DTN News: General Dynamics Awarded FAA SE2020 Systems Engineering Contract to Support NextGen Modernization

DTN News: General Dynamics Awarded FAA SE2020 Systems Engineering Contract to Support NextGen Modernization

Source: DTN News / General Dynamics

(NSI News Source Info) FAIRFAX, Va. - May 29, 2010: General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) has been selected as one of three large-business contractors for the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) System Engineering 2020 Research and Development/Mission Analysis Support program. The ten-year contract awarded to General Dynamics has a maximum potential value of $1.2 billion if all options are exercised. Funding will be awarded through individual task orders.

Through this program, General Dynamics will support the FAA’s NextGen modernization program to improve safety and bring greater efficiencies to the U.S. airspace system by providing research and development and systems engineering services. The work will focus on achieving or improving a series of operational capabilities, including trajectory-based operations; increased arrivals and departures at high-density airports; increased flexibility in the terminal environment; improved collaborative air-traffic management; advanced flight-deck technologies; reduced weather impact; improved safety, security and environmental performance; and facility transformations.

Marcus Collier, senior vice president of General Dynamics Information Technology, said, “The General Dynamics team – which includes Gulfstream Aerospace and Jet Aviation, who are among the aerospace industry’s leading aircraft manufacturing and business-aviation service support organizations – is uniquely qualified to deliver innovative and timely solutions to help the FAA quickly achieve NextGen objectives to modernize and upgrade IT infrastructure, systems and equipment for 21st century requirements.”

The General Dynamics team will perform mission-analysis support in such areas as air traffic management automation, airplane design and analysis, avionic systems operations and maintenance, cost-benefit analysis, National Airspace System (NAS) security, large-scale demonstrations and NAS air-traffic facility certification. The company will provide systems integration, development and operations expertise, modeling and simulation, and ground and air-based information and communications systems upgrades.

The FAA’s Air Traffic Control and Next Generation (NextGen) modernization program will require major updates and modernization for aircraft, air traffic control facilities and airport technologies to improve the safety, capacity and efficiency of the country’s airspace.

The General Dynamics team includes General Dynamics Information Technology, General Dynamics C4 Systems, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, and Jet Aviation. In addition, General Dynamics has assembled a strong team of 24 other companies that represent the most skilled experts in air traffic control, aviation and information technology.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, employs approximately 91,200 people worldwide. The company is a market leader in business aviation; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and information systems and technologies. More information about the company is available on the Internet at www.generaldynamics.com.

DTN News: FAA Orders Safety Fix For All U.S. Boeing 767s To Prevent Possible Fuel Tank Explosion

DTN News: FAA Orders Safety Fix For All U.S. Boeing 767s To Prevent Possible Fuel Tank Explosion

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) NEW YORK, USA - August 8, 2009: The Federal Aviation Administration does not issue airworthiness (ADs) directives lightly. The idea is to make sure airplanes don’t crash, or—in this particular case—blow up. In this instance, the object of FAA’s attention is the ubiquitous Boeing 767. In its just-released AD, FAA wants to “prevent an overheat condition outside the center [fuel] tank fuel pump explosion resistance area,” of the twin-engine widebody. FAA says in the AD that the area “is open to the pump inlet, which could cause an ignition source for the fuel vapors in the fuel tank and result in fuel tank explosions and consequent loss of the airplane.” To correct the problem, FAA is mandating that airlines install an automatic shutoff system for the auxiliary fuel tank/override jettison fuel pumps on all Boeing 767s. That means this airworthiness directive takes in a lot of airplanes. FAA estimates the AD encompasses 414 Boeing 767s registered here in the United States. Among the airlines with significant 767 fleets: American, Delta, Continental, United, and US Airways – virtually all the country’s so-called “legacy” mainline, hub-and-spoke airlines. The cost to solve the problem according to FAA: as much as $4,655,016. The airworthiness directive also calls on carriers to revise the 767’s flight manual “to advise the flight crew of certain operating restrictions for airplanes equipped with an automatic auxiliary fuel pump shutoff control.” On certain aircraft, the AD mandates that a placard be installed in the cockpit “to alert the crew of certain fuel usage restrictions.” Some context: regulators and airlines have taken fuel tank issues very seriously since the July 17, 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800. The Boeing 747-131 was en route from New York Kennedy to Paris Charles de Gaulle when it exploded in the heavens off Long Island on a hot summer’s night. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded the Probable Cause for the crash that claimed all 230 souls-on-board was “a fuel/air explosion in the airplane’s center wing fuel tank.” While NTSB couldn’t determine the specific ignition source “with certainty,” the Safety Board concluded the most likely spark came from “a short circuit outside of the [center wing tank] that allowed excessive voltage to enter it through electrical wiring associated with the fuel quantity indication system.” Much speculation surrounded the accident, with Pierre Salinger, President Kennedy’s former press secretary, contending that the aircraft was shot brought down by a U.S. Navy missile.

Sikorsky S-92A Helicopters To Be Grounded, Studs Should Be Replaced

Sikorsky S-92A Helicopters To Be Grounded, Studs Should Be Replaced

(NSI News Source Info) March 21, 2009: The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada says the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration intends to order all operators of the Sikorsky S-92A helicopter to ground their aircraft so that steel replacements can be installed for the main gearbox filter bowl assembly mounting stud, according to a March 20 TSB press release. The S-92 is a twin turbine engined utility helicopter with aluminium airframe with some composite components. The four-bladed fully articulated composite main rotor blade is wider and has a longer radius than the S-70 Blackhawk. The tapered blade tip sweeps back and angles downward to reduce noise and increase lift. Tethered hover flight has recorded 31,000 lb of lift generated, both in and out of ground effect. A number of safety features such as flaw tolerance, bird strike capability, and engine burst containment have been incorporated into the design. Adherence to FAA FAR part 29 has led the FAA certification board to call the S-92 the "safest helicopter in the world". An active vibration system using structurally mounted force generators ensures comfortable flight and acoustic levels which are well below certification requirements. These systems also prolong the life of the airframe by reducing fatigue loads on the aircraft. But FAA spokesman Les Dorr said that was not necessarily the case. Dorr said the U.S. agency was only considering "issuing an airworthiness directive that would cover an issue uncovered in the investigation." TSB officials recently began examining the wreckage of an S-92 that went down off the coast of Newfoundland on March 12. On Jan. 28, Sikorsky issued a bulletin to S-92 operators indicating that the titanium studs should be replaced with steel ones. This one-time modification was to be accomplished within one year or 1,250 flight hours, whichever occurred first.