AIN May 2025

ONE FLIGHT AND YOU’LL SEE WHAT 1000 HOURS PROVED.

SAFETY: LESSONS LEARNED FROM HOP-A-JET CRASH

LEGACY TAILS: THE GROUNDBREAKING CITATION 500

TRAINING: LAPD MAKES TRAINING REAL WITH VR SIM

Roundtable: Tackling the Supply Chain

The Return of the Pre-buy

Love ’em or hate ’em, pre-buy inspections are an essential step in the purchase process

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22 Legacy Tails: Cessna’s revolutionary Citation jet

40 LAPD deploys VR simulator for training

49 Gulfstream boosts customer support

4 Gulfstream G800 wins FAA and EASA certification

6 Textron Aviation 1Q jet deliveries dip, t-props surge

8 Bombardier eyes uncrewed future for EcoJet technologies

10 Safety, workforce headline topics at NBAA mx conference

12 FAA’s Rocheleau: Navigating in a time of crisis and transformation

14 Special Report: Back on the plate, pre-buys still face post-Covid challenges

20 Ambassador Program helping Corporate Angel Network spread its wings 26 Roundtable: Managing the supply chain through turbulence 34 Safety: ACSF symposium challenges all to dig deeper on safety

Gulfstream G800 wins FAA and EASA certification

BY HANNEKE WEITERING

Gulfstream Aerospace’s G800 long-range business jet is now certified in the U.S. and Europe. The Savannah, Georgia-based manufacturer announced in mid-April that it had secured type certificates from the FAA and EASA for the new aircraft, the longest-range business jet in its fleet, after exceeding expectations during performance testing.

G800 certification tests demonstrated a range of 8,200 nm (15,186 kilometers) at the long-range cruise speed of Mach 0.85, which is 200 nm farther than the company had originally projected. Its maximum operating speed also increased to Mach 0.935 from Mach 0.925. At the Mach 0.90 high-speed cruise, the jet can travel 7,000 nm. At Mach 0.87, the range is 8,000 nm.

The G800’s balanced field length takeoff distance of 5,812 feet (1,771 meters) and a landing distance of 3,105 feet are also shorter than Gulfstream’s projection. This will give its customers access to more airports, the company said.

“With the certification of the G800, Gulfstream has again exceeded expectations, thanks to the expertise and rigor of our flight test, certification, and manufacturing teams,” said Gulfstream president Mark Burns. “The G800 marks the latest evolution of business aviation as we continue to build the next-generation fleet and bring industry-leading performance and efficiency to the market. With the capability enhancements we have achieved, Gulfstream customers will greatly benefit from the increased flexibility and range the G800 offers.”

During the company’s first-quarter earnings release, Phebe Novakovic, chairman and CEO of Gulfstream parent General Dynamics, said the last G650s will be delivered by July, with the newly certified G800 succeeding the older model. However, Novakovic did not disclose when the first G800 would be handed over to its customer.

Certification followed a year after the company received U.S. FAA approval for the G800’s longer sibling, the G700. z

News Briefs

BOMBARDIER SEES REVENUE RISE AS UNCERTAINTY WANES

Bombardier revenues in the first quarter rose 19% year over year, to $1.5 billion, with a three-aircraft increase in deliveries and continued gains in the services side. The company released its full-year guidance— postponed from earlier this year given uncertainties surrounding tari s—forecasting that it would deliver 150 aircraft and bring in $9.25 billion in revenues in 2025. In the quarter, Bombardier delivered 23 aircraft, including 12 Challengers and 11 Globals.

EMBRAER EXECUTIVE JETS NOTCHES BACKLOG RECORD

Embraer Executive Jets hit a new high water mark for backlog, which rose to $7.6 billion in the first quarter, 3% higher than its previous record established in the fourth quarter. It delivered 23 business jets in the first quarter—14 Phenom light jets (two Phenom 100EXs and 12 Phenom 300s) and nine midsize Praetors (three Praetor 500s and six Praetor 600s). “Our productionleveling initiative, bolstered by the expansion of our industrial capacity, aligns well with Embraer Executive Jets’ market guidance for this year, and we’re very excited to see this increase of 28% in the first quarter customer deliveries,” said company president and CEO Michael Amalfitano.

HEICO BUY OF ROSEN IS COMPANY ’ S 4TH THIS YEAR

Heico subsidiary Mid Continent Controls has purchased “all the ownership interests” of business aviation in-flight entertainment products manufacturer Rosen Aviation. Eugene, Oregon-based Rosen Aviation makes in-cabin displays and control panels, including digital windows and skylights for VVIP jets for aftermarket and OEM customers. Heico bought three other companies in the past six months, including Mid Continent Controls, Capewell Aerial Systems, and Millennium International.

The G800 has a range of 8,200 nm at Mach 0.85, exceeding expectations by 200 nm.

Textron Aviation jet deliveries dip as turboprops surge 50%

BY JESSICA REED

Textron Aviation delivered 31 jets in the first quarter, down from 36 in the same period last year, as the manufacturer continues to recover from production disruptions caused by a labor strike in late 2024. Meanwhile, civil turboprop deliveries increased to 30 from 20 year over year.

The Textron division posted revenues of $1.2 billion, up $24 million from the first quarter of 2024, “largely reflecting higher aftermarket revenue of $27 million,” Textron Inc. CFO David Rosenberg said in an April 24 earnings call. However, segment profit declined to $127 million, down $16 million from the prior year, “primarily reflecting the mix of aircraft sold, partially offset by higher aftermarket volume.”

Textron Inc. CEO Scott Donnelly noted, “Aviation operations continue to improve as the factory progresses toward pre-strike performance levels while ramping production. Textron Aviation’s fleet utilization remains strong in the quarter, contributing to aftermarket revenue growth of 6% as compared to last year’s first quarter.”

The company’s first-quarter jet deliveries included five M2 Gen2s, five Citation CJ3+s, five CJ4 Gen2s, two XLS+

Gen2s, 11 Latitudes, and three Longitudes.

Civil turboprop deliveries showed significant improvement, with 23 Caravans delivered in the first quarter versus 12 in the same period last year. The company also handed over one SkyCourier and six King Airs, including four King Air 260s and two King Air 360s, down from seven King Airs in the same period last year. Textron Aviation’s backlog remains at $7.9 billion

“As we leave the quarter, the metrics that our teams track around productivity and attrition and earned hours and all those sorts of metrics [...], we’re getting back to where we were pre-strike,” Donnelly said.

Supply-chain improvements are contributing to the recovery, he added. “Parts are there, so the flow is much cleaner; that clearly helps to drive the productivity side.”

A significant milestone for Textron Aviation’s Beechcraft Denali program came in February with the FAA certification of the GE Aerospace Catalyst turboprop engine.

The aircraft’s performance in flight testing has been “very good,” Donnelly noted, adding that the program has accumulated “more than 2,700 flight hours across 1,000 flights with three test articles.” z

News Briefs

GULFSTREAM DELIVERIES, REVENUES, EARNINGS SOAR

First-quarter revenues at General Dynamics’ aerospace unit (Gulfstream Aerospace and Jet Aviation) climbed 45.2% year over year, to $3.026 billion, and earnings rocketed 69.4%, to $432 million. Aircraft deliveries at Gulfstream surged 50%, to 36 aircraft—30 large-cabin jets, including 13 G700s, and six super-midsize G280s in the quarter. According to General Dynamics chairman and CEO Phebe Novakovic, Gulfstream is projected to deliver 150 aircraft this year.

SIGNATURE SMOOTHS INT’L ARRIVALS AT TETERBORO

Signature Aviation has streamlined the arrivals and customs clearance process for internationally arriving customers at Teterboro Airport (KTEB). Its northwest facility on the field—Hangar 12, acquired last year from Meridian—has been designated as the company’s international arrivals venue. Signature will provide start-to-finish assistance on the airport’s customs ramp adjacent to the facility. Arriving aircraft will be marshalled onto the ramp by a Signature team member, who will o er baggage assistance following clearance.

THOMA BRAVO BUYING BOEING DIGITAL AVIATION SOLUTIONS

Investment firm Thoma Bravo is acquiring Boeing’s Digital Aviation Solutions business in an all-cash transaction valued at $10.55 billion. Expected to close by year-end, the deal includes Boeing’s Jeppesen, ForeFlight, AerData, and OzRunways assets. According to Boeing, it will retain digital capabilities for the provision of predictive and diagnostic maintenance insights for commercial and defense customers that use its fleet maintenance services. Boeing Digital Aviation Solutions employs about 3,900 people, including those who will remain with Boeing and those who are part of the assets being sold.

Aftermarket growth bolstered revenues during Textron Aviation’s post-strike recovery.

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Bombardier eyes uncrewed future for EcoJet tech

BY KERRY LYNCH

Bombardier is eyeing uncrewed possibilities, potentially in the military market, as it explores technologies it could derive from its EcoJet blended-wing project, according to company president and CEO Éric Martel. In the shorter term, the Montrealbased company remains on track for entry into service of the Global 8000 this year as it nears completion of the first production model, Martel told analysts and reporters as the company released its firstquarter results.

In the works for nearly 17 years, Bombardier’s EcoJet sustainability and technology research initiative in 2022 entered its second development phase with flight-testing of an 18-foot-wide, blended-wing prototype. Martel noted that “strategic discussions are happening at Bombardier and still continue” on the future of the program and its technologies. Given Bombardier’s vertical integration of its defense business, “the discussion of [an] unmanned airplane is on the table,” he added.

Bombardier is weighing the appetite of different governments for such a product. “But clearly, there are quite a few possibilities. The EcoJet will be quite a capable product, so this is definitely one thing we’re looking into.”

With the way the world is evolving, there are numerous reasons why the concept of uncrewed operations is becoming popular, he explained, pointing to a shortage of pilots and a desire to reduce the risk to people’s lives on the battlefield.

“That’s why we foresee that there could be interest in the technology. So, maybe the first application could be in the defense world as there’s less restriction in terms of certifying versus commercial.”

He noted that the program is one of continuous improvement, and Bombardier is maturing the technology on the demonstrator. “There are things we will be able to put on our actual products or potential future products we will be developing.”

He did not have a timeline yet on when some of this may be in the market.

As for the Global 8000, Martel said the Mach 0.94, 8,000-nm successor to the Mach 0.925, 7,700-nm Global 7500 remains on track for delivery in the fourth quarter, pending required approvals.

Assembly of the first production Global 8000 began in October and is nearing completion, he said. Having “basically completed flying,” the company is finalizing the documentation stage to ensure it is in line with certification requirements. z

News Briefs

SAUDI ARABIA LIFTS FOREIGN CHARTER RESTRICTIONS

Cabotage restrictions for air charter operations in Saudi Arabia were eliminated under General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) rules that took e ect May 1. This opens Saudi Arabia’s domestic private aviation market to international on-demand operators that apply for permission from GACA and follow specific requirements set by the agency. Opening of the domestic market comes as part of GACA’s General Aviation Roadmap, which aims to transform the sector into a $2 billion industry by 2030.

GULFSTREAM COMPLETES EXPANSION AT ST. LOUIS MRO

Gulfstream Aerospace completed a $30 million expansion of the aircraft completions operations at its St. Louis Downtown Airport (KCPS) service center. Announced in 2023, the facility enlargement provides the resources for full aircraft interior outfitting activities at the location. The project brings Gulfstream’s St. Louis MRO facility to a total footprint of 645,013 sq ft. It also builds on an expansion finished at the location in 2017 that provided dedicated hangar space and service to support the entire Gulfstream fleet. The company also added 200 new jobs in St. Louis.

INDIA BIZAV SEEKS TAX, REGULATORY REFORM

Increased demand for private aviation in India’s burgeoning economy has made the case for reforming the sector’s regulatory structure even more urgent, according to industry leaders who recently gathered for the annual conference of the country’s Business Aviation Operators Association (BAOA) in Delhi. Speakers highlighted key challenges including unhelpful tax rules that impede progress, a lack of regulation for services such as fractional ownership, and inadequate provisions for training, pilot recruitment, and maintenance.

Bombardier’s EcoJet research program aims to reduce business jet emissions by 50%.

Spotlight on safety, workforce at NBAA Mx Conference

BY CURT EPSTEIN

With the recent spate of fatal accidents and a looming mechanic shortage, NBAA’s Maintenance Conference brought a more urgent focus on safety and workforce this year.

Kicking off the four-day event held in April in Columbus, Ohio, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen addressed the recent highprofile accidents and its impact on public perception. “They are asking me and everyone in aviation, ‘Is it safe to fly?’” he told the audience. “Now the empirical data suggests yes; the emotional data, maybe not as much.”

As a result, the entire aviation community has come together to back a proposed $12.5 billion allocation to the FAA included in the budget reconciliation bill to cover controller hiring and upgrade air traffic control facilities and equipment, Bolen said.

“We’re no longer going to have people asking if it’s safe to fly because they will know we have enough well-trained people using the best equipment and keeping the United States what it’s always been: the largest, safest, the most efficient, and the most diverse mix of aircraft anywhere in the world,” he said.

Gregory Feith, a former senior accident investigator with the NTSB, addressed the role that maintenance has to play in his keynote address.

“We don’t want those accidents and the people that are involved in those accidents and incidents to have either perished or at least sustained any kind of injury in vain,” said Feith, who spearheaded numerous high-profile accident investigations during his more than two decades with the agency. “We have to take those lessons, we have to bring them back into aviation.”

Now a consultant, media commentator, and a host of the Flight Safety Detectives podcast, Feith cited a quote by Wilbur Wright: “Carelessness and overconfidence are usually more dangerous than deliberately accepted risk.” Indeed, it was his brother, Orville Wright, who was involved in the first fatal aircraft accident in September 1908, where the passenger was killed.

“We do what we need to do to mitigate that risk to as close to zero,” he said, explaining that it can never be eliminated entirely. “As long as you have interaction between humans and machines, there is always going to be that possibility of failure in some way, shape, or form.”

One of the key accident factors Feith examined during his tenure with the NTSB was the organizational safety culture of aircraft operators. He acknowledged that

on page 45 

News Briefs

NEWARK ATC FAILURES PROMPT CONTROLLER TRAUMA LEAVE

Multiple air tra c controllers were placed on trauma leave following a system outage on April 28 that left them unable to see or communicate with aircraft arriving into Newark Liberty International Airport (KEWR) for 90 seconds, contributing to widespread delays, sta ng gaps, and a reduced flight schedule. The lapse in radar and radio contact occurred at the Philadelphia Tracon facility, which manages arrivals and departures at Newark. The FAA issued a statement attributing the disruption to “antiquated” telecommunications infrastructure.

NETJETS, FLIGHTSAFETY REVENUE

GROWS 10.4% IN 1Q

First-quarter revenues at NetJets and FlightSafety International climbed by 10.4% thanks to growth in NetJets’ shared ownership programs, increased flight hours, and higher average flight-hour rates, parent company Berkshire Hathaway reported early last month. Pre-tax earnings for Berkshire’s broader services group rose 9.6% to $648 million, with aviation services among the primary contributors. “The earnings increase from aviation services was primarily attributable to increased revenues, partially o set by higher flight crew, maintenance, fuel costs, and depreciation expense,” the company said.

STANDARDAERO TAKES 1,500TH

HTF7000 FOR HEAVY MX

Erika Armstrong, Suresh Narayanan, David Sturdy, and Chris Poliak held a panel on mechanic retention and leadership challenges.

StandardAero recently hit a milestone in its engine services, receiving the 1,500th Honeywell HTF7000-series engine for major maintenance at its Augusta, Georgia service center. With the event, StandardAero said it now has performed more major HTF7000 workscope events than any other company. StandardAero is also expanding its MRO capacity at Augusta Regional Airport to keep up with increasing demand for HTF7000 engine support facility.

FAA’s Rocheleau: Navigating through a time of crisis and transformation

BY KERRY LYNCH

Chris Rocheleau was named deputy administrator of the FAA in January but also took on the role of acting administrator with the departure of FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker. A U.S. Air Force veteran, Rocheleau most recently had served as COO at NBAA. The move to the FAA marked a return to the agency where he had previously held numerous senior leadership roles for more than 20 years. Rocheleau spoke with AIN about his decision to rejoin the FAA, the immediate crises he faced with the agency, his long-term vision, and what was at the time the pending confirmation of Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford as permanent administrator.

What brought you back to the FAA?

I had served for 22 years in the agency in a variety of roles and was very fortunate to have the opportunities over time to progress within the agency. Whether it was in the chief of staff role or international affairs, [I was able to] understand the corporate nature and the importance of all the different pieces of the agency working together to accomplish the goals, whether for the FAA, the wider industry, or the Department o f Transportation.

I felt I’d accomplished something in my career, and when the opportunity was given to kind of retire and move on to NBAA, I jumped on it. The COO role at NBAA was enlightening and invigorating. Then the opportunity came to help with the presidential transition. Someone said, “You’ve been through two transitions, both from Obama to Trump and then Trump to Biden. How would you like to help in this next transition?”

Talk a little about the transition.

I thought I’d be able to help because transitions are bumpy. Admittedly, this one is equal to or, even in some ways, greater than bumpy. But what is exciting about it is that the FAA does crisis management well because we have a very resilient workforce. I felt that if I could get in there and tap into that, I’ll have done my part.

A week after my arrival and on [Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s] first day, we had the tragic crash at DCA [Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport]. That’s where I think my training was able to help the secretary manage this crisis and help the team get their arms around what we needed to do immediately, like restricting the airspace around DCA, working with the stakeholders, working with the NTSB, and of course working with our controllers. There was a lot of news around what happened in the tragedy, but there was also a real workforce there that needed to make sure someone was paying attention to them and they had the support they needed. To me, that was the big piece of this—to help manage through that transition, but also the subsequent crises when we got here.

Coming in as deputy, with knowledge you’d likely become acting, what was your vision and has it changed now?

I certainly didn’t expect this to be my beginning, with the series of crises, also including the Bering Air accident in Alaska and the [Learjet medevac] tragedy in Philadelphia. But I did come in knowing this agency and what helps it drive. It was coming in saying safety is our priority. At a recent town hall, I said, “With all the other noise out there—and there’s a lot out there—focus on the job. Come to work,

look out for each other, and focus on the safety job that we do every day.” Someone quoted me as saying, “We deliver safety to the American people every day,” and I was really proud of getting that in. To me, it came down to safety first.

