work on its two-seat VoloCity

eVTOL vehicle while efforts to find new backers or owners proceed.

The situation at Lilium had seemed even more precarious until December 24 when the company announced an agreement for a consortium of investors from Europe and North America to acquire the assets of the group’s German subsidiaries, Lilium GmbH and Lilium eAircraft. According to KPMG, which has been handling Lilium’s insolvency proceedings since October 28, the provisional deal with Mobile Uplift Corporation (MUC) is expected to close in January.

To complete the process, the buyout has to be approved by the creditor committees for the two Lilium subsidiaries. This can only occur after the court in Weilheim has opened insolvency proceedings specifically over Lilium’s assets.

On December 30, MUC notarized an investment agreement covering a capital injection of € 200 million ($208 million) to support ongoing operations at Lilium. In a media statement, MUC said several undisclosed “renowned international investors” are backing the transaction, along with a number of Lilium’s existing shareholders and creditors. These include battery developer CustomCells, which itself is backed by Abacon Capital, Porsche Venture, 468 Capital, Vsquared Ventures, and World Fund. MUC’s underwriting for the takeover is being coordinated by venture capital groups Earlybird and GenCap.

According to MUC, it has begun negotiations with customers committed to buying the six-passenger Lilium Jet. It is also holding talks with “respected partners from the Gulf states.”

SAVING GERMAN AVIATION TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP

“Saving Lilium is of central importance to strengthen Bavaria and Germany as an aviation location as well as future

FutureFlight

technologies and to create high-quality jobs,” said MUC in its statement. “The partners involved are aware of the size of the task and the high risks and challenges associated with it, but the loss of a company like Lilium would be fatal for Germany and Europe.”

To meet the requirements of German insolvency law, on December 20 Lilium laid off its remaining 1,000 employees, having earlier cut around 200 positions. Neither MUC nor Lilium has indicated when or how work to develop the aircraft could resume, or how many jobs might be restored.

In the UK, Vertical Aerospace announced on December 23 that its shareholders had endorsed a $50 million cash injection led by its leading creditor and investor Mudrick Capital. The company’s leadership team said the agreement, which also covers $130 million of debts being converted into equity, should provide sufficient funding to allow work on its four-passenger VX4 aircraft to continue almost until the end of 2025.

Vertical’s situation had appeared uncertain until a provisional agreement with Mudrick Capital had been reached on November 25. Before that, the company’s

founder and former chairman, Stephen Fitzpatrick, had not provided the second $25 million payment as part of a $50 million capital injection agreed upon earlier in 2024.

Mudrick could have opted to enforce certain debt default terms but on December 15 confirmed that it would not do so pending a deal that is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2025. As of December 20, Vertical said it held cash reserves of £25 million ($32 million).

Meanwhile, Canadian start-up Horizon Aircraft closed 2024 with a December 23 announcement of a further $8.4 million investment in its Cavorite X7 hybridelectric VTOL aircraft. The new funding has come from an undisclosed existing investor in the company. z

This article is courtesy of AIN Media Group’s FutureFlight coverage. To read more, please visit: ainonline.com/futureflight.

The latest news, and analysis on the future of civil aviation.

Volocopter’s two-seat VoloCity was on the fast track to certification until the company filed for insolvency on December 26, although work continues during the search for new funding.

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Rotorcraft

VAST e ort explores helicopter safety

BY MATT THURBER

A range of experts representing helicopter manufacturers worldwide as well as EASA and the FAA want to encourage use of helicopter safety equipment.

A rating system that assesses the benefits of safety equipment could incentivize helicopter operators to add the equipment even in the absence of regulatory mandates, according to a report published by the Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST). The VAST Rotorcraft Safety Rating Concept Special Working Group created the “Investigation of a Rotorcraft Safety Rating Concept” report.

The concept is gaining interest, partly because the International Helicopter Safety Team established in 2005 hasn’t seen the same accident reduction success as the Commercial Aircraft Safety Team, which achieved a more than 80% reduction in fatalities in 10 years among U.S. airlines. According to the report, “The IHST effort did not have the same results, and the 80% target was not reached. The IHST efforts

continued past the original 10-year mandate and a slow, continuous decrease in the accident rate has been noted over the years.”

A rating system is not a new idea and was considered by EASA, then later the International Oil and Gas Producers-Aviation Sub Committee and HeliOffshore. The FAA proposed ratings for rotorcraft design and equipment in 2020. “The establishment of the Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST) in 2021 facilitated the opportunity to create a dedicated working group to study a proof of concept for a helicopter safety rating scheme,” according to the working group.

There are significant challenges to developing and implementing a rating system for helicopters, and the working group contrasted new car assessment programs with a helicopter rating system that would address

products that last 40 to 50 years, across multiple generations. Cars have a much shorter life span, although the working group’s claim that this ranges from three to six years may be inaccurate. IHS Markit estimates average age of U.S. vehicles at 11.6 years.

The car-helicopter comparison is also weakened because of di ff erent operating environments. “Cars are driven on highways that are relatively homogeneous. Helicopters are flown in a wide variety of missions, in vastly differing conditions, with differing equipment installed,” according to the working group. “Rating a helicopter and any subsequent comparison thus requires knowledge of the mission, conditions, equipment, etc.”

Helicopters are certified under two sets of regulations, Part 27 for lighter machines

and Part 29 for larger, more complex rotorcraft. This could require two separate rating systems.

There is also implicit bias toward new aircraft, according to the working group, which assumes newer aircraft are safer. But this might not be the case as unknown problems may not be revealed until a new aircraft operates in the field. Older aircraft have proven their reliability, and it doesn’t make sense to automatically rate them lower.

