BARRINGTON STEPS IN AFTER AER LINGUS CHIEF QUITS
Dermot Mannion has resigned as chief executive of Aer Lingus, with chairman Colm Barrington filling the vacancy on an interim basis. The Irish carrier recently reported an operating loss of €17.6 million ($22.3 million) after tax for 2008, reversing the previous year's €88.5 million profit. Mannion, who was appointed four years ago, says his departure will "allow a new chief executive to bring fresh thinking and new ideas to the business".
GARUDA PILOT JAILED OVER 2007 737 CRASH
An Indonesian court has sentenced a Garuda Indonesia pilot to two years in prison for his role in an air crash that resulted in 21 deaths. Marwoto Komar, who has 22 years of flying experience, was arrested in July 2008 after the Boeing 737-400 with 140 passengers that he piloted crashed on landing at Yogyakarta airport in March 2007. Prosecutors said that he was criminally negligent for the deaths and sought a four-year jail term, but Komar denied the charges and said he had tried to avoid the accident.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT TO PROVIDE ECLIPSE SUPPORT
The Eclipse Owners Group and Hawker Beechcraft have signed a non-binding letter of intent under which the manufacturer's service network would provide maintenance and upgrades for group members - consisting of individual Eclipse 500 owners. The parties are negotiating a "definitive binding agreement", says the group, which says it will negotiate with Hawker Beechcraft to provide the needed maintenance and support services to keep Eclipse 500s flying if it purchases the assets of Eclipse Aviation. A bankruptcy auction is expected soon, and the owners' group will have to compete for the assets with a number of entities.
NASA SELECTS APOLLO HEAT SHIELD FOR RETURN TO THE MOON
NASA has selected Avcoat as the material for its Orion crew exploration vehicle's heat shield, 14 months later than planned. The space agency had originally baselined Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA), but in subsequent testing it was outperformed by Avcoat. The Avcoat selected is a reformulation of the Apollo original as environmental legislation has since banned some of the 1960s ingredients.
FINMECCANICA COMPLETES SUKHOI STAKE DEAL
Finmeccanica subsidiary Alenia Aeronautica has finalised its 25%-plus one share - valued at €138 million ($183 million)-in Sukhoi Civil Aircraft. The agreement was disclosed in 2005 as Alenia and Sukhoi agreed to develop a joint venture for marketing of the Superjet 100 regional jet, which was established in Venice in 2007. Two Superjets are in flight testing, with a third expected to begin testing shortly.Certification is earmarked for year-end.
BOND SUPER PUMAWRECKAGERECOVERED
The main wreckage from the Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma (G-REDL) that crashed into the North Sea on 1 April returning from an oil rig to Aberdeen has been recovered from the seabed and taken to the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch at Farnborough. All 14 passengers and two crew died in the accident. The AAIB says the crew transmitted a "brief" mayday call before the helicopter, operated by Bond Offshore, lost contact with air traffic control. The combined cockpit voice and flight data recorder has also been retrieved.
LEARJET 60 TO BE EQUIPPED WITH WAAS
Bombardier is offering a wide area augmentation system-capable flight management system on its Learjet 60 midsize business jet. The service will be available as a supplemental type certificate to customers of in-service Learjet 60s, the manufacturer says. WAAS is already available on the Learjet 40/40XR and Learjet 45/45XR business jets.
JOHN BORGHETTI LEAVES QANTAS
Qantas senior executive John Borghetti will leave next month after 36 years. Borghetti had been seen as one of the contenders for the job of chief executive following Geoff Dixon's retirement late last year, but the top executive job went to Alan Joyce. Since then several senior executives have departed including former chief financial officer Peter Gregg.
Source: Flight International