And then we have to modernize this agency, whether it’s on medical certification work, our air traffic processing, or our notam system, which was another big one. A major focus right up front was to let people know that for the next three, four, or five years, certainly for this administration, we will focus on modernizing the FAA.

The other piece, and this was a passion of mine, was bringing new innovative technologies into the airspace. I was very involved at the beginning with the Virginia Tech experiment on drone integration. That’s expanded appreciably since I left. I wanted to get back in and help with safe drone integration and safe advanced air mobility. Those are two major technologies [that] I think are going to transform not just the U.S. airspace system but the world.

The final piece, which you’ve heard plenty about because the secretary was all in, was the controller hiring and making sure that we preserve safety positions as we seek to reshape the agency as we become more efficient. There’s been a lot of talk about DOGE and chopping and getting rid of people. But perhaps because of what happened at the beginning of the

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year, what happened here with the tragedies, the secretary from day one has been in to preserve any of our safety capabilities, air traffic controllers, safety inspectors, and certification engineers. We have not stopped hiring those, and we have just pressed on with all of that.

Since the high-profile accidents, you’ve had to testify before Congress. Do you feel like you’ve had a different mandate because of this?

That hearing [before the Senate Commerce Committee in March] was my first ever. I’ve done a lot of prep for different administrators over my time. I never sat in the chair, and so that was pretty significant for me. But I felt confident in all the preparation and knowing the agency and being able to answer some of the tough questions, whether it was on Elon Musk or do we have enough people while we’re terminating folks or people are retiring.

I also understood the need to respond to Congress. Yes, there are a lot of demands on this agency, and for a good reason, right? We’re responsible for making sure the skies are safe every day.

We’re responding intentionally; responses involving the NTSB investigation are a perfect example. There’s a lot of information that people think they know initially, and it’s a challenge. An important thing to remember is that we need to use discipline when we’re coming to a conclusion, that we just don’t have all the facts. So, I think that the FAA has been very good about being deliberative and being careful about how we respond until all the facts are in.

Yet it didn’t hold us back from stopping mixed traffic at DCA or starting our reevaluation of what we call hotspots, or areas where we had mixed traffic or high reports of losses of separation.

Can you talk about these studies, including on hot spots?

When we did our initial scrub of where we were seeing potential losses of separation,

TCAS [traffic collision avoidance system] alerts, and those kinds of things, we identified Las Vegas early on because of the nature of the mixed traffic with commercial airlines and air tours.

We identified that there were numbers there that we needed to pay attention to and similarities as they related to the horizontal and vertical separation requirements. We had our team look very carefully at the airspace makeup, as well as what controllers were telling helicopters and airplanes, as it related to traffic advisories. That was a really big thing.

In the past weeks, we’ve been working with the controllers and the air tour community there to make sure that they work through the airspace. Just over the past few weeks of that work, we’ve seen a roughly 30% reduction in the alerts that we were getting.

Another location that we’ve looked at is in the LA basin area with Van Nuys and Burbank airports. We’ve got two airports that are fairly close that see private jets that move very quickly, and we’ve got Cessna 172s. And that’s a dense airspace we’re looking into as well. Anything we see that we don’t like, we take action on immediately.

At the same time, we’re going to look through how the airspace is redesigned and how we might want to change that to make it clearer for helicopters, training aircraft, private jets, and any others going in and out of those airports.

After the Bering Air crash, I was able to go to Alaska and meet with both the investigators as well as [those involved with] the Don Young Aviation Alaska Safety Initiative to talk about the airspace around Anchorage. You’ve got high-performance F-35s flying around. You’ve got float planes. You’ve got a real mix of traffic in the airport area. That’s another area, as they’re doing an airspace redesign, that we’re going to take the lessons we’ve learned from DCA and now in Las Vegas, and apply them there.

There is a lot of discussion about modernizing technology. What can people expect?

It’s clear that for years, the FAA has worked through this thing they called NextGen. Some of the technologies and capabilities have been delivered, but not in a timely manner, and not to fully realize the benefits of those technologies.

Partly because of the outages—think about it, we had not just the crashes, but we had two notam outages since the secretary arrived—we’ve been fortunate to have the secretary lean in with us, not just tell us what to do or stand in the way.

We have outages throughout the system on a regular basis. It’s because we’ve had technologies that have been in place from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. We’ve heard plenty about floppy disks, paper strips, and vacuum tubes.

There are a series of things that we use every day in the air traffic system that are functional, that are safe. We moved over a billion people safely last year. When you look at the trend lines, even though we’ve had this very unfortunate period with loss of life, the system is incredibly safe. But it is showing signs of decay. It is time that we call people’s attention to this problem. The agency has talked about funding instability before, but now we feel it, and so the secretary has made this a priority to build the infrastructure again.

Where are your priorities on AAM and drone technology?

On the AAM and drone deliveries, a lot is going on there. I’m going to Dallas to experience firsthand the UTM, the UAS traffic management systems being used in the area. To me, those are game changers when we think about the beyond visual line of sight [BVLOS] rule and enabling drone deliveries.

On advanced air mobility, the agency has been working on that for some time. I understood on my return that there’s been continues on page 56 

Back on the plate, pre-buys still face post-Covid challenges

BY KERRY LYNCH AND MATT THURBER

The days of the pandemic business jet buying frenzy are over, and so too, for the most part, are decisions to skip pre-buy inspections in desperation to secure an aircraft. However, lingering issues such as supply chain and MRO capacity, along with new concerns such as tariff-related market uncertainties, are still proving challenging for the pre-buy inspection process and, as a result, threaten to complicate certain aircraft deals.

Jay Mesinger, who is CEO and president of an aircraft brokerage that has been in business for more than 40 years, Mesinger Jet Sales, has an adage about pre-buys: “Can’t live with them and should never live without them.”

However, years of practice surrounding pre-buys were upended during the pandemic. When the pandemic began, Mesinger explained, the industry was facing a standstill. “Customers didn’t want you to come visit, so corporations pretty much stopped flying,” he said.

JAY MESINGER PRESIDENT AND CEO, MESINGER JET SALES

That changed the number of aircraft bought and sold. “We looked at the market and thought it’s going to go down between 5% and 20%.” Mesinger feared that older aircraft values would plummet even further, reminiscent of the late 2000s, when values dropped between 50% and 70% overnight.

But the market took an unexpected turn. “We were completely wrong,” he conceded. Flying returned, and values went up as much as by 40% over a year’s time during the pandemic.

“There was so much wealth created during the pandemic in all sectors of the economy, and also there was so much fear

created during the pandemic about public travel. People didn’t want to go to airports,” Mesinger explained. “First-time buyers came into our industry like never before.”

As a result, the entire sector saw a bump. “During that time, sellers got greedy. It became a seller’s market, and buyers were paying whatever they had to get an airplane regardless of common sense, good value, statistics, and demographics,” Mesinger said.

The supply of available airplanes went from a balanced market of 7% to 10% of the fleet to almost zero. “An airplane would come on the market in the morning, and by lunchtime, there’d be 10 fullprice offers.”

WANTING THE LEAST

Sellers would start bidding wars, not just over price, but “who is going to want the least. Wanting the least was the pre-buy,” he added. “Sellers said you’re not going to get a pre-buy. You pay me the most, you come into my hangar, you look at the records, you take it around the patch, and you buy it or not, period.”

As a result, Mesinger maintained, “Huge numbers of people began to forgo the prebuy for the opportunity to just buy. Terrible idea.”

In fact, things became so bad on that front, Mesinger “pretty much stopped” on the acquisition side of the business for a short time. “We wouldn’t suggest that anybody buy an airplane without a pre-buy, and sellers weren’t allowing it,” Mesinger said. “The lack of pre-buy or due diligence was a critical factor in our industry.”

Particularly with older aircraft, people have found corrosion in areas that are typical and could have been caught through a full pre-buy, Mesinger said.

If significant findings such as corrosion slip through, they erode the airplane’s value. “Had you been allowed to do the pre-buy at the time of purchase, you would have had a contractual ability to reject the airplane. You paid the highest dollar for the airplane during the pandemic, and you

THE PERFECT PLACE FOR BUSINESS AIRCRAFT

paid it without the knowledge of what the mechanical integrity of the airplane was.”

David Mayer, a member of the Global Aviation Group at Shackelford, McKinley, & Norton, agreed that during the pandemic, “The buyers wanted lift, and they knew that there’d be other buyers in the wings. They sometimes skipped all diligence other than a books and records review and confirming airworthiness. It was a different time when waiving inspections seemed imperative to anxious buyers. I said then, and I still would say, that that’s not a good idea to waive or bypass a thorough inspection unless you have a big wallet and don’t mind seeing your airplane sit like an expensive paperweight pending or during repairs.”

Mayer underscored the importance of a full pre-buy inspection. “Most buyers today remain objective and arrange appropriate pre-buy inspections based on expert advice on the scope and objectives of an inspection. However, I’ve seen other buyers fail to do an adequate pre-buy inspection, which leads to finding squawks and other aircraft-related issues post-closing, like corrosion, broken systems, or damage. The finding may not affect airworthiness, but they have reduced the aircraft’s value, availability, or utility,” Mayer said. “Buyers can find out quickly that omitting or limiting an appropriate inspection is a bad idea.”

He pointed to other important areas of the due diligence process. During the prebuy process, as a key element of a broader inspection, a facility should examine the paperwork, looking for compliance with the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance and inspection schedules. The delivery condition in the aircraft purchase agreement should specify standards for passing an inspection.

“Non-standard items are essentially red flags that people need to investigate, repair, and price into the transaction,” he said. “Quality inspection facilities will alert a buyer to any of these items. The parties

Special Report

need to discuss whether there will be a deal if the seller cannot or will not satisfy a delivery condition. If this happens, some buyers may seek an accommodation of price, share repair costs, or walk away from the purchase, depending on the problems found.”

However, problems can arise if the buyer really wants a particular airplane and gets emotionally attached, Mayer said. “They accept the airplane despite its known or unknown flaws and don’t look forward to selling the airplane to prospective buyers in the future.” Later on, someone else may pass on the purchase, require extensive repairs, or insist on a price reduction of that airplane, he said.

‘SLAMMED’

Now, the business aircraft market is better balanced, Mesinger said. “There’s more inventory for sale. They have an opportunity to negotiate for price and make smart, intelligent decision-making with respect to evaluation—and they have a chance to do the thorough due diligence and do a pre-buy.”

While the market has right-sized, not all the Covid challenges have eased. “Our maintenance facilities were slammed during the pandemic, not doing pre-buys necessarily, but because there was so much flying again,” Mesinger said. “Shops were just as full and busy as they could ever be.”

For sellers, space availability can be daunting. Sellers typically were asked to

stop using their airplane between the time of the contract and inspection. That was common and was not considered a big ask. But today, it could take a month or two to get it into an available slot in a shop.

“It’s impossible to say to a seller, ‘Hey, you got this airplane you’re paying for these two months, and you can’t touch it,’” Mesinger said. “A seller can get very nervous about not being able to start the process of selling their plane after a contract for two or three months because the market could shift.” A buyer could walk away from a deal or demand different terms. “That time creates all kinds of headaches in a transaction.”

Alan Monk, manager of airframe service sales for Duncan Aviation’s Battle Creek, Michigan facility, noted that demand for pre-buys is cyclic and typically depends on the economy. “It seems to be strong right now,” he noted. “We do our absolute best to take every single one that we can.”

He said the capacity issue is likely the same at most MROs. “Coming out of the pandemic, backlog has just been way out beyond what we normally have seen for years and years. We’re talking people wanting to book 12 months out for small annual type inspections and 18 months to 24 months for anything significant,” Monk said. “That really makes us stretch and try to find solutions for pre-buys, which typically have nowhere near that kind of lead time.”

By the time a shop gets the call for one, typically, there is a letter of authorization signed, and the parties may be close to a purchase agreement. “They’re going to want to move the airplane late that week or early the next week, and sometimes, MROs can’t respond that quickly,” he said. “We try our best. We have some overflow capacity and hangars, and we can usually put together enough labor, but it’s a challenge.”

While the lead time for them varies, Duncan advises brokers: “Regardless of what you hear as far as our backlog, [reach out] and we will put our best foot forward.”

DAVID MAYER

ATTORNEY, SHACKELFORD, MCKINLEY, & NORTON

Duncan typically will assemble a team with expertise in the make and model of the aircraft incoming for a pre-buy inspection. “When a pre-buy comes in, we can adjust teams and work schedules a little bit,” he explained.

As far as the inspection itself, Duncan will accept specific lists that meet certain parameters. But the MRO has its own pre-buy check list that includes routine inspection items, functional checks, and visual checks that vary per airframe model. “We also have optional items that can go a little deeper if the buyer wishes.” The scope of the pre-buy is laid out in advance of the work, Monk noted, so buyers and sellers are aware of what it entails.

“The biggest thing is establishing what the pre-purchase inspection requirement is up front with the parties involved,” said Suresh Narayanan, founder and CEO of Jets MRO. “It’s not an official inspection.” Jets MRO will offer its own pre-purchase checklist, but he added, “We need something to sign off on or else it could turn into an unmanaged process. That’s what we want to avoid. The biggest thing is working with the parties to establish what is the requirement.”

Duncan will typically have its “squawk list” or discrepancy list ready after about 10 to 14 days, Monk estimated. “From there, there’s usually some negotiating between the representatives on both sides, and then if there are any discrepancies found, somebody will approve the work.”

Once completed, the aircraft is ready to return to service. However, he noted:

“From the time we are done [with the inspection] until we can return the airplane to service, that gap can be days, weeks, sometimes months, depending on the communication style between the buyer and the seller, how willing they are to work with one another, how quickly whoever is going to pay for the discrepancies approves us to work them.” And it varies by airplane, he added.

“If a problem is found, it can be weeks or even months to resolve it,” Mesinger agreed. This is particularly true if the problem is fairly extensive or complicated and if the necessary parts can’t be readily obtained. Then it could become an issue of how the costs of the work are passed along. That could become a negotiation between the parties.

Generally, the seller does the repairs within the scope. But if the work increases the cost significantly, the seller may hesitate to solely foot the bill. That may open the door to a negotiation, possibly a change in purchase price.

As far as primary problem spots, corrosion is a common theme across all models, Monk said. Some aircraft will have more than others. Fuel contamination, depending on where in the world the airplane’s been, is another major issue that comes up. Most of the rest of the issues tend to be less impactful, he said.

“We’ve seen the output of a bad prepurchase inspection,” said Jets MRO’s Narayanan. While doing a simple repair on a Cessna Citation, mechanics found severe corrosion from a lavatory that had been

leaking for two years. “I poked my finger through the belly of the aircraft,” he said, “it was so bad.”

The Citation had just emerged from a Phase 5 inspection and then the prepurchase inspection, neither of which caught the corrosion. “They had a bunch of issues that 100% should have been caught during the pre-purchase inspection,” he said. “We had to do this big repair to save it from scrap and basically redo the entire inspection that they already paid for.” The new owner, who thought he got a great deal on the Citation, had to wait another six months to get back in the air.

SUPPLY CHAIN WOES

A lot of the timing of the repair process also comes back to the supply chain. “We didn’t really have supply chain issues prepandemic. Then all of a sudden, we had supply chain issues on toilet paper and paper towels and engine parts and all kinds of things,” Mesinger said.

While it’s better, issues persist. Shops still can’t get some parts, and an aircraft could sit for a few months awaiting them. Mesinger cited as examples auxiliary power units (APUs) and landing gear. “If an APU comes out of an airplane and has to go into a shop, it’s not unlikely it will get stuck in the shop for two or three months because of a part,” he said. As for landing gear, he said, this “is the worst to find.”

“When you have an airplane sitting in a shop and the landing gear has been pulled out from underneath it and it’s on jacks, that’s wasted space for the shop because they can’t move the airplane,” he noted.

Another big issue involves engines, Mesinger added. “There are very few loaners. Engines come out and have to go off-wing and ship out to get work done, and they can’t get parts, and they can’t get a loaner. The airplane is sitting in a shop somewhere without an engine and can’t be flown. So, supply chain is still a real issue right now.”

“There is a lot unknown in the inspection and repair scenarios,” Mayer said. While

ALAN MONK

DUNCAN KBTL MANAGER AIRFRAME SERVICE SALES

SURESH NARAYANAN FOUNDER AND CEO JETS MRO

most inspections and repairs last a few weeks or months, he did say he has seen customized repairs that extended more than a year.

He also has heard stories where a windshield couldn’t be found anywhere in the world for a preowned airplane. “It takes months to find one or get one that you do find.”

Monk agreed “the lead time on some of those can be significant.” Duncan will try repair options for windshields rather than replacement, when possible. Ultimately, he has found, “the supply chain is better, but it still isn’t where it was pre-pandemic, and I don’t know when it’ll ever be.”

Throwing another wrinkle into this are tariffs, or the uncertainty of them. “We’re creating another complexity in our supply chain issue and cost issue,” Mesinger said. “It’s also the parts, it’s not just the whole airplane, that could be impacted by the tariff.”

Mayer further expressed concern that the potential U.S. and reciprocal tariffs may exacerbate the unavailability and costs of parts, components, and services. “The unpredictability of tariffs makes the risk calculation so difficult that some sellers have already pulled back from selling their aircraft or even consider defaulting on a signed sale transaction,” he said.

SHORTENING THE PRE-BUY

Another concern for Mesinger is the temptation to shorten the pre-buy. “To this day, there are dealers that are instructing buyers that an airplane just went through a big inspection six months ago or a year ago, and there’s no need to do a full pre-buy. ‘Let’s just take it around the patch, do a foreign object damage inspection of the engines, and look at the records.’”

Some buyers go along with that, he said. “That’s not a way we’d sell an airplane. I don’t care what was recently done to it.”

Jets MRO CEO Narayanan agreed. “We’ve had people ask us, ‘Can you do a general visual inspection and just sign it off ?’ We stay away from those. We focus on if we do our job, we should earn another customer. We get a lot of folks asking us for what we’ll call obscure pre- purchase inspections, and we say no to those, because I think it’s a recipe for disaster.

 ...the supply chain is better, but it still isn’t where it was pre-pandemic, and I don’t know when it’ll ever be. 