Looking at automotive rating systems, the working group pointed out that the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration introduced its 5-Star rating system in 2010, but the overall vehicle score isn’t impacted by available advanced safety technologies. The European NCAP, however, does take into account safety-assist features and thus “shows good correlation” for a helicopter rating system. Yet, the working group explained, “The analysis of real-world fleet helicopter experience has yet to prove out the proposed helicopter rating system.”

The benefit of a rating system would be to drive safety improvements in helicopters, both old and new. An interesting aspect of the working group’s efforts is the focus on technical factors as opportunities for safety improvements, without considering human error, which is the predominant cause of helicopter accidents.

Human factors expert Doug Shappell addressed this question, highlighting the fact that it is possible to design aircraft and their systems to take into account human behavior and decision-making, to reduce “the likelihood of human errors or [reduce] the accident severity if the system fails to prevent the error from occurring,” according to the working group.

“Human error is inevitable, but by understanding human factors, we can design systems that reduce the likelihood of errors and improve safety in aviation,” Shappell explained.

“This project utilized accident data to identify those systems that would directly counter the most prolific causal factors,”

the working group added, “and introduce those systems and propose a concept for measuring potential derived benefits.”

To categorize accident types that could benefit from enhanced technologies to prevent accidents or improve survivability, the working group chose two higher-level accident categories that reduced the complexity of the accident-type analysis: loss of control and collisions.

DOUG SHAPPELL

PROFESSOR OF HUMAN FACTORS AT EMBRYRIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY

The five helicopter OEMs that participated in the working group provided statistics that showed loss of control accounting for 27% of accidents and collisions another 27%. “There was some variation from one OEM to another in percentages, but the overarching theme was that loss of control and collisions together accounted for at least 50% of accidents for four out of the five OEMs. This assessment gave the working group an assurance that a safety rating prototype could have the most impact if it focused on enhanced technologies installed on the helicopter that could potentially change the outcomes of accidents due to loss of control and collisions.”

Loss of control includes: unintended flight into IMC and low-visibility scenarios; vortex ring state; turbulence; and handling deficiencies. Collisions include midair collisions with aircraft or wildlife; wire strikes; and striking other objects.

The selected technologies to be rated need to help prevent the above or with survivability if an accident occurs due to

the above causes. They must have a supplemental type certificate and also be available for retrofit or new aircraft installation.

The working group showed examples of potential ratings that include weighting factors that favor certain types of added equipment. For example, an autopilot is weighted higher for loss of control prevention than a data collection system. The types of equipment and ratings also recognize the mission and what that mission requires. It doesn’t make sense to rate the benefits of floats for a helicopter that flies only over land.

For now, the rating scheme “is offered as a proof of concept for further validation tailored to the unique requirements of various industry stakeholders,” according to the working group. “While several project participants tested the proposed safety rating scheme extensively in representative use cases, further testing and validation by OEMs, operators, and key stakeholders is essential.

“The use of a rating system in the rotorcraft industry may be an extremely challenging but viable option. The process and effort to create this independent organization would require careful evaluation by the VAST and stakeholder organizations. The rotorcraft industry simply cannot test, certify, and integrate emerging technologies at the rapid pace routinely demonstrated in the automobile industry. The pace of integration and certification will, however, enable careful consideration of newly introduced safety technologies in future versions of a rotorcraft safety rating.”

The working group acknowledged that it hasn’t considered who might administer the rating scheme, although it should be an independent entity. “There is potential for an industry group or the insurance industry to provide that function.”

According to the working group, “The safety rating is at a proof-of-concept stage.” While it starts with addressing the needs of light helicopters as their accident rate is the highest, it should eventually address medium and heavy helicopters and multi-mission operations. z

On the Ground

Miami Executive FBO Debuts New Terminal

Florida’s Miami Executive Airport (KTMB) received a new FBO terminal with last month’s opening of the International Flight Center (IFC) facility, part of the redevelopment of the company’s main leasehold. IFC—one of four service providers on the field—occupies 15-plus acres at KTMB, including more than 12 acres of ramp.

Located on the southwest side of the airport adjacent to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office, the 10,500-sq-ft building quadruples in size the terminal the company had used since 1986.

The two-story terminal features a passenger lounge, pilot lounge with full bed/bathroom snooze rooms, refreshment bar, business center, 10-seat A/V-equipped conference room, upstairs observation deck, and a café.

In 2024, the Avfuel-branded FBO debuted an 84,000-sqft hangar complex, bringing it to 120,000 sq ft of aircraft shelter, and equipped with foam-free fire suppression and able to accommodate ultra-long-range business jets.

Fontainebleau Aviation Opens Second FBO at KFLL

Fontainebleau Aviation—a division of Skyservice Business Aviation—has opened its second FBO in south Florida. With a presence at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (KOPF) since 2011, the company celebrated its debut at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport (KFLL), where it is one of four service providers on the field.

Fontainebleau’s complex includes a 10,000-sq-ft terminal with an arrival canopy and expansive lobby, an executive suite with a conference room for up to 20, a pilot lounge, and a concierge. Its 80,000-sq-ft hangar can shelter the latest ultra-long-range business jets and has 15,000 sq ft of tenant offices with direct hangar access. The company is now accepting hangar lease agreements at KFLL.

Avflight Expands Network With Utah FBO Purchase

Avflight, the FBO-operating sister of Avfuel, has increased its footprint with the acquisition of Kemp Jet Services, one of three service providers at Utah’s Ogden Regional Airport (KOGD). The chain will rebrand and redecorate the facility over the coming months to match its network look and feel.

