MilitaryProduct Focus: Headsets and Unwanted Noise Comfort, affordability and quality are what matters in a headset, pilots say. Lightness is key, says a major reseller. But pilots"cry bloody murder if it costs more than $200." Pilots wear the…
CommercialLufthansa Technik’s NICE Cabin "Have a nice flight" could take on a whole new meaning when addressed to users of VIP and corporate aircraft. From now on, aircraft support specialist Lufthansa Technik (LHT) would like 'nice'…
CommercialSafety: Maintenance Snafu with Static Ports Maintenance blunders keep catching pilots by surprise. Fortunately, the savvy and experienced pilots of a United Parcel Service (UPS) Boeing 747-200 freighter were able to retrieve the situation during a maintenance-related check…
ATM ModernizationPeople New Officials John Belcher has been named chairman of ARINC Inc., succeeding James Pierce, who announced his retirement in January. Belcher formerly was the company's president and chief executive officer (CEO). He…
ATM ModernizationLooming Crisis, Plea for Action The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is at a crossroads-and the future of U.S. aviation hangs in the balance. Last month President George W. Bush delivered to Congress a proposed Fiscal Year 2005…
Business & GAProduct Focus: Say Hello to FRED Data in flight recorders is stored in crash-protected memory. But when a recorder is recovered from an accident scene, it can take weeks to decipher what the data means-to translate it into…
Business & GARegional Jet Cockpits-Now and in the Future Describing the cockpit avionics in today's regional jets can be either straightforward or complex. It is straightforward if one deals with the dominant airframes from Bombardier and Embraer, where standardization across the…
CommercialSafety: Bad Figures, Dangerous Results The fact that a flight management computer (FMC) would accept decision, rotate and climb speeds based on a takeoff weight that was too low by 100 metric tons raises an obvious question:…