— Alan Monk Duncan KBTL manager airframe service sales

“I’ve seen the output of non-defined pre-purchase inspections, and every MRO is different. They’re not all professionally standardized. We seek to be very professional in how we standardize it to avoid an issue like that. We have folks ask us, ‘Can you be cheaper or faster?’ We stay away from those discussions because we know what the output is, and it could be subpar maintenance or things signed off that weren’t properly looked at. We want to avoid that world completely and maintain a high level of reputation professionalism.”

Mesinger noted that if a seller is trying to dissuade duplication of work, it raises the question of whether there is something they don’t want found. “A different set of eyes [and] a six-month period between the event [may uncover issues]. Corrosion moves fast. That’s the kind of thing that you typically would have missed, corrosion.”

However, Mesinger does try to honor “nearby” inspections if done by a known

facility, and said there may be some carveout of some inspections.

Mayer is also seeing some opt out of a robust inspection, even though they should be the norm. “There’s a propensity to accept airplanes having a minimum inspection. That means a purchase from an inadequately informed position,” he said. “That can turn out to be an avoidable mistake. Maybe you do a boroscope, and you assume that’s good enough. That’s probably not good enough. It’s incomplete because an inspection facility can do a better review of the internal workings of all of the equipment, right down to coffee makers.”

Also, some buyers assume a newer model must not have issues. “Not so; there is an opportunity to miss a warranty repair or to cause a seller to repair items that are outside of warranty, even on newer airplanes,” Mayer said.

There may be issues that are unique to specific models, he noted. Quality brokers will know about them and should advise buyers so they are aware of them. “Making assumptions about a condition of an airplane that is well taken care of, even by a big company, is not a good idea because sometimes the owners just don’t find things,” he said.

Those types of pre-buy inspections, “a walk around plus review of books and records, are not uncommon still,” Mayer said. This pushes the risk of bigger problems onto the buyer. If they are emotionally attached to a certain airplane, “they’ll go ahead and buy it and take the risk.”

Despite the obstacles of the pre-buy, the preowned market has remained stable after the pandemic, with more inventory encouraging more sales. And the pre-buy is remaining a central part of that transaction.

“I think they’re vital,” Mesinger said. “They cause consternation, they cause headaches, they cause a lot of stress, but they’re absolutely critical when you’re purchasing a piece of equipment that’s this expensive and this complex.” z

Ambassador Program helping Corporate Angel Network spread its wings

BY AMY WILDER

When retired industry executive Bob Blouin received a call from Corporate Angel Network (CAN) president and CEO Robert “Bob” Stangarone asking if he’d be interested in serving in the new Ambassador Program for CAN, Blouin didn’t hesitate. The invitation was a chance to give back to an industry that had defined his life.

“Our paths had crossed many times over the years,” said Blouin, whose decades-long career has spanned senior roles at companies and organizations including NBAA, Bombardier/ Shorts, Hawker Beechcraft, Imperial Airlines, and Island Airlines, along with other organizations.

He and Stangarone had known each other since the 1980s, when the latter worked for Fairchild Dornier. Both had also worked in Wichita for a time—Stangarone at Cessna Aircraft, while Blouin was at the helm of the Hawker Beechcraft flight department. When Stangarone reached out about the new Ambassador Program last year, it felt like a natural progression.

The CAN Ambassador Program is a grassroots effort to expand the organization’s reach. Ambassadors are seasoned aviation professionals who leverage their extensive networks and industry knowledge to raise awareness about CAN’s mission of arranging flights aboard available seats on business jets for cancer patients to access care.

For Blouin, the decision was deeply personal and serendipitous. He and his wife Kathleen—also a former NBAA official— had spent years volunteering with Angel Flight, flying patients to hospitals like Children’s Hospital Philadelphia and Johns Hopkins. When they sold their Bonanza, they thought their days of service in medical transport were over. Then came Stangarone’s call.

“One door closes, and another door opens,” said Blouin. “It was like a month after we sold the airplane that Bob called and asked if we’d like to be Corporate Angel Network ambassadors.”

CAN’s new Ambassador Program is crucial in connecting more corporate

CAN provides cancer patients with free corporate jet travel to treatment centers as often as needed.

flight departments with patients who require transportation. Ambassadors like the Blouins visit flight departments, FBOs, and industry events to spread the word. And the work isn’t limited to formal interactions. The ambassador’s role is multifaceted. They’re part networkers, part storytellers, and part aviation evangelists. Blouin’s approach is hands-on and personal.

“We keep a packet of brochures and giveaways in our car,” Blouin says. “When we stop at a flight department or FBO, we always have something to leave behind.”

These personal connections help demystify the program and encourage participation. And that stems from the organization’s origins. Founded by Leonard Greene in the early 1980s, following his wife’s cancer diagnosis, and initially supported by cancer survivors like pilot Priscilla “Pat” Blum, who flew the organization’s first mission, CAN has always been about personal connection and compassion.

The program is deliberately flexible. Ambassadors might attend regional aviation events or spread the word through their networks. For Blouin, this means sharing CAN’s story at his monthly aviation lunch club, which includes retired pilots from various backgrounds.

One such conversation led directly to a potential patient. A fellow pilot mentioned a neighbor with metastatic breast cancer who needed transportation from Delaware to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston—precisely the type of mission CAN supports.

The ambassadors are still defining their role. Their first official meeting was a Zoom call, during which Stangarone and his staff provided guidance and answered questions for the scattered ambassadors. It’s a new program, less than a year old, but is already gaining momentum. More than a dozen industry executives, both retired and active, have signed up as ambassadors.

Social media plays a crucial role. Ambassadors are encouraged to share stories,

BOB BLOUIN RETIRED INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE

post about CAN, and use their networks to spread awareness.

“In this day and age of networking,” Blouin said, “the more we get the word out through social media, the better.” It’s about creating a ripple effect of awareness and support.

The Ambassador Program reflects a broader trend in aviation—using industry expertise for social good. For corporate flight departments, participation

offers more than just a charitable opportunity. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate corporate social responsibility and use aircraft more efficiently. “The majority of corporations use these airplanes as tools,” Blouin explained. “How can we use those tools to do something meaningful?”

For the Blouins, it’s more than a volunteer role. It’s a continuation of a lifetime spent in aviation, a way to give back to a broader community and an industry that has been their home for decades. “To give back through aviation,” he said, “is a wonderful thing to do when you’ve spent your whole career flying.”

As CAN’s Ambassador Program continues to grow, it represents an intersection of professional expertise, personal dedication, and compassionate service, proving that in aviation, there’s always room to lift others higher. z

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Legacy Tails

Citation: Cessna’s revolutionary jet

BY DAVID DONALD

Looking like a production aircraft, the second Citation displays the modifications applied during prototype flight trials. The aircraft is now on display at the Kansas Aviation Museum in Wichita.

Cessna’s Model 500 Citation was a groundbreaker in several senses. It was the first successful entry-level business jet and the first to provide for single-pilot operations. It also brought Cessna—the world’s leading airplane maker in terms of production numbers—into the world of civilian jet aircraft, and the name “Citation” would become synonymous with the company’s top-line offerings through to today’s Ascend, Latitude, and Longitude.

Cessna cut its teeth on jet-powered aircraft in the early 1950s. The company’s Model 318 was one of eight projects bid for a U.S. Air Force competition for a basic jet trainer. Powered by a pair of ContinentalTeledyne J69 engines—a license-built version of the French Turbomeca Marboré turbojet that powered the MS.760 Paris light private jet/trainer—the Model 318 was successful and became the T-37 Tweet, of which more than 1,200 had been built by the time production ended in 1975. It also

spawned a light attack version, the A-37 Dragonfly, which accounted for another 577 airframes.

In the mid-1950s, Beechcraft—Cessna’s great rival and today’s stablemate within Textron Aviation—had secured a deal with Morane-Saulnier to market the four-place Paris as the first business jet in North America. In response, Cessna schemed a civilian light jet variant of the T-37, which was known internally as the Model 407. It had a fuselage stretched by two feet to accommodate four seats in a pressurized cabin.

Customer interest was poor, and only a wooden mock-up of the Model 407 was completed before the project was terminated. The private/business aviation market was not ready for the concept of a light business jet, and to validate Cessna’s decision, Beechcraft only sold two of the Paris jet and ceased marketing the type in 1961.

For much of the 1960s, the business jet market was dominated by larger aircraft such

as the Lockheed JetStar and North American Sabreliner, which were joined by the Dassault Falcon 20 and Grumman Gulfstream II. These high-end products lay outside the traditional markets of either Beechcraft or Cessna, which were both masters of cheaper, smaller aircraft that were aimed more at the general aviation market rather than the very rich, governments, and large corporations.

In 1964, the private/small company marketplace was revolutionized by the arrival of the remarkable Lear Jet 23, and to a lesser extent the Jet Commander 1121. They were far more affordable to acquire and operate than larger jets and appealed directly to a wide range of customers.

Beechcraft responded by securing a deal to market the HS.125 and also launched the turboprop-powered King Air. Cessna had no immediate answer to the King Air, and it was not until the mid-1970s that it adopted turboprop propulsion with the Model 441. Instead, it identified a clear gap in the

market between the King Air and the Lear Jet, a gap that could be filled by a jet that was faster than the turboprop aircraft, yet cheaper to buy and operate, more versatile, and easier to fly than Lear’s “rocket ship.”

FANJET 500

In October 1968, Cessna launched its new program, then known as the Fanjet 500. The financial gamble was considerable: various estimates put the cost of the project at between 35% and 50% of Cessna’s net worth. However, with production of piston-engine aircraft drastically dwindling in the early 1970s, the decision to proceed could be said to have kept the company afloat.

It was an eight-seat aircraft with a cabin and two-place cockpit mounted ahead of the main spar, although it was usually operated with five seats in the cabin. The fuselage design with a flattened oval nose section drew on that of Cessna’s large twin-piston aircraft. A straight wing was adopted to provide ease of flying and to keep approach speeds low, albeit at the penalty of a modest cruise speed of 411 mph compared to the Lear Jet’s 518 mph, a fact that drew sneering comments and derogatory nicknames from its competitors.

With high speed not the principal design driver, Cessna could reduce cost and complexity through features such as leaving the mainwheel doors uncovered after retraction. Moreover, the low approach speed and frugal runway requirements permitted the Model 500 to use many more airfields than its rivals, and it could also operate from semi-prepared strips.

As its name suggested, the most innovative of the Fanjet 500’s new features was its fuel-efficient turbofan powerplant, which was considerably more efficient than the thirsty turbojets of the Lear Jet. The aircraft was the first application for the Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D, which went on to power several aircraft types, including the Mitsubishi Diamond/Beechjet and Aérospatiale Corvette business jets.

Having first flown in a pod carried by an Avro Canada CF-100 fighter, the JT15D-1 for the Fanjet 500 had a bypass ratio of 3.3 and developed 2,200 pounds of thrust at maximum takeoff power. It had a centrifugal compressor. The initial version employed an outsize fan from the JT9D engine, but later versions such as the JT15D-4 for the Cessna 550 Citation II had a smaller fan and an axial booster component, with a corresponding reduction in bypass ratio to 2.6.

As development continued, the Fanjet 500 received the new name of Citation, after the Triple Crown-winning champion racehorse. The name has stuck throughout the development of Cessna’s jet aircraft family, along with the associated horseshoe logo.

Milt Sills and J.L. LeSueur took the prototype Citation 500—appropriately registered N500CC—aloft for its first flight in Wichita, Kansas, on Sept. 15, 1969. Flight trials uncovered several issues, and development was relatively protracted. Changes made to the design included a lengthening of the forward fuselage and relocation of the engine nacelles. The tailfin was enlarged and more dihedral was added to the tailplanes. Certification was finally granted after two years of flight tests on Sept. 9, 1971.

CITATION INTO SERVICE

With a unit cost of just $695,000, the Citation 500 was an attractive proposition for many customers with limited budgets. Sales

were brisk and included high-profile buyers such as golfer Jack Nicklaus, who replaced his JetStar with a Citation in 1976. Initial operators found the Citation not only cheap to operate but pleasant to fly with no surprises. Cessna’s original intentions to make the type no more challenging to handle than its Model 421 piston-twin were achieved.

While Citation sales flooded in, Cessna continued to develop the type. In 1972, a bleed air system to deice the windshield replaced the original electrical system. The first major development was the addition of thrust-reversers as an option in 1974. That year, a new pressurization controller was introduced that permitted operations at up to FL410 instead of the previous authorized limit of FL350. From late 1975, Collins Pro Line avionics replaced the original RCA system, and in the following year, gross weight was increased by 1,000 pounds to 10,850. At around the same time, longer-span wings were introduced.

These new features were incorporated into the first new variant, the Cessna 500 Citation I, which was introduced in late 1976. It also had improved JT15D-1A engines, offering better performance, while cabin pressure at altitude was increased for greater cabin comfort. A sizeable number of original Citations were re-engined with the JT15D-1A.

Another important development became available in early 1977 in the form of the

Wearing “Fanjet 500” titles, the mock-up is displayed next to the Model 500’s fuel-e cient JT15D-1 turbofan engine.

Legacy Tails

Model 501 Citation 1/SP, which was certified for single-pilot operation. This further cemented the Citation’s position as the entry-level jet of choice and became particularly popular amongst the growing community of owner-operators.

Cessna had always envisioned the Citation as a single-pilot aircraft, and had designed the original cockpit with most of the system switches on the left-hand side. With an mtow of 11,850 pounds, it was under the 12,500-pound limit for Normal category certification. However, the desire to provide Cat II approach capability with only one flight director/ autopilot was deemed by the FAA to impose too great a workload on a single pilot, and the Model 500 was certified in the transport category. Substituting the original Bendix FGS-70 with a Sperry SPZ500 flight guidance system satisfied the FAA that the Citation could be certified in the Normal category for single-pilot Cat II operations, and with this system, the Model 501 was born.

Production of the 500 and 501 models came to an end in 1985, with 689 built, and by that time Cessna was committed to follow-on models. The most important of these was the Model 550/551 Citation II, a stretched eight/10-place variant with JT15D-4 engines.

This first flew in January 1977, and by the time production ended in 2006, more than 1,000 had been built, including the Citation S/II and Citation Bravo models. Both of these had supercritical airfoil wings, while the Bravo introduced PW530A engines. Further development resulted in the Model 560 Citation V/Ultra/Encore family, stretched from the Citation II.

Another Citation I-derived family emerged in the mid-1970s in the form of the Citation III. This was originally a long-range development with three JT15D-1 engines but emerged as the Model 650—a larger, T-tailed, swept-wing aircraft powered by a pair of Honeywell TFE731 engines and with a standing- room cabin. Its Citation VII development became

Cessna’s flagship business jet before it was usurped by the larger Citation X and subsequent Citation-branded models.

Despite carrying the same name, such aircraft can fly much faster, reach a lot farther, and carry far more than the original Citations. Today’s true inheritors of the pioneer’s entry-level DNA are the variants of the six- to 10-seat Model 525 CitationJet family. This was based on the forward fuselage of the Citation II, with straight wings, Williams FJ44 engines, and a T-tail. More than 2,000 have been delivered since the type’s first flight in 1991. The basic Model 525 also provided the basis for a tandem two-seat military jet trainer—the Model 526 CitationJet—which was unsuccessfully bid to replace the long-serving Cessna T-37.

LONG-LIVED CITATION

Despite the arrival of newer models, the original Citation continues to be an operational success and a regular sight around the world. Sierra Industries developed a Longwing modification package for early Citations that became popular. It added wingtip extensions that had beneficial effects on range, climb rate, cruise altitude, landing speed, and fuel economy, and added new deicing boots. More than 120 aircraft received the upgrade. Sierra later introduced the Stallion and Eagle II upgrades, which replaced the JT15D engines with better-performing and more efficient Williams FJ44s.

In recent years, the Model 500/501 has remained a popular aircraft, thanks to its ease and cost of operation and its low purchase price. It still plays its part in the used aircraft market, particularly the modernized aircraft.

In 2015, a Textron Aviation technical report noted that fleet size numbered 586 aircraft and that they had logged more than five million flight hours. The fleet leader at the time had amassed 25,547 hours: the Model 500/501 has no specified airframe life limitations. z

Although the first Model 500s required two pilots, especially during Cat II approaches, the cockpit was designed from the outset with single-pilot operation in mind.

INTRODUCING CALS EUROPE

SEPTEMBER

15 - 17, 2025

| BASEL, SWITZERLAND

“The AIN CALS event has been a refreshing experience for leaders within the corporate aviation community and the vendors that support their businesses. 100% engagement for 2.5 days. Truly a working event that leaves us all a bit tired but very enthused!”

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2024

CALS FLIGHT DEPARTMENT ATTENDEE

“The AIN CALS event provides excellent opportunities for high level interaction between vendors and clients. The one-on-one time and small group sessions are very valuable settings.”

– 2024 CALS SPONSOR

Managing the supply chain through turbulence

BY AIN STAFF

As the market evolved post-Covid, operations came roaring back and, along with it, demand on global aerospace suppliers. Demand alone presented challenges, but other issues have placed pressures on the supply chain, from regional conflicts and workforce shortages to one-off disruptive events such as a factory fire at SPS Technologies in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. AIN brought together thought leaders in the supply chain and broader market to share insights on how the industry is tackling these challenges. Here are highlights from those discussions. FDH Aero sponsored this roundtable

AIN ROUNDTABLE

IAN WALSH CEO OF FDH AERO

THE PARTICIPANTS :

Walsh joined FDH Aero this year with 35 years of leadership experience, including as chairman of Kaman Aerospace and COO of REV Group, along with senior roles with Textron. With a more than 60-year history, FDH Aero is one of the largest independent aerospace distributors, supplying hardware, electrical, and other products and services across the military and civil aerospace markets with 14 locations globally and 1,500 employees.

ALEX TRAPP SENIOR V - P OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR STANDARDAERO

Trapp, who joined StandardAero in 2016 after serving as v-p commercial at Rolls-Royce North America, leads enterprisewide strategy development and activity around new engine platforms, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions. StandardAero o ers engine and component services for business aviation, commercial aviation, military, fixed-wing, helicopter, and industrial power customers. The company operates 49 primary facilities worldwide with 7,500 employees.