The FBO occupies the 4,000-sq-ft lower level of the twostory terminal, which includes a passenger lounge, 12-seat conference room, pilot lounge with snooze rooms and showers, gym, and concierge. In addition to a modern fuel farm, the Avfuel-branded complex offers 50,000 sq ft of heated hangar space—the four-bay structure features a mega door, allowing it to accommodate aircraft up to a Boeing BBJ.

For Avflight, this represents its first location in Utah and its 27th worldwide. Avflight retained Kemp’s staff for seamless continuity of service.

Colorado Airport To Receive Second FBO

Newly-introduced service provider Vantage Aviation has been approved by Colorado’s Garfield County Board of Commissioners to establish an FBO at Rifle Garfield County Airport (KRIL). Construction is expected to begin in mid-2025.

The facility will offer premium services and amenities from a 6,500-sq-ft terminal adjoining a 40,000-sq-ft community hangar capable of sheltering the latest ultra-long-range business jets. A second facility will include an additional terminal for a based customer, attached to a 25,000-sq-ft hangar.

When the Vantage facility is completed in late 2026, it will provide operators with an option of service providers—a rarity among Colorado’s ski country airports.

The $33 million project—backed by Jadian Capital—represents the largest private investment in the airport’s history.

Vantage acquired its first FBO last October with the purchase of Dominion Aviation, the sole aviation services provider at Virginia’s Richmond Executive-Chesterfield County Airport (KFCI).

FBO AND AIRPORT NEWS BY CURT EPSTEIN

Sky Harbour Riding a Wave of Expansion

While not an FBO, Sky Harbour is rapidly expanding its footprint in the U.S., delivering high-end, boutique private hangar space for aircraft owners at key airports across the country. Since launching in 2020, the company has opened four locations, including Houston (KSGR), Nashville (KBNA), Miami (KOPF), and San Jose (KSJC). In December it acquired and rebranded an existing 120,000sq-ft hangar complex at California’s Camarillo Airport (KCMA), and has three more facilities slated to open in Denver (KAPA), Phoenix (KDVT), and Dallas (KADS) early this year.

Each campus represents a significant investment, costing between $30 million and $50 million to build, and includes more than 100,000 sq ft of hangars staffed by a dedicated ground handling team available 24/7.

CEO Tal Keinan emphasized the company’s commitment to reliability: “There’s no such thing as waiting—we will always be there on time,” he said. “It’s got to be bulletproof from end to end, and that means we need to control it. The fact that we can make a hard commitment to our residents says you can be as spontaneous as you want to be; those call-out times are just not a thing with us.”

Aside from the first location in Houston, all Sky Harbour campuses o er their own fueling services to tenants. In addition to private aircraft shelter, the hangars offer private entries to fully customizable o ce space depending on the individual needs or desires of the tenant.

Some use the hangars simply as a base of operations for their flight department and aircraft, while others fully furnish the personal space for business offices or entertainment.

Presently, the company has more than 500,000 sq ft of space generating revenue, and that total will double in the first quarter of 2025 as the next three locations come online.

It also expects to break ground imminently on Phase 2 of development of its Miami-Opa Locka campus, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, adding another 120,000 sq ft of turnkey hangar space into a sizzling Florida aviation real estate market.

Awaiting approval are another eight locations: Windsor Locks, Connecticut (KBDL); Poughkeepsie (KPOU), and Newburgh (KSWF) in New York; Trenton (KTTN), New Jersey; Chicago (KPWK); Orlando, Florida (KORL); Washington, D.C. (KIAD); and Salt Lake City (KSLC).

“We have the lands, and we are in the permitting process,” explained Keinan. “For us, once it’s permitted, we’re in the ground.” He expects all those projects to reach completion in the 2027 timeframe, bringing the company to approximately 1.8 million sq ft of hangar space.

Even with all those developments in the works, Sky Harbour is not letting up on the accelerator. “Quite the opposite, we’re pushing down harder and I don’t think the pedal has reached the metal yet,” Keinan told AIN “We’ve been giving guidance to the market of 50 airports. Internally, I’m talking about a lot more than that. There’s a big opportunity in front of us; there’s no reason to stop.”

The company has engineered its hangar design to meet the most rigorous standards,

whether it is California seismic requirements, Florida wind, or Illinois snow loading. With dozens of hangars under construction or in planning, in 2023 Sky Harbour decided to vertically integrate with the purchase of a building manufacturer in Weatherford, Texas. It expects the move will reduce its dependency on outside contractors and give it more control over the construction process, as well as o er economies of scale.

As of last summer, the new subsidiary had completed all of its contractual obligations to other customers and is fully engaged in the hangar-making business. “We spent millions of dollars in retooling the factory so it’s optimized to do one thing and one thing only, and that’s building Sky Harbour hangars,” Keinan said. “There’s no setup time between projects, it’s all exactly the same thing, so our welders are experts now in exactly the Sky Harbour weld on each piece.”

With the tempo of locations expected to increase, the factory will be increasing to a three-shift workday to meet demand.

“We’re spending a lot of time, a lot of money, and a lot of human resources right now on refining a service offering that is absolutely unique to us,” said Keinan. “It’s not just measured in the time to wheels up, but it’s also specific o erings that you just can’t o er [customers] if you are not configured like this.” C.E.

Sky Harbour, rapidly expanding in the U.S., will open three new locations in early 2025 CURT

Gulfstream Inaugurates New Arizona Service Center

Gulfstream Aerospace officially opened its $130 million service center last month at Arizona’s Mesa Gateway Airport (KIWA).

The airframer announced the start of the 225,000-sq-ft facility in 2021 and the following year opened an interim service facility in the SkyBridge development on the opposite (west) side of the field from where the now-opened center was slated to be built. In October 2022, it expanded that existing facility— known as the Mesa west campus—which will be retained and can now accommodate up to 10 large and midsize aircraft.

