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Aviation History
1987
1987 - 2272.PDF
GENERAL AVIATION BAe chooses Concept 4 CEDAR RAPIPS Rockwell Collins' General Aviation Division is deliv ering the first examples of its Concept 4 digital avionics. One of the first Concept 4 products available is the TWR Doppler turbulence- detection weather radar. Starting in January 1988, it will be delivered to British Aerospace 125-800 operators. Pilot production units are undergoing systems inte gration tests on a Beech Star- ship. Concept 4 combines inte grated electronic flight- display technology and central integrated avionics processing. It provides flight management, Category II flight control, advanced nav map displays, engine indi cation and caution advisory system (Eicas), and inte grated maintenance capa bility. Airport operator deflects accident blame LUBECK The operator of Lubeck's Blankensee Airport in West Germany has defended action it took at the time of a fatal Cessna Citation 501 accident. Lubeck Airport won a court injunction preventing further transmission of a critical tele vision investigation into the accident by ARD, the West German television station. A programme transmitted on September 15 was "erroneous and misleading", according to the airport operator. ARD blamed Lubeck Air port, along with Schleswig- Holstein's Ministry of Traffic and Communications (the operator's supervisor), and Travel Air, from which the Citation had been chartered. The TV company claimed that a 48ft mast with which The ability to detect turbulence in areas of light rainfall is claimed to be a major benefit of the Rockwell Collins TWR-850, part of the Concept 4 system fitted to a BAel25 the Citation collided had been erected at an unsuitable site and without the Ministry's permission. It also alleged that the mast was listed on an official map as a non- directional navaid, but with out height indication. Map preparation is the responsi bility of the Bundesanstalt fur Flugsicherung (BFS), which was also implicated by the programme. Runway-light position was criticised by pilots inter viewed by ARD, and the programme claimed that the visibility was so bad at the time of the accident that the airport should have been closed. Three died in the acci dent but a passenger, the minister-president of Schles- wig-Holstein, survived. The official investigation blamed pilot error, and a call for a new investigation has been turned down. A sudden loss of power or. a faulty or inaccurately-set altimeter might also have contributed. ARD's investigation may have been prompted by a political row involving the survivor, and a political opponent. The Citation was being used in a West German state election campaign. Although he survived the acci dent and subsequently won re-election, the Schleswig- Holstein minister-president was later forced to resign and last month committed suicide. Belfast executive centre opens BELFAST ~ An executive jet centre is to open at Belfast International Airport on November 20. Operator Paramount Execu tive has won a three-year contract from Northern Ireland Airports to manage the centre, and intends to provide modern self- contained facilities and comprehensive aircraft and passenger-handling services, including refuelling and engineering support. Customs facilities will also be on hand. Seven Paramount person nel will staff the centre from 0700hr to 2200hr each day (with an extension on request). A "business centre" located above Paramount's premises will offer conference, secretarial, and commu nications services. Paramount Executive says that one aim will be to attract some of the 3,500 trans atlantic business aircraft, many of which use Shannon and Prestwick for refuelling. The new centre is at the east end of the international terminal. LA to buy disaster relief helicopter LOS ANGELES The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is to spend up to $3 million on a helicopter for use in civil emergencies and disaster recovery. Just weeks after a major earthquake shook the Californian city, the LAPD is requesting proposals from manufacturers for a machine with workstations, computer terminals, TV monitors, mobile telephone and satellite communications, and an array of sensors including forward-looking infrared. Part of a five-year plan to improve Los Angeles's emergency services, the heli copter will carry city officials for aerial surveillance and control of recovery operations after fires, storms, and earth quakes. "In past emergency disasters it was six hours before we figured out how bad we were hurt," says Capt Robert Woods, the LAPD Air Support Division com mander. "The helicopter will allow us to get a quick assess ment of damage and to imme diately activate recovery tech niques, even in a 8 • 0 Richter Scale earthquake." The City of Los Angeles operates 25 helicopters, including 15 serving the Police force. BRIEFINGS Canadair has signed an agreement for the sale of a Challenger 601-3A business aircraft to Scribe-Zaire, Zaire's largest private company. This is the second Challenger sale to the African continent. A Challenger service centre is to be opened on the US west coast next year. Negotiations are under way, and a selection will be made at the end of the year. Canadair says that, in addition to exist ing service centres in Canada, the USA, and West Germany, is looking at other inter national service operations which could be added. 14 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 7 November 1987
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