MIKE STENGEL PARTNER AT AERODYNAMIC ADVISORY

Stengel joined AeroDynamic in 2017 after serving with ICF International’s aerospace practice. At AeroDynamic, he oversees the firm’s aftermarket-related intellectual property and has led or contributed to more than 100 consulting engagements surrounding business strategy, market analysis, and transaction advisory for clients across the aerospace industry. AeroDynamic provides expert aerospace consulting services in areas of strategy, growth, and transaction support for OEMs and aftermarket organizations.

JAMES ALLEN — CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER OF GKN AEROSPACE’S CIVIL BUSINESS

Allen joined GKN Aerospace’s Civil Business in September 2023 with a background in asset management and procurement with companies including Arriva Group, where he served as chief procurement o cer, and Babcock International. GKN Aerospace is a global tier 1 supplier of airframe and engine structures, landing gear, electrical interconnection systems, transparencies, and aftermarket services for commercial and military aircraft.

IAN WALSH

ALEX TRAPP

MIKE STENGEL

JAMES ALLEN

THE DISCUSSION

ON THE STATE OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN AND HOW IT HAS EVOLVED

IAN WALSH It is a very complex, evolving problem. In business, we love stability, but the reality is there’s constant variation. Everybody witnessed Covid as a unique situation that created a very dramatic shift in the availability of materials and parts.

Before Covid, the [OEM] environment was, “Let’s put the thumbs on everybody so we can get costs down.” People were trying desperately to become much more affordable manufacturers, and they found that it actually had the opposite effect. It compromised quality; it compromised a lot of things. Then Covid hit, which created another shift, and that was about availability.

After Covid, the premium now is not around cost. It’s not around availability. It’s actually full circle. It’s around quality. Are you a reliable quality supplier? People will pay a premium for that versus before, when it was a constant battle to find a low-cost solution.

FDH is striving to demonstrate that we are the most reliable, capable, and quality supplier out there.

ALEX TRAPP The supply chain in the aerospace business pre-Covid and postCovid has always been challenging. It’s always one part, one group of parts, one supplier, or one OEM or another that is having a particular challenge, and that varies. We’re pretty used to that, especially in MRO.

Some things have changed since Covid, with the uptick in supply and demand and the geopolitical impacts on the general supply chain. But things have evolved where you look to diversify your supply base and digitize your supply chain. And so, some positive things have accelerated.

MIKE STENGEL I think the most obvious impact that we’re seeing from all these kinks and bottlenecks is that the fleet has

gotten older quickly over the last five to six years. It started with the [Boeing] Max grounding, and then it was accelerated by the downshift in aircraft production and deliveries during Covid. In 2022, the airlines were expecting to get their Maxes and [Airbus] Neos that they deferred back pretty quickly. Then, that didn’t happen. It’s been a slow ramp-up. There have been some other issues, like the Boeing strike. Now that’s behind them.

But we don’t expect aircraft production to get back to pre-Covid levels until about 2028. Meanwhile, air travel demand is back above 2019 levels. So, you have this gap in air travel demand versus supply of aircraft.

We’re not out of the woods yet. There’s still a lot more downside risk that things continue to slip to the right. There are still a lot of kinks in the supply chain. I call it a game of Whac-a-Mole: as soon as one issue is solved, another unexpected issue arises. Like back in February, there was the fire at a key fastener facility in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. So, it’s going to be a bumpy ride back up for sure.

JAMES ALLEN I think in recent months we are seeing some stabilization. Before Covid, we had growth in volumes of aircraft produced and in defense programs. That ramp-up was incremental. OEMs were at record volumes pre-Covid, went to almost zero [during Covid], and then recovered back at a pace that was multiples faster than they’d ever ramped up in the first instance. The speed of the ramp-up post-Covid put incredible stress on the supply chain.

During Covid, the supply chain had challenges in terms of deferred investment and people leaving the workforce. So, we’ve had a perfect storm in terms of an unprecedented speed of ramp-up with a supply chain that had been weakened by what had happened during Covid.

At GKN Aerospace, that situation is stabilizing now. We expect further increases to come, but it’s slowed certainly from 2024

to 2025, and that allows the supply chain time to stabilize and to recover.

We have particular challenges in specific niches, and that might be of a product type a particular geography, or transportation links. Those aren’t systemic issues, but they’re things we’ll have to manage.

ON MANAGING THROUGH SUPPLY CHAIN UNCERTAINTIES

IAN WALSH Something that we’re looking at, which is not out of the ordinary, is trying to become closer with our suppliers. The other part of it is to get closer to our customers and understand their needs and how predictive they can be in their schedules.

Even though a Boeing or an Airbus or whoever will tell you a schedule, many times those move around. And, certainly in the aftermarket side, it’s very unpredictable. When maintenance needs come up, [some parts can be] hard to source.

The types of parts that we do are small consumable things—hundreds of thousands of different types of parts, and no single bolt or collar is the same. You can’t be everything to everybody. You’ve got to focus on certain families of parts, things that we feel are the right parts in terms of how we like to source and distribute. So, we’re trying to understand the global supply base.

It’s not overly complex. You can’t wait for the phone to ring. You’ve got to be tight with your supply base and your customer base.

JAMES ALLEN We invest a lot of time, resources, people, and technology into how we manage our supply chain. You’ll always have to manage those challenges. Looking forward, I think the production rates will start to increase again in the period to the end of this decade. That will undoubtedly unveil some new challenges that we’ve got to solve to get there.

The fire in Pennsylvania impacted a large part of the supply chain; it was

significant. So, we spent a lot of time understanding what the impact would be and how good the mitigations we had in place were.

Structurally, in our supply chain, we carry an appropriate level of inventory— not necessarily us carrying it, [but] people in the supply chain carrying that on our behalf. That protected us from the immediate impacts of the fire. That gave us the time to solve the problem in terms of understanding the challenges of the availability of specific parts, and if we need to find alternative sources.

We work to have the right amount of stock or inventory at the right level, and whether we hold that or whether it’s held within the supply chain, that provides a degree of buffer effectively against shocks.

But I think, across the supply chain, we’ve got to make sure that we use working capital effectively. There’s a degree of capital you need tied up in inventory. We want to optimize that so that the capital is available to invest. If everyone’s got capital to invest in technology or productivity improvements, that’s more productive than having it tied up in an inventory.

ALEX TRAPP The majority of our new parts as an engine MRO come straight from the manufacturer. So we’re very OEMaligned. We have been for decades, which gets us a seat at the table for getting priority allocation of parts. That can be important just because of the demand set.

It’s not just about the aftermarket. It’s about parts going to new manufactured engines and parts going to spare engines. The OEMs are trying to please numerous constituencies in the marketplace.

That leads you down to the castings and forging supply base. That’s under pressure. It always has been, but particularly since Covid. The OEMs are beholden to the success or failure of that supply. That sort of worries me only because we can’t really control that. We don’t manage those suppliers. It’s the sub-suppliers of the OEMs

that are problematic from time to time. What we do to manage through the supply chain—maybe not differently, but in greater doses—is the use of repairs. Instead of buying new parts from suppliers, we look to repair parts and make them serviceable again. We’ve done that by building up our capability both through organic and inorganic investment.

We also seek to use serviceable material as much as possible to supplement any supply-chain disruptions that we see for particular parts. There’s typically good economics associated with that for both StandardAero and customers. We’ve got some key strategic workarounds that we’ve used in the past and that we’ve also invested in over the last several years.

MIKE STENGEL [Companies are] adjusting as best they can, but it is still challenging. For example, Russia was a major source of titanium. In 2014, when Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula, Boeing had moved away from Russia as a source of titanium and stockpiled a lot. But other OEMs hadn’t. There’s still a lot of reliance on that source for material. Now, there are concerns about rare earth minerals because of trade wars with China, and castings and forgings are still an issue. Unless there’s more forging capacity added, that could be a barrier to significantly raising aircraft production rates.

With the ongoing geopolitical tensions and uncertainty, you would imagine that if certain capacities come offline or can’t be used anymore, then others would invest in new capacity. That hasn’t been the case. Those incumbents have instead chosen to leverage their position. They would contend that there’s a chance that relations with Russia thaw, and then that capacity comes back online and their investment is undermined. It’s this game of chicken that you’re playing. It’s very hard to make a long-term investment decision like that.

ON TARIFFS

IAN WALSH There is no single-point solution right at the moment. We are really baselining exactly what we know. We know who our customers are, where we’re sourcing parts, and where we’re delivering parts. That’s the first piece. The second is monitoring what the changes are, because as soon as we understand something, it could shift. And then, the third is being able to track exactly what the tariff is and how to handle it.

Most people think a tariff comes in when you buy something or sell something. But if you’re sourcing something from another country, it’s not that easy. Your payment is through the deliverer, meaning FedEx, for example. They’re the ones charging the duty. So, that’s a delay—you’re charging it in the bill of lading after the fact.

Supply chain constraints have helped accelerate use of digital tools to manage inventory.

We’re sourcing hundreds of thousands of parts. How do you associate a tariff when you open up a box, and you’ve got thousands of parts? Because they’re going to different places and doing different things, that adds a level of complexity. Once we understand the footprint, what’s happening? Are we in compliance? Can we really map it out properly? What can we do to manage it better?

We’re looking at different countries where there are different trade agreements in place today and trying to take advantage of those. People are going to start brokering new deals with different countries. We have to stay on top of that.

The last piece is that aerospace and defense is a critical industry. I don’t care what country you’re in. People are now realizing that you’re going to have to make some exceptions when it comes to tari ff s and duties, and we’re seeing some of that. That could be a relief. But right now, it’s ongoing and taking a lot of time.

It’s not just the cost. It’s a huge distraction for management. We have to take a lot of our people and spend time trying to figure out, track, and distill all of this information and make sure we’re compliant versus doing what we’re supposed to be doing every day.

JAMES ALLEN We don’t see tariffs as a positive thing. We see it as something that adds complexity and adds administration to how the supply chain works. The rate of change in that situation has slowed in recent weeks from a point when things were changing daily. However, if we end up with a situation where you’ve got going into the U.S., broadly 10% tariffs, that’s not a positive outcome.

We’re assessing the challenges, and we’re working out ways to mitigate them. But at the moment, it’s adding an administrative burden.

The longer-term impacts will depend on where we end up. We’ve considered whether we need to change locations for

certain things. That’s not a short-term activity; that’s many months of activity. Those are things we are studying but haven’t made any decisions on. If we have to do that, that obviously introduces new complexity and risk.

We’re in discussions with our customers and suppliers about how tari ff s work, the responsibility for them, but then ultimately, how you mitigate them. Some of that mitigation is where parts move into. If parts are moving into the U.S. and then back out again, there are mechanisms to reimburse those tariffs. In some cases, where parts will remain in the U.S. and we don’t see a way to mitigate it, then that’s when we get into a discussion about whether it makes sense to change locations of certain parts.

There’ve been trade agreements in place. The industry has successfully grown and thrived in that environment—where you’ve got truly global business. And that’s across civil and defense. This is why we see tariffs as a negative move, generally.

ALEX TRAPP This isn’t entirely new, but it’s certainly more significant and extremely disruptive across the entire value stream—and especially management. It isn’t causing [our] customers to behave any differently. I think it’s more of a practice to communicate transparently with customers and make sure they know what we know. Then, we can address whatever

issues come from it proactively and make sure it runs smoothly.

When this first came about a few months ago, we engaged outside counsel who are experts in tariffs and trade, and started to get strategies and create scenarios about how this could look and what impact it could have. We’ve taken all that and created internal tiger teams at each of our sites to address how this will work. It’s more complex now, and we want to make sure we get it right. We’re trying to be as diligent, astute, and organized as we possibly can be.

Some of our mitigation strategy is to move where we have multiple facilities in different locations—to sort of direct work to where the tariff exposure would be minimized.

MIKE STENGEL It’s still early days, so I don’t think any drastic or permanent actions have been taken yet. But this is a highly regulated industry that doesn’t adapt very quickly to things. It’s having to contend with a very dynamic policy environment where that quick adaptation is necessary, but it’s just not in this industry’s DNA and roots.

There’s still uncertainty over how long or if any of these will last. There’s a little bit of brinkmanship going on, but it creates more complexity for sure. At the end of the day, people are looking for consistency and permanence so that they can at least plan around it.

Tari s are spurring companies to consider location of parts, but that introduces risk.

ON BEST PRACTICES/QUALITY

JAMES ALLEN We invest a lot internally in our business in terms of quality. Two of our key KPIs [key performance indicators] that we measure are escapes into our customers and the cost of poor quality. We’re continually driving those down.

We adopt the same approach in the supply chain and the same methodology. I think quality’s one of the areas where you can collaborate most easily with your suppliers because everyone has a common interest—what we describe as a zerodefect mindset and way of operation. We partner with our suppliers in terms of trying to achieve that, working collaboratively.

We host our customers within our supply chain. That might be to drive a specific improvement program on quality or delivery performance. We’ll actively participate with our suppliers. We’ll be onsite within our suppliers and maybe even into their supply chains, and our customers do the same thing to us.

The fact that we’ve got a global footprint and supply base means we’ve often got people close to those suppliers, close to some of the issues. If we need to put people onsite to either solve specific issues or just generally build a strong relationship, we make sure we do that. We’ve got that advantage, given our global footprint, to be able to do that and manage a global supply base.

If you’re driving an improvement program, we have the methodologies we use around problem solving, productivity improvement, and quality improvement. We will deploy those into our supply chain and support our suppliers. I think that’s where we have the most impact in terms of improving the performance of our suppliers.

IAN WALSH I spent the last 90 days visiting pretty much all of our sites around the world, trying to understand where are the constraints, where are the best practices, things like that.

The first thing is there’s a level of sophistication that I think needs to be achieved. I know AI is kind of the buzzword today, but, to me, it’s just more of a level of sophistication around what I call predictive analytics—looking at the history of who we serve, how we serve them, and what are the financials associated with that.

For example, we could buy millions of dollars of parts every year, and our job is to distribute those across the globe, but there’s a proportion that doesn’t necessarily get distributed. It sits for sometimes years. We call this excess and obsolete, capital that we deploy that we’re not necessarily using. You can’t base the business model on hoping that somebody’s going to call you someday five or seven years from now.

So, what we’re trying to do in best practices is to really understand this better because we are large; we’re over a billion dollars. That critical mass allows us to have a lot of data that we can digest and understand to become more efficient.

Best practices are not just making sure you’ve got strong relationships with your suppliers and your customers, but it’s also [looking at] your own house—making sure we’re the most efficient at managing. Being a distributor is a very different and necessary element of the value chain for many reasons. We’re trying to source and distribute, while getting really efficient at understanding every single part we have and where it is.

The other thing is touching all of our customers around the globe. Is it better to send a part from this country to that country or to have something in the country to be closer to those customers? Those are the kinds of things that we’re looking at.

[On quality], we’re concentrating our efforts on our in-house system—and this is another value-added activity. Imagine thousands and thousands of parts, small things typically. A customer doesn’t have the manpower to inspect or check all of those parts, right? We can provide that value- added activity. We’re trying to

increase the level of quality, inspection, and conformance. When we deliver a part, we’re delivering the paperwork to let them know that that part has been checked by us. That helps the customers out dramatically.

ALEX TRAPP I think of the word “scale.” We create what we call centers of excellence around specific engine platforms. We execute our operations at scale in centers of excellence, and then we touch customers locally or regionally through the use of service centers and field service teams. And then, a global sales force that leads the front end when we’re approaching customers. So that’s kind of our best practices.

MIKE STENGEL If you’re at an OEM and you’re trying to mitigate risk, some of the tools that you have are to spread the work out more—more dual and triple sourcing for your critical and pain-in-the-butt items. That does create a little bit more burden on you as the OEM, because it’s a wider spider web to oversee. It’s more sites for you to visit and audit and everything, but it’s a necessary evil in an environment like today. That helps ensure a steady and reliable supply, but comes with its challenges.

ON SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION

MIKE STENGEL Pre-Covid, I’d say a lot of the consolidation was taking place at more of the tier 1 levels. Those were the super deals, like with UTC-Collins. That space has slowed down more.

The tier 3 segment of the supply chain— think of all your machine shops out there and the build-to-print shops—is heavily, heavily fragmented. In many cases, those are the suppliers struggling the most with working capital issues. So they could benefit from an injection of investment.

IAN WALSH There’s definitely been movement, whether it’s private equity or strategics in the smallmidcap environment.

I would argue that part of it is a couple of things. Number one is, aerospace defense is on the upswing. Outside of tariffs and global wars, the commercial aerospace defense market is clearly on the upswing. People love to take advantage of that.

With small midcap firms, you could be a $100 million, $200 million, or $500 million public company 10 years ago. Today, it’s hard to survive when you’re small because people have capital they can deploy to take advantage of consolidating. If somebody sees a huge opportunity or efficiency to gain leverage synergies, they’re going to exploit that.

The OEM space, I think, is now reverting—the pendulum swinging—as you can tell with Boeing and others, to get back to their roots. Everybody knows what’s going on there. That creates opportunities for other folks to decide how they want to establish a strategy on certain platforms.

Mike’s right. There are a lot of machine shops out there, but if you’re a build-toprint shop and you’re capital intensive, you don’t have the margins, you don’t have the pricing power, to me, you are not going to see consolidation. Those are just people trying to do the best they can.

You’re going to see consolidation around where the pricing power is and where the margin is in the cash flow generation.

ALEX TRAPP I lead M&A, so I’m happy to see consolidation. We’ve been part of that equation. We’ve bought 11 companies over the last eight-ish years that I’ve been around. And so, we’ve seen a lot of that.

I agree with what Mike and Ian are saying about the drivers behind it—mostly just the extreme supply and demand, both in new production and MRO and aftermarket activities.

Another reason for consolidation that we see is the big OEMs they are now demanding more transparency through digital tracking and other systems capabilities, more maturity around cybersecurity. And

a lot of these smaller companies just don’t have that. And so when a bigger company like StandardAero buys them, we fold them into our systems that way.

JAMES ALLEN We don’t have any specific plans around vertical integration or consolidation. Our main focus is improving the performance within our business in terms of productivity and operational excellence. Our position in the supply chain in terms of what we do as a tier 1 design and build partner is where we want to be.

But there’s certainly a degree of consolidation happening. Clearly, some important changes are going on with Spirit AeroSystems and the Boeing and Airbus takeovers.