The newly-opened Mesa service center builds on that capacity to handle up to 13 more large-cabin jets simultaneously with the ability to support maintenance and avionics services, inspections, and drop-in work.

The Mesa campus also includes a fuel farm with a 30,000-gallon tank dedicated to storing sustainable aviation fuel.

Pilatus Adds Jet Aviation Dubai As PC-24 Service Center

Pilatus has appointed Jet Aviation’s Dubai maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility as an authorized service center (ASC) for the PC-24 twinjet. The operation at Dubai International Airport (OMDB) already provides support for operators of the Swiss manufacturer’s PC-12 turboprop single.

According to Pilatus, the new Dubai ASC will bolster its customer support for PC-24 operators in the Middle East. Other ASCs are located in Sweden, the UK, Poland, Austria, Turkey and Spain, the Philippines, Malaysia, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Colombia, Chile, New Zealand and the U.S.

In Dubai, Jet Aviation supports 18 different aircraft types and holds more than 15 approvals from national aviation authorities. It also provides line maintenance service at Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport (OMDW) and Abu Dhabi Bateen Airport (OMAD), as well as on demand support at Abu Dhabi International Airport (OMAA).

Yingling Aviation Acquires Interiors Solutions Provider

Kansas-based MRO and FBO services provider Yingling Aviation has acquired fellow Wichita company Global Engineering & Technology, a business that provides aircraft cabin refurbishment.

With more than three decades of experience, Global Engineering—which specializes in interior design and restoration—has fabricated the interiors of more than 4,500 business aircraft. The company offers a wide variety of services such as aircraft cabinet restoration, upholstered panel recovery, new furniture production, and seat recovering and refurbishment.

The move adds 60,000 sq ft of floor space as AE Industrial Partners-backed Yingling continues to expand its footprint at Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (KICT).

Florida Charter Operator Earns FAA Maintenance Approval

Florida-based ExecuJet Charter Service (not to be confused with the ExecuJet FBO division of Luxaviation Group or Dassault's ExecuJet MRO Services) has been awarded FAA Part 145 status for its aircraft repair station. Established for more than three decades, the company operates from a hangar at the Sheltair FBO at Tampa International Airport (KTPA) and provides a range of services, including aircraft maintenance, acquisitions, operations, charter, and management.

With the Part 145 certification, its maintenance division can now perform comprehensive inspections and troubleshooting on airframes, engines, propellors, and accessories; conduct repairs on a wide range of systems and components; and ensure adherence to FAA regulations.

Atlantic Jet Partners Aims To Grow from Jet Sales to ‘One-stop Shop’

Atlantic Jet Partners (AJP), originally established as a light-to-midsize jet sales and acquisitions company, has evolved into a multifaceted aviation company. Guided by CEO Tom Conlan’s vision of creating a “onestop shop” for aviation needs, the company has diversified its operations significantly over recent years, encompassing multiple specialized divisions and services.

“Basically what (Conlan) wants to do is from purchase to sale, whatever is needed to do with an aircraft, whether it’s maintenance parts, upgrades, interior refurbishments, engine extension insurance, whatever it might be, we’d like to be able to take care of that in-house for our customers,” AJP chief information o cer Stephen Kaufman told AIN

AJP owns and operates numerous subsidiaries, including Sky Aviation Holdings. Initially focused on jet sales, Sky Aviation Holdings made its mark in the light-to-midsize jet market by acquiring and refurbishing legacy jets. These refurbishments include new paint, interiors, engines, and avionics upgrades.

The company’s expansion began with the recruitment of Jim Cli ord, an aircraft engineer, to head its TBO division. This program extends the operational life of JT15D engines by 2,000 hours at a fraction of the cost of a traditional overhaul.

Clifford also oversees SkyVue Avionics, an avionics division specializing in cockpit upgrades for legacy aircraft. SkyVue’s product line includes upgrades such as the SkyVue 1000 for Primus 1000-powered Citations, the SkyVue 400 for Beechjets, and the SkyVue 60 for Learjets. These upgrades enhance aircraft functionality with features such as dual FMS and WAAS/LPB compliance.

To support maintenance operations, the company established Sky Aircraft Maintenance, a Part 145 maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility located in Lexington,

AJP has expanded from jet sales and acquisitions to multiple divisions and services.

North Carolina. The facility, managed by Steve Trent, includes two hangars totaling more than 22,000 sq ft with an additional 50,000-sq-ft hangar currently under construction.

In fractional ownership, the company launched Sky Flight Air, offering shares in aircraft such as King Airs, Beechjet 400As, Learjet 60s, and Hawker 1000s. The program is positioned as a cost-e ective alternative to traditional fractional ownership and jet card providers.

Sky Aviation Insurance, another division, has experienced rapid growth due to targeted marketing and SEO initiatives. The division processes between 30 to 60 aviation-related insurance requests monthly. The company recently expanded its engineering and manufacturing capabilities with the acquisition of Aerospace Design & Compliance (ADC) in New Castle, Delaware. ADC specializes in engineering work for supplemental type certificate (STC) approvals and recently achieved an STC for the SkyVue 1000. This approval includes compliance with the FAA’s 2023 cybersecurity standards, enabling secure Bluetooth and Wi-Fi communications.

Complementing ADC, Sky Aviation Holdings acquired a 10,000-sq-ft facility in Melbourne, Florida, named ADC2. This facility will focus on parts manufacturing under FAA Part 21 regulations. The Melbourne site enables the company to design, certify, and manufacture FAA-approved parts in-house, fostering collaboration between certification and manufacturing processes while attracting top aerospace engineers.

