Aviation International News
January 2016
PUBLICATIONS Vol. 48 No. 1 $9.00
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CBP returns seized E90, but questions still linger
HondaJet receives FAA type certificate by Matt Thurber On December 9, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta presented the type certificate for the HondaJet to Michimasa Fujino, president and CEO of Honda Aircraft, at a ceremony held at the Honda Aircraft customer support facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, N.C. More than 2,000 Honda Aircraft employees, suppliers, dealers and customers were in attendance as Huerta handed over a large ceremonial type certificate while confetti cannons spread multi-colored ticker tape over the stage and audience. “Today I’m very proud to announce that we reached an historical milestone in our program, FAA type certification,” Fujino said. (The HondaJet had earned provisional FAA type certification on March 27 last year.) Full FAA Part 23 type certification marks a major milestone on Fujino’s journey, which began in 1986 when Honda sent him to the
U.S. to begin an aviation research project. “Since that day I have devoted myself to design and build Honda’s original airplane,” he said. The prototype HondaJet made its first flight on Dec. 3, 2003, powered by Hondadesigned engines that were the foundation of the GE Honda Aero HF120 that received FAA certification on Dec. 13, 2013. Delays in the HondaJet program, originally slated for certification in 2009 or 2010, stemmed in part from the engine, as some of the required flighttesting for certification couldn’t begin until the engine was approved. The 2,095-pound-thrust engines are manufactured in Burlington, N.C., by GE Honda Aero Engines, a 50-50 joint venture between Honda and GE. “The pivotal moment,” Fujino said, “was the HondaJet world debut at AirVenture Oshkosh in 2005. We displayed the HondaJet as an experimental aircraft. At that time I Continues on page 36 u
Bethany, Okla.-based American Jet Charter recently reclaimed its King Air E90 after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) held the aircraft for 72 days. The CBP’s Office of Air and After what was described as a normal charter booking, Marine seized the aircraft, this King Air was seized and held by U.S. officials. N48W, at McAllen Miller International Airport in Texas on September 6, saying the Thus began what Hensley pilot was “in the process of smug- described as five hours of questiongling” seven illegal aliens. ing about the trip. He was interroJim Hensley, who founded gated about the nature of the trip, American Jet Charter 30 years where the passengers came from ago, told AIN he had flown the and why he did not determine aircraft from its base at Wiley Post whether they were documented. Airport in Bethany to McAllen Hensley said the interrogation to pick up seven passengers per surprised him because the trip a client booking. “I did a normal originated in the U.S. and was to boarding procedure,” he said, add- end in the U.S. He maintained to ing that nothing about the trip was the CBP agent that he conducted unusual at that point. As Hensley the trip according to FAA regwas beginning to taxi out, ATC ulations, and since the aircraft told him that CBP officials had did not weigh more than 12,500 asked to speak to him. pounds it was not beholden to the Hensley halted on the ramp security and background checks and was met by a CBP agent, who Continues on page 42 u he said appeared “surprised” that he had stopped. Hensley then instructed his passengers to wait while he responded to the agent.
Cockpit Avionics Business aviation’s progress in the great race to equip for NextGen operations before the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, 2019. page 46
Airports
Newsmakers
Regulations
Supersonic
Reprieve for Santa Monica
A Look Back at 2015
Pilots Bill of Rights 2
Flexjet Reveals Its Aerion Strategy
Following a Part 16 review, the FAA has determined that this important general aviation airport must remain intact, but opponents of the ruling aren’t likely to give up. page 16
Here’s our annual retrospect on news that shaped the last 12 months, but with some predictions about the future, too. Politics, technology, economics and people all played their roles. page 20
Legislation protecting pilots’ rights has passed with unanimous consent in the Senate. The bill advances reform of current requirements for the third-class medical exam. page 6
Fractional-share operator Flexjet unveils its plans for providing customers with access to its expected fleet of Machbusting Aerion AS2s, slated for first deliveries in 2023. page 8
U.S. CUSTOMS
by Kerry Lynch