ON USE OF TECHNOLOGY

IAN WALSH Technology-wise, the first internally for us is warehouse automation. We still have businesses where we handpick parts, and it’s very manual. There’s a level of sophistication in automation that’s necessary. Some of our warehouses are extremely efficient and use automation and robotics, and other things to pick parts and make sure we know where they are. That is important.

Think of a warehouse as a machine. In the manufacturing world, the output of a machine, the quality of that output, how

much—that’s what it’s all about. That’s efficiency, and that’s gains. You have to think of it that way. How fast can we source things, bring them in, inspect them, get them placed, effectively packaged, and out? Turning that inventory is a huge part of what we’re getting more efficient at, and using automation to do it.

ALEX TRAPP I start with the use of a CRM system, which is nothing new, but they have evolved quite a bit. And we’re using ours more broadly to include or to connect to what we call the SIOP process, which is sales, inventory, and operations planning. And then, of course, there are multiple initiatives around parts visibility and kitting optimization—making sure we’ve got kitting done right. And then parts tracking, repair capacity, and scheduling.

JAMES ALLEN We continue to invest in what we see as the core technologies that will help us grow in the future. And that includes additive manufacturing, electrification, lightweighting—those are things that we see as important for the next generation of aircraft, but they’re also helping us today.

Additive manufacturing is a key technology that our engines division uses and is certified. That’s a new technology that gives advantages in terms of sustainability,

Many companies use their expertise to help drive quality throughout their supply chain.

but also helps us alleviate some issues within the supply chain. In some cases, it is new technology that will help release constraints in the supply chain.

In terms of digitization, I think the advantage that can give us is more insight into the sub-tiers of your supply chain. Typically, most organizations will understand their tier 1 well and their tier 2 to some degree, but as you get further into the supply chain, that level of transparency is more difficult.

The information’s out there, and I think digital tools and AI can help understand the supply chain down to lower tiers. Then you can see if you’ve got concentrations of risk that you need to mitigate. AI can help in terms of efficiency for sure, but I also think it can help in terms of the effectiveness of understanding your supply chain.

MIKE STENGEL I want to piggyback on the inevitability of more automation. AI is still in its infancy, but has a lot of potential. There are more concrete use cases emerging, so it’s not fuzzy anymore. There are actual benefits we’re starting to see.

One of the first applications could be helping people go down a learning curve. Over the last few years, everyone has talked about how there was a bit of a brain drain in the industry.

People took early retirement or left the industry. When you have people with 30 or 40 years of experience leaving that had these relationships with suppliers and knew how the whole system worked, then you have someone come in with five or 10 years’ experience, or maybe even fresh out of school, then that creates a pretty massive learning curve. And yet you still have a system that you need to keep running smoothly. So, we’re hearing about more applications of AI in those sorts of settings.

The other emerging application is when you need to make unstructured data structured and apply it to your operations so that you can make decisions faster or make

more informed decisions. We’re still seeing that play out, and we’re still in early days.

ON WORKFORCE

ALEX TRAPP We’ve invested quite a bit—especially since Covid has accelerated this—in our front-end brand to potential employees and invested in systems to track down employees. And also really invested in our focus on retention. The most productive and least expensive employee is one who already has a badge on. Retention is a huge deal for us.

JAMES ALLEN During Covid, people left the workforce, and not all of them have returned. And in some cases, those were key skills and key experienced employees. I think that is easing now. However, for critical skills and capabilities, it’s a real battle for talent.

We’ll hire hundreds of engineers into our business each year. We see our ability to do that as a competitive advantage. If we can get the most talented engineers into our business, that will help us. It’s a challenge we work hard on to get and retain the right people.

MIKE STENGEL The challenges are ongoing. When you ask high schoolers or college students where they might want to work, while the idea of flying objects or space

vehicles is very appealing, the environment they think they have to work in is not always the best image in their mind.

I think, if the industry can convince this younger demographic that these are not the factories your father, grandfather, or grandparents worked in, then that can go a long way.

More suppliers are having to go back earlier in the talent chain to do that. So they’re working more closely in their communities with community colleges and high schools, even down to middle schools, to try to stick that idea in their minds and create that image. It at least gives them the prospect of all the exciting opportunities that [the industry] could offer.

IAN WALSH The workforce is the aerospace and defense industry’s priority number one. It’s not just us, a distributor, looking at our own talent; it’s across the entire value chain. A generation is effectively retiring and leaving. The next generation has to think about what is manual work versus what’s automated work. What’s good paying work, right? There’s a global competition for talent. It’s talked about in association meetings all the time, how we’re recruiting, training, making it interesting, making it more rewarding, making it better-paying. We have to make sure that we’re staying at the forefront of making these jobs and these companies the best places to work. z

The industry has seen turnover, creating a learning curve with the new generation.

Safety

ACSF symposium challenges all to dig deeper on safety

BY KERRY LYNCH

ACSF Safety Symposium

The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) returned to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Daytona Beach, Florida, for its annual Safety Symposium, opening the 2025 event in April with a focus on the human element in safety against a backdrop of a series of fatal accidents that had recently occurred.

Kicking off on a Monday with a career panel and wrapping on Thursday with a series of workshops, the event has continued to grow with 150 attendees in person and more than 50 tuning in virtually for the first time through streaming sessions.

Kent Stauffer, ACSF chair and v-p of safety for Flexjet, noted many of the sessions planned throughout the event surround the human element. He asked a blanket question of how attendees, mostly safety professionals, felt now about aviation, which elicited responses of concern, nervousness, and media attention. He said that follows with the question of, “What are you going to do about it?”

While technology has advanced and aided safety, it comes down to what is “uniquely human,” he said. Stauffer noted that people reference human factors in safety but asked what that means and suggested that people need to dig deeper and think differently about decision-making. Technology focuses only on logic, but humans bring emotions.

Pilots are taught that they can’t bring their emotions to the job, but Stauffer contended that people should prioritize both logic and emotion.

Convergent Performance CEO Tony Kern, a perennial favorite at Bombardier’s

Safety Standdown and in recent years at ACSF’s Safety Symposium, followed that sentiment during his keynote, saying it is not possible to operate without emotions, but it is key to learn how to control them and use all of your resources.

He noted that in aviation, people are taught how to do things right, but they are not taught as much about the wrongs— and there are many of those.

The industry has settled on its knowledge that “we’re the safest industry ever— more likely to be struck by lightning in a terrorist camp [than to be in an accident]… but sometimes that happens.” Now the question is how people get ready for when things go wrong.

Kern then hosted a special panel with ACSF president and CEO Bryan Burns and

his son Ryan Burns to discuss the parallels with sports. Ryan Burns, who had started as quarterback at Stanford University, detailed the preparation and perseverance necessary to get to that point, but also what happens when you allow your emotions and mental state cloud your focus. He enjoyed successes initially followed by losses, and was forced to face that.

Ryan Burns noted that he felt relief when the starting job was handed to another. But he later learned to face how he lost focus and shared his lessons with the team .

Kern pointed out many of those lessons also thread through aviation: readiness, teamwork, adversity, and persistence. But also the ability to address what is within and the mental health part of it. z

ACSF president/CEO Bryan Burns (left), his son Ryan, and Convergent Performance’s Tony Kern.

NTSB’s Graham urges aircraft operators to remain vigilant

BY KERRY LYNCH

ACSF Safety Symposium

Recent events should be “a call to action” for aircraft operators to review their organizations to ensure that deviations from policy or unsafe acts are brought into compliance, NTSB board member Michael Graham told attendees at the 2025 Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) Safety Symposium. “It’s clear that while significant progress has been made, there’s always room for improvement,” he said.

Graham noted that companies should focus on building resilient operations—and that requires learning from the smallest of errors. “Major accidents can shake public trust in aviation, but minor incidents can, too. Each member of the aviation community—from operators to regulators to air traffic control, and everyone in between—plays a crucial role in maintaining public trust.”

He challenged attendees never to rest on the aviation safety record of the past but strive to be safer and more resilient each day. “Through collective effort and a commitment to continuous improvement, we can uphold the highest standards of safety and resilience.”

The last time he spoke at ACSF, Graham said, “I had to address the elephant in the room. We had just had a year’s worth of Category A runway incursions in two months. After that...two aircraft hit each other and, amazingly, nobody got hurt.”

But since then, a major Part 121 accident has occurred with more fatalities than have been seen since the mid-2000s. “And we had a major foreign, medical carrier with six lives lost in Philadelphia and 10 lives lost up in Alaska on a Part 135 accident,” he noted. So Graham said he needed to reiterate the same message from two years ago: “It’s time

to get back to the basics here, folks. There’s a lot going on out there. You all know about it, but what are you doing about it?”

The aviation system supports nearly three million passengers and 45,000 flights every day, and every passenger deserves the highest level of safety and resilience, he said. “It’s our collective responsibility to deliver that. When a passenger boards one of your flights, that passenger is relinquishing their safety to you, your operation, and the entire aviation system.

“Each of us in this room who celebrate the safety record of aviation today should remember all the tough lessons that those before us had to learn.

“We stand on the shoulders of those in safety who came before us and have a responsibility to not forget what they did to get us where we are today and carry the burden of maintaining that public trust moving forward. They say trust is the easiest thing in the world to lose and the hardest thing in the world to get back.”

Every person in a company’s operation, their competitors, and air traffic control will determine public trust in aviation. “The actions of one affect us all.”

To that end, Graham said that he’s had “heartburn” from the “sensationalized media environment that we’re in.”

He noted this coverage is now extending to many events that may not have previously received coverage. “Every time an airplane gets unstabilized and doesn’t go around at [KDCA/Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport], or the configuration doesn’t work right with the sequencing and ATC calls for an aircraft to do a go-around at a major airport like [KDCA], I don’t personally think we need to be hearing about it in the news.”

Graham was asked about statements made, such as that of Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who reportedly suggested that a pilot should be grounded after not following air traffic control instructions.

He said he was bothered by such a statement but that this view didn’t start with the secretary. Rather, he began seeing a trend in that direction about two years ago or so. “I don’t know what happened with the compliance philosophy, but it’s kind of falling off to the side,” he said. “The FAA started going after pilots for a minor safety thing.”

Graham pointed to a case before the NTSB administrative law judges involving a Learjet that took off in front of a regional airliner in Boston. The two pilots submitted NASA voluntary reporting forms. The FAA handed down a 250-day suspension. The law judges overturned that, but the FAA appealed. “It’s very bothersome to me because nobody is going to want to submit [voluntary] reports,” he said.

ACSF’s late Russ Lawton used to note that 90% of the foundation’s Aviation Safety Action Program reports were solesource reports that no one would ever know about otherwise, he recalled. “So I’m very concerned about that.” z

MICHAEL GRAHAM NTSB BOARD MEMBER

Safety

Hop-A-Jet’s Ellis shares lessons learned from Naples accident

BY KERRY LYNCH

Hop-A-Jet president Barry Ellis provided insights for how

ACSF Safety Symposium

A little more than a year after Hop-A-Jet Worldwide Jet Charter lost two pilots and a Bombardier Challenger 604 to an accident in Naples, Florida, president Barry Ellis shared the company’s story about the aftermath of the tragedy with attendees at the 2025 Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) Safety Symposium. He also provided insight into some of the lessons learned about “planning for the unthinkable.”

Ellis caveated in his discussion that he did not yet know the cause of the crash, nor did he want to suggest one. But what he hoped to convey was the importance of preparing for emergencies.

“In aviation, we routinely train for scenarios we pray will never happen,” he said. “We run emergency drills, we practice evacuations, we memorize procedures, all in the hope that those skills will never be needed. But the true purpose of that

training isn’t just to prevent accidents, it’s to prepare us in case they do occur.”

Ellis added that if there was one thought he could leave with attendees, it is to “have a plan, train your people, assess your risks honestly and regularly. And remember when the unthinkable happens, you’re responsible to find not just recovery, but your legacy.”

Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Hop-A-Jet continues to reflect on that plan.

“We do so in memory of captain Ed Murphy and first officer Ian Hofmann,” the pilots lost in the Feb. 9, 2024 crash.

The Challenger 604, N823KD, crashed on the southbound lane of Interstate I-75 while on approach to Naples Airport (KAPF). A dual engine failure was reported by the crew.

Noting that this was the first time in a public setting that he’s told the company’s story, Ellis retraced the past year following the accident.

“Just over a year ago, our company experienced the unthinkable,” he started. “Like

many of you, we believed that because we were doing everything right, adhering to safety protocols, following best practices, and fostering a culture of safety, something like this couldn’t happen to us. But the reality is that no one is immune.”

He noted that Hop-A-Jet was founded by Harvey Hop, “a man whose life was defined by aviation excellence. When Harvey founded Hop-A-Jet, he carried with him the discipline, precision, and unwavering commitment to safety that defined his [highly decorated] military career,” he said. That prevailed throughout the company.

Many of its employees have worked together for more than 25 years, Ellis noted. “This is not just a company, it’s a family. And when tragedy strikes a family, it affects every person. We grieve together.”

But through that grief, the company has learned lessons that make it stronger and better prepared, he said.

The accident day began like any other at the charter operation, Ellis said. The team

training can prepare team members for the aftermath of an accident.

had gathered for its daily charter department meeting, reviewing operations, schedules, and potential challenges. They discussed being extra conservative in flights they accepted because it had been a busy month and there was no reason to push the limits. “That reflected our safety-first culture…In hindsight, those words carried a weight we could never have anticipated.”

As the day wore on, they continued to dispatch flights, track schedules, and check on crews. “The first indication that something was wrong came in the form of a phone call,” he recalled. “A fellow operator called with a vague question: ‘Is everything OK with 823 Kilo Delta?’”

Although the team had tracked the aircraft, the data feed had suddenly gone silent. While Hop-A-Jet dealt with minor in-flight emergencies, precautionary diversions, mechanical issues, and medical situations, “nothing could have prepared us for the reality that was about to [happen],” he said. Company officials began to mobilize to try to learn what was happening. But they could sense this was not routine, a minor emergency, or standard diversion. “It was something far worse.”

They contacted the Naples Airport Authority for information and were asked by a somber person on the line whether they knew N823KD had made a crash landing on I-75. “As I heard this, a sickening feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. When the official communication came that we had lost our Challenger 604, we were in absolute disbelief, unable to comprehend that this had actually happened.”

They immediately focused on the well-being of everybody involved. “The uncertainty was agonizing. We were desperate for any information about their condition or whereabouts.”

Already, the media was reporting about the accident but was not specific about survivors. “The unknown was terrifying. Every passing minute felt like an eternity.” Every report only added to the confusion and anxiety.

As the company searched for information, it got a small piece of hopeful news. Company executives learned that the flight attendant’s mother had spoken to her and that she and the passengers made it out safely. “This discovery was a glimmer of relief in an otherwise dark moment,” Ellis said. However, “it came with a sobering realization. She could not confirm the status of our two pilots.”

The pilots were reported to both still be on board. While the company waited to discuss the situation with Naples officials, it watched the local news feed “and saw the tragedy unfolding live on the screen. The sight of the wreckage on I-75 made the situation painfully real, tightening the knot of fear and grief.”

Company crews in the air were about to receive the news, and families would soon receive the worst imaginable news.

“We knew that the hours and days ahead would be some of the hardest our company had ever faced. But in that moment, our priorities became clear—to ensure the families of our crew were notified with care and respect, maintain transparency in our communication with the authorities, and support our entire Hop-A-Jet family.”

Ellis described the pilots. Murphy, 50, had a career dedicated to his skill and passion. He began with the company in his 20s, initially in line service and even scrubbing hangar floors. “With over 10,500 flight hours, much of it in the Challenger series, Ed was a consummate professional respected for his precision, intellect, and unwavering commitment to safety,” Ellis said. “In his final moments of the flight, Ed’s courage and quick thinking saved the lives of our cabin attendant, our passengers, and countless people on the ground. He died a hero doing what he loved.”

Hofmann, 65, had a 40-year aviation career with 25,000 flight hours across a range of aircraft, from Learjets to Boeing 747s. His journey in aviation began at 13 years old, working as a line service technician to fund his flying lessons. He joined Hop-A-Jet in the 1980s and embarked on an airline career but ultimately returned to the charter. “In his final moments, Ian remained calm and focused, communicating with air traffic control as he and Ed fought to save their aircraft.”

The most devastating duty the company faced in the immediate aftermath, Ellis continued, “was delivering the

The Challenger 604 lost power in both engines and crash-landed on I-75.

unimaginable news to the families of our fallen colleagues that their loved ones will not be coming home.”

Ellis said the weight of that remains with the Hop-A-Jet staff. “There’s something deeply wrenching about hearing stunned silence on the other end of the line” of one family and seeing the look in the eyes of the other. “[The] raw, profound grief is something I’ll carry with me forever.”

While grieving, the leadership team still needed to activate its emergency response plan (ERP). While it could never be fully prepared, having a structured plan with people who were trained made a difference in the first crucial hours.

The Hop-A-Jet team converted a conference room into a makeshift situation room, setting up whiteboards and dealing with nonstop telephone calls. Whether communicating with authorities, gathering documentation, managing logistics, or reaching out to families, the ERP team knew their roles.

“There were no rehearsals for this exact scenario, but the training culture of readiness we built at Hop-A-Jet enabled us to move quickly and with clarity,” Ellis said.

In the immediate aftermath of the accident, the FAA responded with inspectors from the local flight standards district office arriving onsite at the Hop-A-Jet base. “Their approach was not to conduct an interrogation, but to assist and guide us through the initial steps of response. Their presence was so quick after the incident, it was a testament to the collaborative relationship we had built with them.”

By that time, the team had already gathered and inventoried all the necessary records of the accident aircraft, and the company was able to immediately provide transparency to the FAA, demonstrating a commitment to full compliance and cooperation from the beginning.

“It was through the FAA that we learned a difficult but important detail. Our flight crew had not suffered. In a moment filled with uncertainty and grief, that small bit

of information, heartbreaking as it was, brought a sliver of solace,” Ellis said.

Upon seeing the response organization, an FAA official pulled Ellis aside and commended how rapidly it was managing the situation, he noted. “Hearing that acknowledgement in the middle of a crisis affirmed our years of drills, training, and emphasis on safety.”

BARRY ELLIS PRESIDENT, HOP-A-JET

 One question consumed us: how could this have happened? Every member of our team was determined to find answers... 