Further broadening its maintenance capabilities, the company acquired Aerodyne Turbine Repair & Maintenance in Stuart, Florida. This facility provides a range of services, including hot section inspections, heavy maintenance, preventive maintenance, line maintenance, fuel nozzle repair, and oil analysis. Additionally, the company purchased Great Lakes Turbines in Toledo, Ohio. This FAA Part 145 component repair station o ers services such as welding, fabrication, non-destructive testing, CNC machining, and turbine engine component repair. The Toledo facility enhances the company’s ability to meet rigorous machining and process requirements, attracting aerospace and land-based power clients while streamlining inter-company operations. S.R.

Accidents

BY DAVID JACK KENNY

Preliminary Reports

Pilot Distraction Noted in Hawker/Mustang Collision

Hawker 850XP, Cessna Citation Mustang, Oct. 24, 2023, Houston

Pilot distraction is being eyed as a factor in the runway collision of the two business jets at William P. Hobby Airport (KHOU) in Houston, according to details in a preliminary report recently issued on the 2023 accident.

At 3:20 p.m. local time, the Hawker 850XP was taking off when it collided with the landing Citation Mustang at the intersection of Runways 22 and 13R. No injuries were reported among the occupants of either aircraft. The Hawker, operating as an on-demand passenger flight destined to Waukesha, Wisconsin, sustained minor damage, while the Citation, flown under Part 91 from Atlanta, was substantially damaged.

The collision occurred during the Hawker’s takeoff roll, though the controller instructed the crew of the jet to line up and wait on Runway 22. The controller had cleared the Citation to land on Runway 13R. Despite attempts by the controller to get the Hawker crew to stop the airplane, they did not respond.

In a post-accident interview, the Hawker crew believed they were cleared for takeoff. They also reported investigating alerts during taxi and takeoff roll.

“As the airplane began the left turn to be perpendicular to the runway, they stated the V-speeds were no longer on the display screens,” according to the preliminary report.

Approximately three minutes later, the airplane had entered its takeoff roll, “when

the flight data/clearance delivery controller alerted the local controller about [the Hawker] N269AA’s movement, and at 15:19:47 the local controller stated ‘November nine alpha alpha, stop, hold your position.’ There was no response from the crew of N269AA, and at 1519:53 the local controller again stated, ‘Alpha, alpha, hold your position, stop,’ to which there was still no response,” the NTSB report stated.

KHOU is equipped with airport surface detection equipment—Model X (ASDE-X)—to enable controllers to track aircraft movements on the ground. “The controllers noticed N269AA’s movement before the ASDE-X alert,” however, according to the report.

In a post-flight interview, the Hawker crew said they were investigating two alerts for pitch trim and rudder bias during the takeoff roll. The two crewmembers reported not seeing the other aircraft until about one second before the collision.

The pilot of the Citation reported not seeing the Hawker, but hearing a thud on impact. The Hawker took off and subsequently requested a return to the runway and were granted clearance to go around and land. Post-accident examinations showed significant damage to the left wing of the Hawker and to the tail section of the Mustang.

Two Killed in Caravan Training Accident

Cessna 208B, Dec. 17, 2024, Honolulu, Hawaii

Both pilots, employees of an inter-island Part 135 cargo operator, perished when the airplane crashed into an unoccupied building seconds after takeoff. ADS-B data indicate that the instructional flight lifted off from Runway 04L of the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (PHNL) at 15:14:57 local time at a groundspeed of 91 knots. Within

10 seconds it began an unexpected left turn. Footage captured by observers showed the “very aggressive” bank continuing to steepen. When the tower controller asked whether they were turning right, the crew transmitted, “We are, we have, uh, we’re out of control here.” They were cleared to land on any runway but were unable to return to the airport, striking the building in a near-vertical attitude and igniting a post-crash fire.

FAA records showed that both pilots held current first-class medical certificates and commercial pilot certificates with single-engine airplane and instrument ratings. One also held a multiengine rating and a flight instructor’s certificate with single-engine, multiengine, and instrument ratings.

Numerous Casualties in Departure Crash

Piper PA-42-1000 Cheyenne 400LS, Dec. 22, 2024, Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

All 10 on board were killed and 17 people on the ground were reported injured after the twin-engine turboprop crashed into buildings moments after takeoff from Runway 24 of Canela Airport (SSCN). Press reports indicate that the airplane initially hit a chimney about 3 km (1.9 miles) from the airport, then struck a residential building, a furniture store, and a mobile phone shop. Most of the ground injuries were attributed to smoke inhalation from the ensuing fires. Two women were said to have been hospitalized in critical condition with burns.

All nine passengers were apparently family members of the airplane’s owner and pilot, the CEO of a business recovery firm. The nearest weather observation, recorded 40 km (25 miles) to the northwest at Caxias

do Sul Airport, included 6 km (3.7 miles) visibility under a 600-foot broken ceiling and another broken layer at 6,000 feet.

Final Reports

Fatal Pitch Excursions Traced to Overlooked Pitot Cover

Bombardier BD-100-1A10 Challenger 300, March 3, 2023, Windsor Locks, Connecticut

A series of violent pitch excursions that subjected the airframe to g-loads in excess of its maneuvering load factor limitation and ultimately caused the death of an unsecured passenger resulted from inhibition of the horizontal stabilizer trim electronic control unit’s (HSTECU) autopilot trim function, forcing the autopilot to compensate for a badly out-of-trim condition using the primary flight controls.

Disconnecting the autopilot in an effort to troubleshoot a cascade of crew alerting system (CAS) advisories led the jet to pitch up from 3 to 8 degrees in just one second, a 4-g acceleration, then past 20 degrees after the PIC initially pushed the nose down, then released forward pressure. The flight data recorder’s (FDR) inertial switch ended the recording when loading increased beyond 4 gs, so the full extent of the pitch event remains unknown.