By that first night, Hop-A-Jet decided to dispatch its director of maintenance to be onsite at the crash. At the scene, he worked with the NTSB team, FAA officials, local authorities, and the accident investigator from GE Aerospace, the manufacturer of the Challenger’s CF34 engines.

He was able to relay requests back to HopA-Jet and ensure the investigation parties received whatever data they needed. He was able to represent the company and return with information. But Ellis added, “In hindsight, we strongly recommend that any company facing a similar situation send at least two representatives, ideally one from operations and one from maintenance.”

He also said another key takeaway is the importance of establishing a strong working relationship with the NTSB. “Hop-A-Jet was honored to be treated as a partner in the investigation going forward rather than just a bystander. Our involvement did not end in the crash.”

It participated in follow-up visits to inspect the wreckage and also went to Massachusetts, where the engines were examined. “Each of these visits was part of the meticulous process of understanding what happened and why.”

The company had generated well over 1,500 pages of documentation between writing synopses, compiling reports, and answering a steady flow of emails and inquiries, he said. “[With] this immense effort, the entire leadership team must be prepared for an intensive, time-consuming involvement in the investigation.”

Reiterating that he was not meaning to suggest a definitive cause and that was under the purview of the NTSB, he did share some things Hop-A-Jet learned in its examination. The company was focused “on learning everything we could to prevent anything like this from ever happening again.”

Following the accident, he continued, “One question consumed us: how could this have happened? Every member of our team was determined to find answers, not just for our own peace of mind, but to make sure nothing like this could ever happen again on our watch.”

Since Hop-A-Jet operated a Challenger fleet, it wondered whether there was an issue that could affect its other aircraft. “We needed to know as quickly as possible.”

Meanwhile, speculation was rampant. While the company ignored wild conjecture, one theory caught its attention. This suggested a scenario where a pilot reaching across the cockpit could inadvertently unlatch the throttle safety switches on a Challenger 604 and potentially lead to an unintended engine shutdown.

The theory was new to Hop-A-Jet but highly specific. “If there was any truth to it,

it represented a risk we needed to address immediately.” The company team led an internal investigation to determine what the autothrottle system would do in that scenario. Could it cause the engines to shut down? They simulated the scenario and discovered that such an event could play out. “The result was unsettling. This was a critical discovery.”

After confirming the result, it shared the findings with its Challenger crews and warned them to remain vigilant when reaching across the center console. And it also relayed the findings to the NTSB.

“In the end, it is our internal belief that this throttle latch scenario was not likely a factor in our accident,” he said. “However, discovering it was not a wasted effort. By identifying and communicating this potential issue, we may have prevented a future incident elsewhere.”

The company’s internal investigations made it apparent that the accident was not caused by any of the obvious factors first considered. “We were left with more questions than answers about how a dual engine failure in a modern jet could have occurred,” he said. “Based on this uncertainty, we made a decision that was difficult, but in our view absolutely necessary. We grounded our entire Challenger 600-series fleet. This was not a decision that we took lightly. Grounding aircraft is a drastic measure for any aviation business.”

bulletin that “was a proactive measure to check for certain potential issues within the engine that could, in theory, relate to the kind of failure we experienced.

“In the end, this decision [to ground the fleet] not only added a layer of assurance for us, but it also reinforced one of our core principles when it comes to safety, there’s no such thing as too cautious,” Ellis said.

He also noted that his work with crisis management firm Fireside Partners and its insurance underwriter Global Aerospace had paved the way with tools and preparedness in the years before the accident.

these challenges without hesitation. I’m deeply grateful,” Ellis added.

One of Hop-A-Jet’s first steps after the immediate crisis was to reach out to audit partners. “We knew that rumors and news would spread quickly, and we wanted to ensure that those who had vouched for our safety standards in the past heard directly from us about the incident.”

This included explanations of all the steps involved, from paperwork to investigations. “These conversations were about more than just maintaining compliance or checking a box. They were about reinforcing who we are as a company. By engaging openly with the auditors, we demonstrated our commitment to learning from this tragedy.”

This means canceled flights and schedule upheavals with significant financial and operational impact. The company worked with GE for guidance as well. “If there was any clue to be found in the engines, we wanted to find it.”

It made its Challenger fleet available for a fleetwide inspection, and those aircraft became a testbed for a new GE service

Ellis said the partnership with Fireside “in hindsight was one of the most important we’d ever made for our company. Fireside’s expertise helped us refine our ERP, conduct realistic drills, and improve our crisis communications plan.” Particularly helpful were the grief counseling services the firm provided. In aviation, he said, “There’s no checklist for grief.”

As for Global Aerospace, from the beginning, the insurance firm provided guidance and concrete support to help the company navigate, including short-term and longterm costs that could put an immense strain on even the healthiest of companies.

“Global Aerospace’s swift response and steady backing ensure that we can meet

The company made it a priority early on to communicate openly and honestly with customers and industry partners. “We knew that they would have concerns and questions. We wanted to address them head-on. We didn’t speculate on what we didn’t know, and we assured them that we’re doing everything in our power to understand the cause of the accident and implement any necessary changes.”

While those were not easy calls to make, “I was humbled and heartened by the responses we received. The vast majority of our longtime customers and partners were incredibly supportive.”

Many reaffirmed their trust in the company. Some paused their services while awaiting the outcome of the final NTSB report, but some of those have since returned. “In some ways, going through this fire together made those relationships even stronger,” Ellis said. “Through this experience, one thing became abundantly clear. Trust is not earned just in the good times, but in how we handle the worst times.” z

Preliminary NTSB information shows the point where the Challenger landed.

Los Angeles Police Dept puts VR simulator to work

BY MATT THURBER

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Air Support Division (ASD) is the first law-enforcement agency in the U.S. to install a Loft Dynamics virtual reality (VR) flight simulator. The device is used to train police pilots who operate the department’s Airbus AStar/H125 helicopters.

“It has been extremely difficult to incorporate mission-based scenarios into our training program with the realism and frequency necessary for the training to be effective,” said LAPD chief pilot Kevin Gallagher. “The acquisition of the Loft Dynamics VR simulator and our partnership with their software engineers has solved that problem.

“The realism of the full-motion platform, combined with the ability to custom-build

highly specific police scenarios, is revolutionizing the way we train—whether it’s inadvertent IMC entry, low-altitude chases, or night vision operations. This technology ensures that in critical moments, our pilots are prepared to execute with precision and confidence—because in aviation, you don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to the level of your training.”

Gallagher and the LAPD instructor team developed a structured, VR-centric training curriculum for the ASD pilots, in collaboration with Loft. Scenarios include high-speed car chases and integration of virtual Tyler Special Operations Platforms used on the LAPD helicopters for SWAT operations.

Gallagher is also using the LofTWIN system to capture and share scenario- and maneuver-based lessons. Once captured, the student can see a virtual representation or avatar of Gallagher inside the cockpit giving verbal instructions. The student also feels force feedback on the controls to guide the proper control movement. Tracking features also enable measurement and benchmarking of student process against Gallagher’s expertise and objectives.

FLYING THE LOFT SIMULATOR

During a visit to the ASD, Gallagher ran me through two practice sessions in the Loft H125 simulator, for a total of about three hours flying. This would be an opportunity to

The Loft Dynamics H125 virtual-reality simulator makes scenario-based training much more realistic for LAPD pilots.

evaluate its fidelity for practicing procedures that can’t be done in a real helicopter and trying maneuvers that require focused attention.

The ASD Loft H125 simulator is equipped with a virtual Garmin G500H TXi touchscreen display, GTN 650 com/ GPS navigator, and a second radio.

We started with some familiarization flying, and I lifted into a hover, then climbed out for a traffic pattern and normal approach but with a run-on landing, which was fairly straightforward. The motion base accurately replicated the feel of scraping the skids along the runway.

I did another takeoff and left-hand pattern with an approach to a hover above the runway, then a third with a landing on Bern Airport’s grass runway in Switzerland.

Gallagher had me air taxi over to a slippery concrete surface where I tried to keep the helicopter from sliding after touching down. This is something that would be almost impossible to practice in a real helicopter without a much higher level of risk and would require access to an icy surface.

This was also a good demonstration of features that can easily be added within the simulated environment for practicing challenging maneuvers. Keeping the helicopter from sliding all over the place and off the surface was difficult, but it was a fun exercise.

The next maneuver was a departure from the airport and a flight to a hospital helipad in Bern. I lifted off, and Gallagher directed me to the crash-site scene, where I practiced orbiting at 500 feet.

From there, a short flight took me to the slope park, where various mounds are available with gentle to steep slopes, all marked with the degree of slope. I picked the seven-degree slope and managed not to embarrass myself with a decent rightskid-first touchdown.

EMERGENCIES AND IIMC

After a break for lunch, I climbed back into the simulator for some emergency scenarios.

First up was hydraulic failure in hover. The AS350B2s that the ASD flies don’t have the later models’ dual hydraulic system, so that is what the Loft simulator replicates. If hydraulic power is lost, landing the helicopter is difficult, and so is hovering. With hydraulic failure, the helicopter’s hydraulic accumulators can hold pressure for up to around five minutes. In this scenario, I would lose hydraulic power during a hover and I would have to get on the ground quickly before the accumulators lost pressure.

Obviously, shutting off hydraulic power isn’t done in the real helicopter. In this case, after the failure, all I had to do was land, and as I did so promptly, I avoided any control issues.

Hover autorotations were next, and I did two decent hover autos where I cut the power, stepped on the left pedal to keep pointed straight, waited a moment, then pulled collective to cushion the touchdown.

Then I did one where Gallagher dialed in an engine failure, which was a great experience and, again, completely unsafe in a real helicopter.

Another maneuver that adds tension to training is full-down autorotations that simulate an engine failure from altitude. Gallagher positioned me at California’s Santa Monica Airport and had me autorotate to the ground from 1,000 feet above the runway.

During the first autorotation, I was chasing rotor rpm too much with the collective and couldn’t get it to settle at the optimum speed. This one clearly wasn’t going to work out because I lost focus when it came time to flare and touchdown. On the next one, I paid attention to Gallagher’s instruction to pull a little collective (half to three-quarters of an inch) and just leave it alone while managing airspeed with the cyclic.

The LAPD does all pilot training, including new pilots, in-house.

The rotor rpm settled nicely, although I still had to make tiny corrections with the collective, but I was able to spend more time flaring properly. We set the radar altimeter to call out minimums at the 100foot flare altitude, and I pulled the nose up into the flare and then pushed forward to try to meet the ground smoothly with a run-on landing.

IIMC ENCOUNTER

Gallagher next ran me through some typical standard rate turns, climbs, descents, climbing turns and descents, then 45-degree steep turns. The Loft simulator’s handling felt crisp and tight but fairly light on the controls thanks to the hydraulic boosting. I did a set of these maneuvers first in VMC and then in IMC.

It’s important to highlight a major benefit of the VR simulation environment: the ability to impose adverse weather conditions either gradually or instantly on the simulated outside world. There is no need to wear a view-limiting device, which has questionable value in a real helicopter due to the ability to look below the device through chin windows.

Once in IMC and in the 45-degree bank, Gallagher put me to the test and I failed miserably. Not having flown helicopters in actual IFR conditions, except for training with a view-limiting device, I was not prepared for how a helicopter’s inherent instability makes flying in IMC so difficult.

When I had the simulator set up in the 45-degree banked turn in IMC, Gallagher asked me to initiate an IIMC recovery by leveling back to zero bank, adding takeoff power with the collective, and setting a climb attitude with the cyclic. The first time I tried this, I lost control. I overcontrolled while trying to return to a level attitude, pulled the nose too high then pushed it too low, and after a few gyrations was clearly out of control.

Gallagher thankfully stopped the simulation before I crashed the helicopter. He explained that it’s important to focus on

each movement and what the instruments are telling me and to move the controls extra carefully. I tried the same scenario again and managed to maintain some semblance of control—it wasn’t pretty—until breaking out on top of the clouds. Flying a helicopter by visual references is so much easier, and I now understand on a much deeper level why autopilots are required for IFR helicopter flying.

In the next scenario, Gallagher had me flying left orbits around a scene in downtown Los Angeles. The left-hand orbits are so the tactical flight o ffi cer, who flies on every mission in the left seat, can see the scene. As we orbited at about 500 feet, the visibility gradually got worse. I had to make a quick decision: either go on the instruments and attempt to climb away in IMC towards, hopefully, better weather or pick a spot and “land and live,” to use the term made popular by the late Helicopter Association International president Mat t Zuccaro.

There was plenty of room to land because the scene was next to two wideopen baseball fields, and I chose to land before the fog got any worse. I came in a bit too high but managed to perform a

steep approach without an excessive rate of descent and safely landed on one of the fields just as the fog thickened dramatically. This felt like a much better outcome than trying to fly away from the scene in IMC without an autopilot.

For the final scenario, back in clear weather, I took off and flew to Santa Monica Airport. An engine chip light suddenly popped up, and this turned into a good lesson on how to manage the situation to ensure a safe outcome. Instead of flying a normal approach—and we were close enough to the airport that it was the selected spot even if the engine was about to come apart—Gallagher suggested maintaining altitude and then flying an autorotation to the runway. That way, if the engine did fail completely, I would be in a position where I could almost guarantee a safe touchdown. This would not necessarily be the case when the engine fails during a normal approach.

I set up for the autorotation and commenced the maneuver and, indeed, the engine did fail. While I came in a little too fast and used up all the runway, I got the helicopter down safely, thanks to the previous full-down auto practice. z

When Gallagher turned on the foggy weather for the IIMC demonstration, it was extremely challenging trying to maintain control of the helicopter.

Every empty seat is a chance to save a life.

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Rotorcraft

Aerial scans douse fires before they begin

BY CHARLES ALCOCK

In a bid to more effectively combat the bushfire threat to life and property, and disruption to power supplies, Australian utility company Powercor began using helicopters for aerial inspection work three years ago.

With a Bell 407GXi deployed to track large areas of Western Victoria, the company has become far more effective at cutting back vegetation to reduce the risk of fire spreading, especially where it intersects with about 50,000 miles of powerlines.

Airborne lidar radar technology is used to gather data that generates 3D models to show Powercor exactly where vegetation needs to be cut and allows the company to track growth to plan ahead. Before the company invested in its helicopters in 2021, this task was done on the ground by contractors who sent staff in cars across difficult terrain using binoculars to assess risks.

“There were always concerns about the quality and consistency of the data with people on the ground trying to inspect 750,000 spans [the gaps between power poles] and between 13 and 15 million trees,” Ayce Cordy, Powercor’s head of vegetation management, told AIN

“When we used lidar for the first time, we realized there was a lot more risk than we had thought. The areas of highest risk have the most vegetation and are the hardest to access, so the [ground-based] contractors were finding the task too difficult, and some areas were being missed.”

The rotorcraft operate mainly from a base at Avalon Airport near Geelong, with flight crew sometimes being away for several days to survey remote parts of the state. Two pilots take turns flying the aircraft or operating the lidar equipment, downloading data between missions. Powercor also operates a pair of Bell 505s.

According to Daniel McQuestin, Bell’s business development director for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Rim, the 407GXi is suited to challenging missions. “It has a four-bladed, hingeless main rotor system and a composite hub that makes it very maneuverable and stable, complemented by an ability to hover for long periods of time and reliably fly at low altitudes,” he said.

Safety features for the model, which can seat seven, include synthetic vision, terrain/obstacle avoidance, and a tail rotor camera. The flight deck features Garmin 1000H NXi avionics. The helicopter is powered by a Rolls-Royce 250C47E/4 engine.

CHALLENGING FLIGHT CONDITIONS

All of Powercor’s flights are conducted in daytime visual conditions to ensure the best lidar performance. The helicopters fly at between 500 and 1,200 feet above ground level, with the lidar calibrated at 700 feet so that the scanner gets a wide view of the terrain below.

Flying conditions can be challenging on missions that typically last between two and

a half and four hours. “Some areas are like a big bowl of spaghetti [with powerlines and vegetation], and the winds can change a lot in mountainous areas,” explained Powercor’s chief pilot, Ian Wallace.

The crews start their inspection process in Australia’s peak summer months of January, February, and March, with the aim of getting all the flying done by July or August. This gives time to get a complete picture of vegetation that needs to be cleared between August and November, ahead of the peak bushfire season.

According to Wallace, the task could not be handled as completely by drones, because there would be too many situations in which line-of-sight operational restrictions would get in the way. The lidar images taken from the helicopters are accurate to within around one inch.

“Bushfire is our number one risk, and this approach is the gold standard for [powerline] inspection,” Cordy concluded. Other models, including the 429 and 505, are used for inspections globally. Bell has more than 420 aircraft in service with operators in Australia. z

Powercor uses Lidar images to find vegetation that requires trimming to prevent bushfire spread.

even the best organizations can have accidents and complacency can set in. For example, due to employee turnover, maintenance staff may not have the necessary training, experience, or focus, or there may not be any supervisory oversight of their work.

Feith cited the fatal crash of a DC-8 freighter in February 2000. The NTSB investigation determined that an inexperienced mechanic attempted a shortcut in control surface maintenance, and the failure to insert a cotter pin resulted in the detachment of the right elevator control tab soon after takeoff. “The nut backed off, the bolt slid out, that control got jammed, and the rest is history,” Feith said, adding that little things can have disastrous consequences. “It’s not tails falling off, it’s not wings coming off: a bolt, a nut, a cotter pin. That’s the difference between success and failure.”

Held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, the show offered an exhibit hall and 28 education sessions featuring more than 50 speakers.

One of those sessions dealt with the question of the retention of skilled mechanics at MROs. According to FAA statistics, last year there were 337,855 airframe and powerplant mechanics in the U.S., of which a little more than 9,000 were newly certified. That is less than the 342,528 listed in 2015, yet the demand has increased by 32%.

“I think that technician retention is a difficult business,” said Chris Poliak, v-p of maintenance with Executive Jet Management (EJM). That is evidenced by online job tracker Zippia, which reports that nearly half of aircraft mechanics quit their job before their second year. At the other end of the spectrum, many current A&Ps are nearing retirement age. With fewer younger technicians entering the field, that demographic shift could potentially create a “vacuum of expertise” in the industry.

That is leading companies to explore new ways to entice maintenance workers

to join and stay with them. Duncan Aviation launched an apprenticeship program to grow its pipeline of talent, according to David Sturdy, the MRO’s senior talent acquisition specialist at its Battle Creek, Michigan, facility. “We send technicians through that to learn on corporate jets and get on-the-job training directly on aircraft that are being flown day to day.”

For Suresh Narayanan, the former COO of JSX and founder and CEO of Dallasbased Jets MRO, the shortage in maintenance talent is causing pinch points. “I think the biggest challenge right now on the MRO side is not getting the aircraft out on time with reliability,” he said, noting that the movements of mechanics cause disruptions in shop schedules. His research found that 10 years ago, the average tenure for a worker at a maintenance provider was more than five years. Now that has dipped to one or two years.

With nearly 40% of U.S. maintenance technicians over 60 years old, their ranks are not being replenished. Current calculations say the industry is only attracting 65 new technicians per 100 retirees. Unless that trend is reversed, it will continue to impact the industry, said Poliak. “They’re still building airplanes, they’re still selling them, owners are still buying them, so we see MROs in a really difficult spot,” he explained.

With as many as four generations of workers in the same hangar, Alfredo Garcia, director of sales and business development at ACI Jet’s MRO division, explored what impact those differences and expectations can have. Garcia advised mentors to share the workload with real tasks, letting younger techs try and fail without shame. “You’re not just teaching tasks, you are shaping thinking,” he told the audience. “That’s how legacy gets built.” z

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On the Ground

Avflight Expands Network with Wisconsin FBO Purchase

Avflight has expanded its FBO network with the acquisition of Executive Air, one of two service providers at Green Bay–Austin Straubel International Airport (KGRB) in Wisconsin.

The facility—a convenient Midwest tech stop—features a 17,000-sq-ft terminal with oversized windows, a passenger lounge, an eight-seat conference room, a pilot lounge with shower facilities, a flight planning area, a theater and game room, a concierge, and U.S. Customs assistance. It has 76,414 sq ft of heated hangar space capable of sheltering heavy jets.

For the Avfuel sister company, this represents its second FBO in the state (the first is in Milwaukee) and its 27th worldwide. The FBO will become an Avfuel-branded dealer, participating in the fuel distributor’s customer loyalty and contract fuel programs.

Lone FBO at Kentucky Airport Changes Hands

The sole-source FBO at Barkley Regional Airport in West Paducah, Kentucky (KPAH) has a new operator for the first time in more than three decades with the awarding of the facility to Airport Management Solutions (AMS), which has rebranded the facility as Four Rivers Aviation and made it a part of the Avfuel branded dealer network.

The FBO—open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily—features a 7,700-sq-ft two-story terminal with passenger and pilot lounges, kitchenette, refreshment bar, crew cars, and onsite car rental. It has more than 23,000 sq ft of hangar space that can accommodate light jets.

AMS—which operates four other FBOs in the South and Midwest—was selected by the airport authority over three other applicants in the RFP process. Incumbent Midwest Aviation, which had operated the location since the early 1990s, chose not to submit a proposal, preferring to concentrate on its maintenance operations at nearby Mayfield Graves County Airport and at Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois in Marion.

Newly Launched Hangarkeeper Buys Second Facility

SR Aviation Infrastructure (SRAI)—a recently introduced subsidiary of real-estate investment firm SomeraRoad— has purchased a major private aviation hangar complex at San Antonio International Airport (KSAT) in Texas from American Corporate Airport Partners.

The nearly nine-acre facility, built in 2020, features 125,000 sq ft of hangar space capable of housing the latest ultra-long-range business jets.

In November, the division launched with the purchase of the former Quail Air Center at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. Combined with its latest deal, this brings SR Aviation to nearly 400,000 sq ft of hangar space.

“The acquisition of the premier [KSAT] hangar complex is a proud moment for our team and the growing SR Aviation Infrastructure platform,” said SRAI president Jonathon Reeser, adding that the area represents a highly attractive expansion opportunity. “The hangars are the most recently developed and highest quality at the SAT airport and support the SRAI thesis of acquiring top-tier aviation infrastructure assets in strategic U.S. markets.”

Galaxy FBO at Houston Hobby Starts New Hangar Build

Galaxy FBO, one of six service providers at bustling Houston Hobby Airport (KHOU), has broken ground on a 29,000-sqft hangar. It will be able to accommodate ultra-long-range business jets and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. In the meantime, the company noted, operations at its other three hangars (totaling 108,000 sq ft) will be uninterrupted during the construction process.

Operating three FBOs in Texas, the company established its nine-acre facility at KHOU in 2020. It features a two-story terminal with offices, a snack bar, conference rooms, pilot lounge, covered vehicle parking, and crew cars. z

FBO AND AIRPORT NEWS BY CURT EPSTEIN

Aero Charter: Five Decades of Independence in St. Louis

While Aero Charter may be an unusual name for the FBO at Spirit of St. Louis Airport (KSUS), it hearkens back nearly a half century to the start of the family-owned company. John Morgenthaler Jr.’s father started it in 1978 as an aircraft charter and management provider, and over the ensuing years, it expanded to encompass more services, including FAA Part 145 maintenance, a full avionics shop, hangars, and finally FBO services in 2008.

“We kind of just added on more pieces as we saw a need for it,” said Morgenthaler, who joined the family business in 1988 and serves as its CEO. “We’re the only full- service FBO in St. Louis,” he told AIN “Everybody has known us over the years, so if we changed our name, we’d kind of lose who we were.”

One of three service providers at KSUS, and the only independent one, the complex has a 4,000-sq-ft terminal that dates back to 1998. It was extensively remodeled in 2017 and features a passenger lobby with a refreshment bar, concierge, pilot lounge with quiet room, shower facilities, two conference rooms seating eight and 12 respectively, a 30-seat training room, on-site car rental (through St. Louis’ own Enterprise), and crew cars.

KSUS has U.S. Customs and Border Protection service with advance notice, and arriving aircraft must first stop at the customs ramp before proceeding to the FBO.

“They have an independent agent that’s here, and if you can’t work with them on their hours, they try to get someone from St. Louis Lambert International (KSTL) over, so you have to let them know when you are coming,” Morgenthaler explained.

For fueling, all the service providers on the field draw from the airport’s Phillips 66-supplied fuel farm, which holds 160,000

gallons of jet-A and 40,000 gallons of avgas. Like the others, Aero Charter has its own equipment: two 3,000-gallon jet fuel tankers and a 1,300-gallon 100LL truck, all operated by the company’s NATA Safety 1st-trained line sta . Last year, the company pumped 1.6 million gallons of fuel.

Occupying an eight-acre leasehold, more than half of it ramp, the complex— open 24/7—has 54,000 sq ft of heated hangar space capable of accommodating the latest ultra-long-range business jets. It is home to 30 turbine-powered aircraft ranging from a Daher TBM turboprop single to a Dassault 7X tri-jet. Attached to the hangars, it has an additional 18,000 sq ft of o ce space.

Morgenthaler sees his company as the hometown favorite at KSUS, which serves as a reliever to Lambert, and instructs his team “to treat every customer as if they are your family.”

“Our mission is to provide personalized service, to maintain an uncompromising level of safety, and to deliver 100% customer satisfaction,” he said. “Whether it’s a

[Cessna] 172 or a [Bombardier] Global, you’ll get treated with good care.”

The facility, with its sta of 78 across all the business units, averages more than 5,200 operations a year, and according to Morgenthaler, it claims a quarter of the business at KSUS, including many of the aeromedical flights.

As one of the company’s charter pilots, he remembered flying a critical organ donation flight on a snowy winter day. “I was returning to St. Louis with a medical team, and the ambulance was having a hard time getting to the airport,” he said, adding that the flight was carrying a transplant heart that needed to get to the Children’s Hospital patient as soon as possible.

“Our plow truck was taking a break from plowing the ramp, so I drove the doctor and the heart to the hospital in the super duty pickup truck, coordinating with local police support for lights and sirens on the highway. I figured in the worst case we just put the plow down and keep going.” Through that swift decision, the heart was delivered on time, and a child’s life was saved. C.E.

Aero Charter’s FBO terminal at Spirit of St. Louis Airport (KSUS) underwent a major renovation in 2017 and features plenty of amenities for passengers and pilots alike.

ExecuJet MRO Services Expands for Global Support

Rolls-Royce has approved ExecuJet MRO Services Malaysia to maintain the BR710A2-20 engines for Bombardier’s Global Express aircraft. The Kuala Lumpur-based operation is already authorized to conduct routine maintenance, inspections, and minor repairs on the turbofan, but it now holds hub status from the engine manufacturer, allowing it to perform more advanced diagnostics and repairs.

In 2024, ExecuJet MRO Services opened a new maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility at the Malaysian capital’s Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (also known as Subang Airport) with almost 150,000 sq ft of space. This base has been approved by several national civil aviation regulators to conduct heavy airframe maintenance on Global Express jets.

According to Ivan Lim, ExecuJet MRO Services’ regional v-p for Asia, the company—a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dassault Aviation—made investments in infrastructure, tooling, training, and technology to secure hub MRO status from Rolls-Royce.

Tamarack Expands Active Winglet Dealer Network

Tamarack Aerospace has expanded its authorized active winglet service network by adding Toledo Jet Center as a winglet dealer and installation center. According to the manufacturer, the winglets—which can be installed in less than 10 days—offer performance benefits, including fuel burn reduction, improved climb performance, and extended range.

Tamarack has approval for the installation of its active winglets on all eight variants of the Cessna CitationJet/CJ1/M2, CJ2, and CJ3 in the U.S., European Union, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.

Toledo Jet—founded in 2009 after Textron Aviation closed its Toledo, Ohio service center—recently changed hands. The MRO

provider operates facilities at Toledo Express Airport (KTOL) and in Florida at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (KFXE).

Blackhawk To STC Five-blade King Air Prop

Blackhawk Aerospace has launched a supplemental type certificate program for the Hartzell five-blade composite propeller on Beechcraft King Air 350s as part of its XP67A Engine+ upgrade, with FAA approval slated for late July. The composite propeller option offers lighter weight (by about 20 pounds), reduced noise, increased durability, and enhanced performance compared to the standard four-blade aluminum propeller.

According to Blackhawk, the composite propeller allows for shorter takeoff distances, faster climb rates, and improved cruise speeds. This builds on the XP67A Engine+ upgrade, which replaces factory-installed Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-60A engines with PT6A-67As that have a 24% increase in available shaft horsepower.

Dallas-area Jets MRO Receives FAA Engine Mx Approval

Growing Texas maintenance provider Jets MRO has received Part 145 engine repair certification from the FAA. Located at Dallas Executive Airport (KRBD), the two-year-old company specializes in legacy light to large-cabin jets, including Hawkers, Citations, Beechjets, Bombardier Challengers, and Learjets.

Along with the team’s expertise, the new engine approval, granted due to established quality management systems, allows Jets MRO to perform maintenance and repair at its 40,000sq-ft facility at KRBD on the powerplants for those aircraft. In addition to onsite repair, the company’s mobile maintenance capabilities now include engine diagnostics and limited repair services in AOG support throughout the Metroplex. z

Gulfstream Steps Up Investment in Customer Support

Gulfstream Aerospace is capitalizing on what it views as one of the most significant customer support investments in its 67-year history. To support its growing fleet of more than 3,300 aircraft, the company is prioritizing the expansion and modernization of MRO facilities, while enhancing parts availability, airborne logistics, and comprehensive employee training.

During 2024, Gulfstream added a repair and overhaul facility at Alliance Airport in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as well as opened a 225,000-sq-ft service center in Mesa, Arizona. It also recruited hundreds more customer support sta worldwide and expanded its Savannah service center East building by more than 160,000 sq ft.

“The initiation of this investment trajectory was a shared vision of my predecessors,” Lor Izzard, Gulfstream’s new customer support leader, told AIN. “My high-level objective is to ensure our customers are engaged, informed, and empowered to communicate transparently with us so that we can ensure our growth is additive to the overall Gulfstream support experience.”

The customer support team craves granular, actionable customer feedback after every interaction with operators. This process includes holding dozens of customer events annually around the world, as well as surveys requested after every service visit.

According to Izzard, the voice of the customer should be at the center of its continuous improvement process. Gulfstream’s view is that how it serves its customers is just as important as how the aircraft performs.

“All of this input bubbles up into the customer voice, and we actively pursue the feedback because we want to know what went well and what we didn’t do so well,” Izzard explained. “Customer questions expand our perspective, and [it] is feedback that we greatly value.”

Field and Airborne Support Teams (FAST) are a key element of Gulfstream’s customer support network. The teams were originally deployed from service center locations but have since been adjusted to a forwarddeployed FAST base location strategy.

“This forward-deployed approach puts FAST teams in locations closer to the need, which not only improves response time but has also opened up additional labor markets,” Izzard said. “Since making this change, we have seen significant expansion in our worldwide FAST network, increasing by 30 people in 2024 and an additional 10 already in 2025 for a total of 150 people worldwide as we continue to grow.”

New technology is also helping Gulfstream to up its customer support game, with its predictive analytics software platform a prime example of this progress. According to Izzard, its use of aircraft health and trend monitoring systems was initiated with the G650.

This same benefit is now available with the next-generation fleet of aircraft as part of e orts to avert aircraft-on-ground (AOG)

situations through proactive interventions.

“The real-life benefit is in the creation and activation of analytics monitoring, which allows us to intervene before an in-service event,” Izzard explained.

Gulfstream developed the system to ensure that the data monitored is vetted against real-world scenarios and that any issues flagged are accurate and meaningful. The system is recording around 11,000 parameters per second, resulting in a data mass of about 10 trillion parameter records.

“We are proactively intervening and preventing AOG events more and more every day. AOG reaction has been our focus for decades, but I believe AOG prevention is our future.”

Customer support now represents more than one quarter of the Gulfstream organization, operating at more than 80 locations worldwide (including partners).

The network consists of 11 companyowned service centers, plus six more operated by its sibling Jet Aviation. There are also 27 authorized warranty facility agreements in place, 24 global FAST bases, and 12 spares distribution locations. C.A.

More than one quarter of Gulfstream’s organization is dedicated to customer support at 80 worldwide locations for the in-service fleet of more than 3,300 aircraft.

Accidents

BY DAVID JACK KENNY

Preliminary Reports

Three Lost on Positioning Flight

Eurocopter EC135P2+, March 10, 2025, Canton, Mississippi

The commercial pilot, flight paramedic, and flight nurse were all killed when the medevac helicopter crashed into trees while attempting an emergency landing in a cleared field. The aircraft was returning to base after a fuel stop following a patient transport.

The helicopter departed from the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) MED-COM heliport to the northeast and reported clear of Jackson’s Class C airspace five minutes later, climbing to 2,500 feet. It crossed the Pearl River State Wildlife Management Area, then began to descend. The flight nurse radioed UMMC-MED COM to report: “We’ve got a major problem, we are having an emergency landing in a field right now, ops are not good, controls are giving us a lot of trouble, coming in fast.”

The helicopter struck trees at the edge of a grass field next to the Turcotte Fish Hatchery, igniting a fire that consumed most of the aircraft. A manager at the hatchery heard a loud “boom” through his truck’s closed windows while the helicopter was still descending. No engine sounds were audible thereafter.

TBM and House Destroyed in Approach Crash

Socata TBM 700A, March 29, 2025, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota

On a five-mile final approach to the Anoka County/Blaine Airport (KANE), the singleengine turboprop abruptly turned left and made a near-vertical descent into a home, destroying both in the post-crash fire and

killing the solo pilot. The person inside the residence escaped without injury.

The flight had originated in Naples, Florida, and refueled at the Des Moines (Iowa) International Airport, taking off again at 11:12. At 12:06, it levelled off at 3,000 feet and subsequently commenced the RNAV approach to Runway 09. The pilot advised the tower controller of his intention to land, read back his landing clearance, and confirmed he had the weather. At 12:20, he began descent from 3,000 feet about six miles from the threshold. One mile later, the airplane’s airspeed and descent rate increased sharply as it entered a left turn. The controller issued a low-altitude warning without response.

A doorbell camera near the site recorded the airplane in a steep nose-down descent, rotating around its longitudinal axis. Tree branches about 100 feet southeast of the main wreckage were severed by “angular cuts consistent with propeller strikes.” Prevailing weather included a 900-foot overcast ceiling with at least 10 miles visibility underneath, a temperature of 3 degrees Celsius and dewpoint of 2 degrees Celsius. An Aviation Weather Center forecast predicted 50% to 60% probability of icing at 3,000 feet in the vicinity.

Final Reports

Antenna Failure, Limited Visibility Cited in Gold Coast Midair

Eurocopter EC130B4 and Eurocopter EC130B4, Jan. 2, 2023, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

The ATSB found that pre-existing damage to the antenna of one helicopter’s VHF communications radio prevented the pilot’s position report from being transmitted,

while the angle of convergence between arriving and departing aircraft made it difficult for the pilot of either one to see the other. Both helicopters were 155 meters (510 feet) west-northwest of the Sea World Helicopters heliport.

The collision separated the main rotor, engine, and tail from the departing aircraft (VH-XKQ), which crashed onto a sandbar. Its pilot and three of its six passengers were killed; the other three suffered serious injuries. VH-XH9, the returning aircraft, was severely damaged but remained controllable, and its pilot succeeded in landing it on the same sandbar. He and two passengers were seriously injured, including by “penetrating fragments” compared to shrapnel, while the other three escaped with minor injuries.

The pilot of VH-XH9 reported having waited for VH-XKQ’s taxi call to indicate its impending departure; not hearing it, he assumed the inbound course was clear. However, the whip antenna for the radio used by VH-XKQ’s pilot failed to transmit in post-accident testing, and analysis of recordings from the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) over the previous two days found that only 17 of 65 calls expected from that aircraft were audible; most of those were unreadable.

Physical examination found a cracked solder joint in the circuit board at the antenna’s base and a fractured link wire, both exhibiting degrees of corrosion inconsistent with impact damage. The inbound radio call from VH-XH9 was clearly audible on the CTAF tape, but was apparently either unheard or ignored by the pilot of VH-XKQ.

The operator had relied on “airmanship, communication…and the rules of the air” to manage aircraft separation at the conflict point between the two helipads. In response

to the accident, it improved paint and lighting to increase aircraft visibility, established a new position for a “pad boss” to coordinate traffic, and tightened communications protocols to minimize pilot distraction and require a second call during approach.