The crew’s failure to identify the initial “RUDDER LIMITER FAULT’ warning as a no-go condition and their use of the wrong checklist while attempting to troubleshoot the problem in flight were both cited as probable causes of the accident.

The inhibition of the HSTECU’s autopilot trim originated from a mismatch of more than 20 knots in the speeds calculated by the airplane’s two air data computers, which registered fault codes in the HSTECU. The mismatch in turn was due to the copilot’s having overlooked the right pitot cover during his external preflight when he was interrupted by line staff. The PIC aborted the initial takeoff run after

the SIC reported anomalous readings on his primary flight display, but they did not consult the “go/no-go” checklist when the rudder limiter warning illuminated.

Had they realized it was listed as a “nogo” condition and consulted maintenance control as required, they’d have been told to power down the aircraft to clear the fault codes and restore normal function.

After aborting the takeoff, the jet stopped on a taxiway where the SIC removed the pitot cover. The “RUDDER FAULT LIMIT” warning then illuminated, which the PIC unsuccessfully tried to troubleshoot. They agreed to continue the flight without checking the “go/no-go” guide or contacting maintenance control.

During takeoff the SIC saw that the jet’s V-speeds were no longer bugged on the airspeed indicator, so he called them out from memory. At 400 feet, the amber “MACH TRIM FAIL” warning illuminated, joined by the amber “AP STAB TRIM FAIL” when the autopilot was engaged. The PIC disengaged and reengaged the autopilot three times during the climb to cruising altitude; each time the autopilot-related messages cleared and then reappeared. The “AP HOLDING NOSE DOWN” caution also illuminated the second and third times as airspeed increased.

The PIC called for “the checklist” without specifying which. The SIC located the one for primary stabilizer trim failure, which seemed to address the cause of the problem, and did not examine checklists relating to the other warning messages. The first item was to move the stabilizer trim switch from “PRI” to “OFF;” when the SIC did this, the autopilot disconnected and the jet pitched up. The PIC countered by “pushing the control column forward with at least 90 lbs of force,” imposing a -2.3 g load. The 20-degree pitch-up occurred as he returned the control column to neutral.

Shortly after they regained control using manual trim, a passenger reported that another passenger had su ff ered serious injuries. She had not been wearing her seat belt although the seat belt light had been

on throughout the flight. The Challenger diverted and landed at Windsor Locks 17 minutes after the upset, but the passenger died of her injuries later that day.

ATSB Ends Ditching Investigation

Bell 206B, April 14, 2024, Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia

On Dec. 13, 2024, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau officially discontinued its investigation into the helicopter’s ditching roughly 300 meters west of Thursday Island after an apparent engine failure. The aircraft was not recovered, and the Bureau deemed it “unlikely that further investigation would identify any systemic safety issues or important safety lessons.”

Shortly after takeoff, the pilot noticed “a slight surge” before the engine lost power. He performed an autorotation onto the water, and he and both passengers escaped and were rescued. The helicopter sank after about five minutes. Investigators interviewed the pilot, both passengers, and another company pilot; reviewed flight tracking data; and scrutinized the investigation report of the Queensland Police Service. Without the opportunity to examine the wreckage, no further information was available.

— Amy Wilder contributed to this report.

Get Up To Speed on the

GET UP TO

Compliance Countdown

BY GORDON GILBERT

JUST AROUND THE CORNER

March 1, 2025

U.S.: Medical Certification

Scheduled to start March 1, 2025, the FAA will issue “denials” instead of “deferrals” for medical certificate applications that require additional information. The policy change is ostensibly intended to expedite the medical certification process by removing the up to 90 days applicants were given to submit additional medical records under the deferral process. Under the denial process, the applicant may request “reconsideration” within 30 days by submitting the required additional information.

Feb. 10, 2025

UK: Carbon O setting and Reduction

This consultation sets out proposals for implementing the Carbon O ffsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) in the UK. It seeks views on draft secondary legislation that covers offsetting requirements, following the implementation of CORSIA’s monitoring, reporting, and verification rules in UK law. It also seeks views on options for how CORSIA and the UK emissions trading scheme should apply. Comments are due Feb. 10, 2025.

Feb. 20, 2025

UK: Manchester Low-level Route

The current Manchester Low-Level Route (MLLR) will be replaced by the North West Transit Corridor and reclassified as Class G airspace with specific restrictions starting Feb. 20, 2025. According to UK officials, the revised routing will “enhance safety and efficiency by simplifying the airspace structure, mitigate collision risks, and enable smoother navigation between Manchester and Liverpool Airports for general aviation pilots.” Amendments include: a Class G restricted area to be known as EGR323; a maximum altitude within the Class G airspace of 1,500 feet (200 feet higher than the current MLLR); and extending the new Class G airspace 0.65 nm wider to the east than today’s MLLR

boundary. The decision to reclassify this portion of airspace follows input from the general aviation community, air navigation service providers, and local airports.

Feb. 28, 2025

Australia: Transition to New Regulations

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has released compliance timelines for certain Part 133 and Part 135 rotorcraft and smaller charter airplanes to transition their training and checking systems to recently adopted new flight operations regulations. Operators must ensure that CASA has a current copy of their proposed training and checking systems manual no later than Aug. 31, 2024. A key change to the transition approach is a self-assessment by operators. It’s aimed at making sure the accountable person is confident that the training and checking requirements have been properly addressed in operational procedures. Operators will have until Feb. 28, 2025 to implement their systems.

March 6, 2025

U.S.: Pilot Schools

An FAA-sponsored virtual public meeting is scheduled on March 6 to solicit input on the agency’s plan for proposing regulations intended to modernize FAR Part 141 pilot school requirements. This will be the first in a series of public meetings on this topic before any proposals are published.

The meeting is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EST. Written comments are requested by March 21, 2025. “Modernizing Part 141 would address challenges pertaining to certification, certification management, examining authority, and evolving technology and learning methods,” said the FAA.

April 1, 2025

U.S.: Agricultural Inspection Fees

Changes have been made to the fee and payment structure associated with U.S. Department of Agriculture inspections that apply to commercial vessels, including aircraft. One of the most significant revisions is to eliminate the user fee exemption previously applied to commercial aircraft with fewer than 64 seats. After April 1, 2025, previously exempted aircraft will have to follow the FDA’s food and plant inspection and guideline requirements. The revised rules go into effect Oct. 1, 2024, for all other operators.

April 1, 2025

UK: Air Passenger Tax

Air passenger duty (APD) taxes of between $105 and $875 per passenger, depending on the length of the flight, are part of the UK’s latest proposed federal budget plan. The new rates, planned to start on April 1, 2025, apply only to corporate jets having a mtow of more than 44,000 pounds with 18 or fewer passenger seats. However, in late 2024, the UK issued a proposal for comments that would make the APD applicable to all business jets.

April 2, 2025

U.S.: Designating a U.S. Agent

The FAA will require individuals with foreign addresses and no U.S. physical address on file with the agency who hold or apply for certain certificates, ratings, or authorizations to designate a U.S. agent for service of related documents. The U.S. agent will receive FAA document service on the certificate holder or applicant's behalf. According to the agency, “This rule facilitates the FAA's ability to accomplish prompt and cost-e ff ective process and service of other safety-critical or time-sensitive documents to individuals abroad through their U.S. agents.” The compliance date is April 2, 2025, for certificate applicants and July 7, 2025, for certificate holders.

April 10, 2025

Brazil: Visa Requirements

Brazil plans to reinstate visa requirements for Australian, Canadian, and U.S. citizens (including flight crews) starting April 10, 2025. According to business aircraft flight planning service Universal Weather and Aviation, travelers should apply online at least 15 days before their intended arrival to account for the five-day processing period. At last check, the visa fee is $80.90 with a 10-year validity.

April

25, 2025

U.S.: Airport Safety Management Systems

Air carrier airports certified under FAR Part 139 are required to submit an implementation plan for a safety management system (SMS) on the following deadlines: April 24, 2024, for airports designated as hubs; Oct. 24, 2024, for airports with 100,000 or more annual operations over the previous three years; and April 25, 2025, for airports classified as port of entry, landing rights, user fee, and international facilities

For the most current compliance status, see: ainonline.com/compliance

COMPLETE BUSINESS AIRCRAFT SERVICES

People in Aviation

BY JESSICA REED

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) selected James Viola, currently president and CEO of Vertical Aviation International (VAI), to succeed Pete Bunce at the helm of the association. As part of a transition plan, Viola will step into his new role as GAMA president and CEO in March after the conclusion of VAI’s biggest event of the year, Verticon, while Bunce will retire in April after leading the association for nearly 20 years. In the interim, both will work closely together. Bunce had joined GAMA in April 2005 after retiring from a 26-year career with the U.S. Air Force. Viola brings regulator expertise as a former FAA official to his new role. Joining VAI in 2020, he succeeded Matt Zuccaro , who had been the long-serving president of what was then known as Helicopter Association International.

Louis C. Seno, Jr. assumed the role of executive director of the International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) on January 1. Seno succeeded Wayne Starling, who had led the organization since October 2018. Previously serving as chairman emeritus and special advisor to the board of Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI), Seno’s career has included leadership roles at Boeing Capital Corporation and GE Capital Solutions. Under Starling’s leadership, IADA expanded its influence and established itself as a leader in the business aircraft resale industry. Starling, who received the IADA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024, will continue in an advisory role to support the transition through April 2025. In addition to his role at JSSI, Seno serves on multiple boards, including GAMA and the Experimental Aircraft Association.

Mark Cooper, previously v-p and chief technology and information officer at Nav Canada, has been appointed president and CEO of the organization. Cooper worked for 18 years at Lockheed Martin as the managing director of its global aviation organization and

had also served as lead partner for aviation technology at Deloitte.

Bombardier appointed Caroline Maso as its new chief human resources officer, succeeding Dan Brennan, who will retire on June 30. Maso’s previous experience includes executive positions at Pratt & Whitney Canada and at AtkinsRéalis.

Metrojet Limited , a provider of business aviation services in the Asia-Pacific region, announced the retirement of its CEO, Gary Dolski, effective January 1. Dave Yip, the company’s COO, assumed the role of acting CEO on the same date. Dolski joined Metrojet in April 2017 as managing director of aircraft management and charter and was appointed CEO later that year. Dave Yip brings more than 20 years of experience in commercial and business aviation to his new role.

Carly Anderson was appointed as chief legal officer, chief strategy officer, and general counsel at JSSI . Anderson’s prior experience includes multiple roles at The Boeing Company, having served as v-p for engineering, regulatory, and FAA compliance in the law department at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Private jet charter and aircraft management services provider Ventura Air Services hired Rebecca Kodesh for the position of chief operating officer. Kodesh brings more than two decades of experience in aviation, including leadership roles at XOJet and Wheels Up.

The AOPA Board of Trustees elected James N. Hauslein as chairman, succeeding William C. Trimble III, who retired at the end of 2024. Hauslein, an AOPA member since 1987, joined the board in 2012 and previously chaired the Finance and Investment Committee.