Phenom Brought Down by Ice Accumulation Before Takeo

Embraer EMB-505, Jan. 2, 2023, Provo, Utah

The 62-year-old airline transport pilot’s failure to have the airplane deiced after it sat out in “snow and misty rain” for 40 minutes allowed ice to build up on the unprotected surfaces of the wings and horizontal stabilizer, causing it to stall after takeoff

The pilot was killed, two passengers suffered serious injuries, and a third sustained minor injuries when the twin-engine corporate jet pitched up sharply, rolled left, and crashed onto the runway, with the left wing striking the ground first. Prevailing weather included 6 miles of visibility in light snow and mist under an 800-foot overcast, variable winds of 3 knots, and both temperature and dew point of -1 Celsius. An airport worker who’d been clearing snow from the ramp reported that within a few minutes, fresh snow had covered the areas he’d plowed.

The airplane had been kept in a hangar heated to about 60 degrees until 10:55, then was pulled out to be refueled. The lineman recalled seeing “what appeared to be unfrozen water droplets on the wings during the refueling.” The pilot asked the airport manager about deicing and was told to contact the FBO. The FBO’s deicing truck was out of service, so they advised him to call another FBO on the field, but he never contacted the second FBO with that request.

The flight data recording showed that the wing and stabilizer anti-ice was turned on briefly at 11:29, then returned to the “arm” setting. An ice condition test performed at 11:30 confirmed that the ice sensor was functional. The takeoff roll began at 11:35:25, rotation speed was reached at 11:35:48, and the

pitch angle increased between 11:35:50 and 11:35:55. As the main landing gear’s weight-onwheels indication changed from “GND” to “AIR,” the jet rolled left. A stall warning was recorded on the cockpit voice data recorder at 11:35:53.7, just before the recording ended.

Elevator Cable Failure Leads to Runway Excursion

Beechjet 400A, Feb. 14, 2024, Bentonville, Arkansas

The twinjet suffered substantial damage during a rejected takeoff from Bentonville Municipal/Louise M. Thaden Field (KVBT) after the pilot lost elevator control due to a failed control cable. The two pilots and five passengers were not injured; two additional passengers sustained minor injuries.

According to the pilot, the airplane lifted off normally before the nose dropped unexpectedly. When he applied additional backpressure to the yoke, he felt a “snap” and realized there was no longer tension in the controls. The airplane pitched down and settled back onto the runway. The pilot applied maximum braking and full thrust reverse, but the aircraft continued off the end of the runway. To avoid a nearby gas station, the pilot turned the airplane left, during which the landing gear collapsed, causing substantial damage to the right wing.

A post-accident examination found that the elevator control cable had fractured near the aft fuselage where it transitioned from horizontal to vertical alignment at a pulley bracket. The metallurgical analysis revealed that nearly all the cable wires had rubbing damage consistent with prolonged contact against the upper guard pin of the pulley assembly.

Investigators determined the cable had been improperly routed during maintenance about a year earlier, causing it to chafe against the pin until eventual failure under normal flight loads. Maintenance records indicated the elevator cables had been replaced on Jan. 31, 2023, with about 316.5 hours flown since that service.

The NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident to be improper rigging of the elevator control cable over the upper guard pin, which led to cable separation and a subsequent loss of elevator control during takeoff.

Improper Hardware Installation Disables Tail Rotor

Eurocopter MBB-BK117C-2, March 6, 2024, West Lafayette, Indiana

The helicopter sustained substantial damage during a hard landing after a critical tail rotor control failure. The pilot and two medical crew members aboard were uninjured.

The helicopter, operating as an air ambulance under Part 135, was departing Purdue University Airport (KLAF) at night when the pilot reported feeling a sudden force on the pedals during a hover taxi. The aircraft began an uncommanded right yaw, and left pedal input had no effect. The pilot executed an emergency landing.

Examination revealed that the T-bolt connecting the tail rotor pitch change bellcrank to the pitch change slider had separated in flight. The NTSB found that the T-bolt and its attachment bolts had been removed “at the direction of a lead mechanic to facilitate troubleshooting of adjacent components,” after which maintenance personnel temporarily installed the T-bolt attachment bolts “finger-tight” without torquing or safety wiring them as required.

Maintenance records did not include any entry for the T-bolt’s removal or reinstallation, and no verification of its final installation was performed before the aircraft was returned to service. The NTSB concluded that the lack of documentation contributed to the oversight. One bolt was found on the ramp after the accident, and another had struck the engine bay. The second bolt was found “lodged into a honeycomb panel at the aft-lower area of the fuselage, adjacent to the fuel cell.” z

Amy Wilder contributed to this report

Compliance Countdown

BY GORDON GILBERT

JUST AROUND THE CORNER

June 19, 2025

U.S.: Air Tour Management Plan

The FAA and the National Park Service (NPS) have completed work on an air tour management plan (ATMP) and environmental assessment (EA) for Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Chinle, Arizona. The plan, scheduled to become e ective on or about June 19, 2025, prohibits commercial air tours over the park and within one-half mile outside its boundary “to protect natural and cultural resources, sacred Tribal places, wilderness areas, and visitor experiences,” according to the two agencies. “The final ATMP and EA reflect public input received during a 30-day public comment period.”

June 1, 2025

Singapore: Foreign Operator’s Permit

Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority will implement ANR-129—foreign operator’s permit (FOP)—regulations in mid-2025, replacing the current air navigation orders. These rules affect foreign air operator certificate (AOC) holders conducting commercial air transport or aerial work in Singapore. Private (Part 91) operators without an AOC are exempt. But FOPs are required for charter AOC holders for both revenue and non-revenue flights, including medevac and technical and positioning stops. Emergency landings, diplomatic flights, alternate airport landings, maintenance flights (with no passengers or cargo), and overflights are exempt from FOP requirements.

June 2, 2025

U.S.: Noise Compatibility Program

An FAA review of a proposed noise compatibility program (NCP) for Laredo International Airport (KLRD) in Texas is open for public comments. The review is expected to be completed by early October 2025. Previously, the agency approved noise exposure maps submitted for the airport. Primary considerations in the evaluation process are whether the proposed measures may reduce the level of aviation safety, create an undue burden on interstate or foreign commerce, and obtaining the goal of reducing aircraft

noise over communities surrounding the airport. The public comment period for the proposed NCP ends June 2, 2025.

June

3, 2025

U.S.: Aircraft Fueling

The first draft report for the 2027 revision of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) guidelines for aircraft fuel servicing (NFPA Standard 407) is open for public comment through June 3, 2025. This standard outlines vital safety provisions for procedures, equipment, and installations in order to protect people, aircraft, and other property during ground fuel servicing of aircraft using liquid petroleum fuels. Although NFPA guidelines are recommendations and not mandatory, they are considered the industry standard for fire protection and prevention.

June 12, 2025

Republic of South Africa: ADS-B

Starting June 12, 2025, all aircraft operating in Class A and in designated Class C airspace over the Republic of South Africa will require ADS-B Out. The mandated schedule follows consultations with government officials, private and commercial operator representatives, and other stakeholders.

July

1, 2025

Australia: Helicopter Performance

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia is requiring certain helicopter

operations to transition to new and revised performance rules. The performance rules relate to the ability of a rotorcraft to proceed on a flight path that enables acceptable safety outcomes in the event of an engine failure. The rules require operators to develop procedures that demonstrate how they will ensure safety outcomes during critical phases of flight (particularly during takeoff and landing). Affected operators must complete the transition by July 1, 2025.

Sept. 1, 2025

Hong Kong: Advance Passenger Information System

Hong Kong has delayed the scheduled startup of its Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) program. Originally set to become e ff ective on April 1, 2025, the revised implementation date is Sept. 1, 2025. These changes are part of a broader e ff ort to enhance aviation security through the electronic transmission of passenger and crew data to border control authorities before a flight’s arrival. The APIS requirements will apply to all flights arriving in Hong Kong, including those operated by commercial, business, and general aviation. Specifically for business aviation, this means that operators of private and charter flights arriving in Hong Kong will be required to submit APIS data for all passengers and

crew members before the aircraft’s arrival. Flights departing from Hong Kong are not affected by this requirement.

Sept. 1, 2025

U.S.: Notam Transition

On or about Sept. 1, 2025, the FAA is scheduled to transition its notam format to align with international standards. The agency said the transition to the new format will ensure U.S. notams are compliant with standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). According to the FAA, the new format will result in improved accuracy and accessibility of notam data for pilots, dispatchers, and other notam consumers, provide notam consumers with one consistent format for domestic and international operations, and allow for enhanced search, sorting, filtering, and archiving capabilities of notam data.

Oct. 1, 2025

Europe: Travel Authorization Systems

The implementation timelines for the European Union’s ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) and EES (Entry/Exit System) have been delayed again. Originally set to launch in 2022, EES will require operators to electronically verify visa validity for third-country nationals traveling to the EU. This system replaces manual passport stamping and aims to improve tracking of visitor entry, exit, and overstay status. The new scheduled start date is Oct. 1, 2025. ETIAS is an online pretravel and pre-boarding requirement applying to visa-exempt third-country nationals planning to travel to European states. The new scheduled start date is not exact but won’t occur before late 2026. International business aviation flight planning organizations believe both programs will apply to passenger-carrying private and charter flights into the EU.

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

YOUR VIEW IS WAITING LEVERAGE

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL A BUSINESS JET?

At Duncan Aviation, we understand that buying or selling a jet is a profoundly personal journey. As your vital advisors, we o er operational expertise and timely insights that go beyond the surface and support you throughout your ownership experiences. Our team’s dedication and vast network of industry connections ensure that every decision you make is thoroughly informed, aligning perfectly with your unique mission and aspirations.

People in Aviation

BY JESSICA REED

Stephen Creamer is taking over as president and CEO of the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA) as Carey Fagan began transitioning out of the role on April 1. Creamer has more than three decades of experience working at the FAA and also served as director of ICAO’s Air Navigation Bureau from 2015 to 2023.

Adam Richardson, COO of Enstrom Helicopter, has been promoted to president and CEO. Richardson previously worked at Rolls-Royce for 17 years and has been at Enstrom since 2023.

Todd Tetzlaff, the former president at Enstrom, takes on the role of senior v-p of regulatory affairs and global relations.

Nik Tarascio , who has served as CEO of Ventura Air Services since 2010, is transitioning to the role of executive chairman of the board. Sam Wolf, president of the company since 2020, will take on the CEO position.

PrimeFlight Aviation Services announced that president and CEO Dan Bucaro is transitioning to chairman of the board, and Craig Smyth will take on the role of president and CEO. Bucaro led the company for more than seven years. Smyth brings more than three decades of experience in aviation, including as group CEO at Worldwide Flight Services.

Roger Wells is now president of Aevex Aerospace. Wells previously served as COO and executive v-p at Mercury Systems and has also held leadership positions at Northrop Grumman, ICX Technologies, and FLIR.

Jet Access promoted David Richter to chief revenue officer and president of managed aircraft sales. Richter’s previous experience includes leadership roles at Wheels Up and Executive Jet Management.

CAE appointed four new members to its board of directors. Calin Rovinescu, now chair of the board, was president and CEO of Air Canada from 2009 to 2021 and also previously served as chair of IATA. Peter Lee, Katherine Lehman, and Louis Têtu also joined as directors. Lee, who will co-chair

CAE’s CEO search committee, is founder and partner of the firm Browning West. Lehman, chair of Stella Jones, is a partner at Palladium Equity Partners. Têtu, chair and CEO of Coveo Solutions, co-founded and served as CEO of Taleo Corporation.

USAIG announced five promotions that went into effect on April 1.

Greg Carboy, senior v-p at the Dallas office, was promoted to claims division manager for general aviation. Brad Hernke , Seattle office claims manager, takes on the v-p role. At the Toledo office, claims manager Rance Miller was promoted to v-p. Kari Hinkel, senior underwriter at the Wichita office, was tapped as assistant v-p. At the Chicago office, Trevor Boskey is now the senior underwriter.

Eric Donofrio was appointed chief underwriting officer at aviation insurance provider Global Aerospace. Donofrio brings almost 30 years of industry experience, including a recent term at AXA XL Insurance as chief underwriting officer for specialty insurance solutions in the Americas. Michael Bannon, Global Aerospace’s chief underwriting officer for Europe, will retire on June 30. Bannon joined the company in 2009, and his career in brokering and underwriting spans more than four decades. Gareth Howell, who has been with Global Aerospace since 2018, will take on the position of chief underwriting officer for Europe. Howell has worked in the aviation insurance industry for 23 years.

Chris Cerbini was promoted to senior v-p of Chapman Freeborn OBC. Cerbini previously worked at UK-based World Courier for about 15 years and at Worldnet International New York, where he was senior director of global training and development.

Charlotte Fox was hired as commercial director at Kenyon International Emergency Services, part of Air Partner Group (a Wheels Up company). Fox brings more than two decades of experience in commercial and strategic leadership, including as

GREG CARBOY

CHARLOTTE FOX

ADAM RICHARDSON

DAVID RICHTER

chief growth officer for her consultancy, The Smart Connection.

Paragon Aviation Group added three members to its Network Advisory Board: Tracy Chaplin, v-p of resources and partnerships at Clay Lacy Aviation; Jeremy Sobolik, manager at Fargo Jet Center; and William Holowesko, general manager at Odyssey Aviation.

Malin Junkers was appointed as events and training executive at The Air Charter Association. Junkers has multiple years of experience in the live events industry.

U.S. Air Force veteran Dale Holland was hired for a business development role at MyGoFlight. Holland’s 35-plus years of aviation

experience include serving on Air Force One and working on government contracting and satellite communications.

Jennifer Jewett at Jetcraft was promoted from controller to senior v-p of finance. Jewett played an important role in Jetcraft’s acquisition and integration of Corporate Fleet Services Jets.

Corporate Angel Network elected Derek DeCross, Signature Aviation’s CCO, to the board of directors. DeCross has previously held senior leadership roles at American Airlines and IHG Hotels and Resorts.

Greg Holbrook was named general manager at Modesto Jet Center at the Modesto City-County Airport in California. Previously, Holbrook was the general manager at Hawthorne Global Aviation in Iowa. z

AWARDS AND HONORS

NBAA honored Joy Buoncuore with the 2025 Schedulers & Dispatchers (S&D) Outstanding Achievement & Leadership Award at the 2025 S&D Conference in late March. She has been supervisor of transportation scheduling for Constellation Energy since May 2024 after joining the company as a senior transportation scheduler in 2016.

Her career, which began in 2000 at FlightSafety International, has spanned roles including pilot and maintenance training scheduler, FBO leader, and trainer for domestic and international airlines.

Buoncuore earned her FAA dispatcher certificate at FlightSafety in 2018, and is an active member of the Delaware Valley Business Aviation Association, Women in Aviation International, Women in Corporate Aviation, PRIDE, and Women in Nuclear.

The National Aviation Hall of Fame is recognizing Thomas M. Sando with the A. Scott Crossfield Aerospace Educator of the Year Award. Sando is an instructor at Williston High School and the Williston Basin CTE Center in North Dakota.

Michael Williams, founder of Jetaire Group, will be recognized with the National Aviation Hall of Fame’s 2025 Neil Armstrong Outstanding Achievement Award in September. Williams played a major part in developing the Invicta Fuel Tank Flammability Reduction System. He has achieved more than 500 FAA certifications and almost 200 major design approvals as one of the youngest African Americans to become an FAA-designated engineering representative.

Dan Schwinn, CEO of Avidyne, was recognized by the AOPA Air Safety Institute with the Richard G. McSpadden General Aviation Safety Award.

A tribute to crews that fought January L.A. wildfires headlined the 22nd annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards April 25. Actor and pilot John Travolta hosted the ceremony.

The Polaris Dawn spaceflight crew received the inaugural Dr. Buzz Aldrin Space Advancement Award. Commander Jared Isaacman, pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon completed a high-altitude orbital mission and the first private spacewalk while performing scientific experiments.

New inductees into Living Legends of Aviation include former NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy SEAL Christopher Cassidy, veteran astronaut and air racer Robert “Hoot” Gibson, and NBC aviation and space correspondent Tom Costello

Ron Draper, Textron Aviation CEO, received the Lifetime Aviation Industry Leader Award, and Burt Rutan, designer of Voyager and SpaceShipOne, received the Dr. Sam B. Williams Technology Award.

The Eren Ozmen Aviation Entrepreneur of the Year Award went to Peter Beck, founder of launch company Rocket Lab Louis Pepper, former Atlantic Aviation CEO, received the Kenn Ricci Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur award.

Kaye Gitibin, co-founder and CEO of Go Rentals, was presented with the Aviation Entrepreneur Award. Amanda “Stalin” Lee, the first female Blue Angels’ F/A-18 fighter jet demo pilot, received the Barron Hilton Aviation Inspiration Award.

The event also honored aviation figures who have “flown West,” including Richard Rutan, record-setting test pilot who flew the Voyager aircraft around the world with Jeana Yeager in 1986.

TRACY CHAPLIN

some restructuring in the agency. My goal is to inject new energy, new focus in that area. The secretary and I have met with a couple of the companies that are leaders in AAM, and we want to make sure that we’re bringing that into the system in a safe manner.

The SFAR, the [enabling] rules, came out last year, and I think part of our goal this year is to make sure that we’re utilizing pilot programs or test cases where we bring some of those aircraft in the sky safely. There are probably four or five that are game changer [programs]. We are moving down that in a smart, safe, and very focused way to make sure that as the operators are ready to go, they can get into the airspace—not just to be able to fly in the middle of a desert or in an airspace that’s been designated for testing, but developed corridors.

With an FAA administrator nominee, do you plan to stay on as deputy administrator? What is your long-term vision? I came here to help smooth the transition, knowing that it’s so important for the agency to keep moving through a presidential transition. I was very excited to be given the opportunity when I was offered the position as deputy. I said that’s my sweet spot. I will be good at the COO role and running day-to-day operations. I knew I was signing up for an acting role for a period.

I have had some dealings with [nominee Republic Airways president Bryan Bedford]. I know the secretary is very excited about his arrival. I’m excited about his arrival. I think he’s got a tremendous resume that’s going to help take this agency to the next level.

I will bring to him my four priorities that I’ve been running the agency on. I look forward to adapting to his, but I’m very fortunate to have been in this role. At this time, I also look forward to being a really, really good deputy administrator to the new administrator. z

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