Troy Stephens was appointed as the president of private jet operator Jetport after serving as its v-p for the last year. Stephens, previously a

CAROLINE MASO

CARLY ANDERSON TROY STEPHENS

JAMES VIOLA

MARK COOPER

WAYNE STARLING

commercial airline pilot, has also held roles such as operations manager and v-p of flight operations for some of Canada’s largest commercial airlines.

Muirhead Avionics/Ametek MRO has hired Ramey Jamil as its engineering director and Jules Roberts as a customer services manager. Jamil brings more than 15 years of experience in aircraft systems, engineering, and controls. Roberts, a qualified change management practitioner, will drive the customer service strategy at the company.

Lanny Schindelmeiser was hired as v-p of maintenance at private aviation services provider Elevate Jet. Schindelmeiser has strong experience in aviation maintenance management. The company also promoted Perry Breitenstein to v-p of operations.

Flydocs has hired Tracy Barry as the head of professional services and Remon Sweers as the director of products. Barry’s 25-plus years of experience includes leading Teledyne Controls’ Service Solutions business. Sweers previously worked for companies in the aviation industry including QOCO, Regional Jet Center, and Martinair Maintenance and Engineering.

Guardian Jet appointed William Oliveira as sales director for South America. Oliveira joins the aircraft brokerage with a breadth of business aviation experience including in customer support at Embraer Executive Jets and then at TAM Aviação Executiva, representing Cessna jets.

Corporate Angel Network (CAN) appointed Jamail Larkins as the organization’s newest ambassador. Larkins, an aviator and business aviation entrepreneur, aims to expand CAN’s impact by raising awareness about its mission and engaging with potential donors.

Cadorath promoted Brandy Cadorath to v-p of entrepreneurial operating system implementation, training, and oversight. She previously worked in accounts receivable, special processes, and agriculture divisions at the company. z

Nicholas Sabatini, a long-time FAA o cial whose career culminated as associate administrator for aviation safety, died on November 27. He was 88. In his roles with the agency, Sabatini became an influential leader, serving as a mentor to those within the FAA as well as in the industry, NBAA said in marking his loss. NBAA credited Sabatini with helping to pioneer the concept of a “just culture” approach to safety during his time with the FAA.

“Nick Sabatini was passionate about aviation safety, with a tireless focus on understanding the root causes of accidents, so that meaningful steps can be taken to avoid similar future tragedies,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen.

Born in Vasto, Italy, in 1936, Sabatini emigrated to the U.S. in 1938, living in the Bronx, New York, according to his Legacy obituary information. As a young man, he served in the U.S. Army before joining the New York Police Department in August 1958, initially as a patrol o cer. He later joined the mounted division and went to the NYPD’s aviation unit in 1966.

Passionate about flying, Sabatini then moved on to the U.S. Customs Drug Interdiction Air Unit in Brooklyn before embarking upon a 30-year career with the FAA in 1978. Initially serving as an operations inspector in Charleston, West Virginia, Sabatini would move into multiple roles, including director of flight standards in Washington, D.C.

In 2001, he was named associate administrator for aviation safety, managing 7,000 FAA employees that regulated more than 7,300 commercial airlines and operators. Retiring in January 2009, Sabatini served on the board of directors for JetBlue Airways, Advanced Aviation and Positioning Corp., and Wyvern Consulting. He also served on the Auburn University Aviation Management Board and Flight Safety Foundation’s board of governors.

A Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award recognized for his more than 50 years of flying, Sabatini had amassed more than 7,000 flight hours. He had earned type ratings in business jets, helicopters, and commercial aircraft including the Douglas DC-9, Embraer EMB-110, and Bell 206.

AWARDS AND HONORS

Neil Harvey was recognized by the British Business and General Aviation Association with its 2024 Contribution to Industry award. Harvey serves as director of executive aviation at charter brokerage Hunt & Palmer, where he has worked for three decades.

RAMEY JAMIL

TRACY BARRY

WILLIAM OLIVEIRA

BRANDY CADORATH

The five N-numbered business jet fatal accidents were on February 7, with a Hawker 900XP on a positioning flight (two fatalities); February 9, a chartered Bombardier Challenger 604 on approach (two fatalities); March 10, an Israel Aircraft Industries Westwind on approach (five fatalities); August 20, a Cessna Citation II on takeoff (two killed); and November 11, a HondaJet on takeoff (four fatalities plus one on the ground).

The three fatal accidents involving non-U.S.-registered business jets were on January 20, a Russia-registered Dassault Falcon 10 on a charter flight (two killed); July 23, a Brazil-registered Bombardier Learjet 35 during a go-around (two fatalities); and December 18, an Argentina-registered Challenger 300 experienced a runway excursion while landing (two killed).

Included among the 12 non-fatal U.S.-registered business jet accidents in 2024 (versus 11 in 2023) was a rare Part 91K mishap—the 16th occurrence on the NTSB database of U.S.-registered fractional jet operations in the last 18 years. On November 17, a fractional-operated Challenger 650 had a brake and wheel fire after the captain decided to burn off excess fuel by riding the brakes and increasing thrust while taxiing for departure. There was also a Part 91K accident in 2023.

Turboprop business aircraft worldwide recorded three fewer fatal accidents last year compared to 2023, but the number of fatalities bumped up to 72 in 2024 from 71 in 2023, with non-U.S.-registered turboprops accounting for the increase last year. Seven accidents of U.S.-registered turboprops took the lives of 17 souls last year versus 10 accidents and 25 fatalities in 2023.

There were 12 fatal accidents each year of non-N-numbered turboprops. However, last year those crashes killed 55 versus 46 in 2023. The single worst accident in terms of fatalities was on December 22, when a Brazil-registered Piper Cheyenne 400LS on a private flight crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 10 aboard. z

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