May 15, 2017 - No. 039 In This Issue An FAA investigation warned of 'potential tragedies.' Officials hid it from the public Skills Gap Could Cost Repair Stations $1.95 Billion in Revenue, Survey Finds National Aviation Academy and Cape Air Establish Preferred Hiring Pathway Ho Airport will be aviation training and maintenance hub - Minister SNC & Embraer to Participate in USAF OA-X Experiment with A-29 Super Tucano ALTA Adds Trio Of MRO Members Ghafari to Design Turkish Airlines Critical Facilities at New Istanbul Airport Airbus Creates New Commercial Drone Services Start-up "Airbus Aerial" Boeing Breaks Ground On Chinese 737 Completion Center SPACEX TARGETING TWILIGHT THUNDER FOR MAY 15 INMARSAT BLASTOFF An FAA investigation warned of 'potential tragedies.' Officials hid it from the public Before the jet's pilots nearly lost control of their plane as it hurtled down a Las Vegas runway, it flew for weeks with a problem that could have killed everyone on board. It never should have happened, according to a report by the Federal Aviation Administration inspector who reviewed the August 2015 incident. AAR Aircraft Services, part of North America's largest aviation maintenance company, had improperly recorded its work, skipped maintenance steps and bungled critical inspections on the Allegiant Air plane, he found. "Every stop gap in place to enhance safety to a critical flight control was skipped, bypassed or improperly done," the inspector, Carlos Flores, wrote in the FAA's official report on the incident. Flores recommended that the FAA fine AAR the maximum amount it could, to prevent "potential tragedies" in the future. FAA managers reviewed the investigation and decided to handle the situation differently. They didn't fine the company. They didn't demand any additional changes at AAR, even though one acknowledged Flores' belief that "the conditions that created the safety risk originally" hadn't changed. They didn't assign anyone to investigate further. Instead, they wrote AAR a "letter of correction" and signed off on the fixes it had already put in place. Then they closed the case, and told the public the problem had been solved, a Tampa Bay Times review of the FAA's full investigative file shows. AAR continues to be a major maintenance contractor for Allegiant and other large airlines. Today, FAA officials say they made the right call. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said in a statement that "inspectors and managers from several offices in the FAA safety oversight division agreed that AAR Aircraft Services took the appropriate actions to correct the root cause of the incident." But two former FAA officials who reviewed the full investigation at the Times' request said Flores' findings were alarming and should have triggered a larger investigation into AAR. "It's really disturbing from a safety perspective," said Loretta Alkalay, an aviation attorney who spent 30 years as a regional counsel prosecuting enforcement cases for the FAA. AAR spokeswoman Kathleen Cantillon said it "is fully compliant with FAA requirements." "AAR's first priority is safety of flight," she said in a statement. "We have worked closely with Allegiant and the FAA to take corrective actions." Gregor said the agency "thoroughly reviewed" AAR's procedures when it performed a "wide-ranging review of Allegiant's operations" in spring 2016. "The FAA and Allegiant continue to closely monitor AAR's operations," he said. Allegiant Air, which operates the vast majority of flights at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, declined to comment. The FAA never intended for the full results of its investigation to become public. Last year, the Times published an investigation showing Allegiant's planes were four times as likely to fail during flight as those operated by other major U.S. airlines, and another that focused on FAA's lax oversight of Allegiant. The Times first requested the FAA's investigative file while reporting those stories. The FAA provided a version of the report that was heavily redacted, hiding Flores' concern that the Las Vegas incident was a symptom of a dangerous, ongoing problem. The Times appealed. The FAA responded last week and declined to release most of the redacted information. But along with its response, the agency accidentally sent the Times the entire unredacted report. On August 17, 2015, Allegiant Flight 436 rolled down a Las Vegas runway. As the plane picked up speed, its nose started rising, even as the pilots pushed the yoke all the way down. At about 138 miles per hour, the captain aborted the takeoff and the plane screeched to a halt. When Allegiant mechanics inspected the plane, it was clear what had gone wrong. A nut had slipped off the rod that connects the plane's controls to its elevators - flaps on the plane's tail that controls its pitch. A cotter pin on the rod should have kept the nut in place, but there was no evidence it had been installed when the plane went in for maintenance at an AAR repair facility in Oklahoma City three months before. If the plane had made it off the ground - or the nut had slipped off in flight - the pilots would have lost control in the air. The FAA assigned Flores, one of its senior inspectors overseeing Allegiant, to lead the investigation. About six months later, the FAA said that employees at AAR working on the Allegiant plane had missed steps and improperly documented their work when installing one of the elevators. But AAR had made changes since the incident, the FAA said. Where two inspectors had failed to notice the botched maintenance, the company added a third inspector. Workers would only be allowed to work on critical parts of the plane after watching a safety video. The fixes were "appropriate and sufficient to prevent future violations of this nature," Gregor said. The heavily redacted investigation detailed several mistakes by mechanics at AAR, but didn't detail systemic issues. But underneath the blackouts, the report said the FAA's investigator did not believe AAR's changes would keep the problem from happening again. A thorough audit of the plane's paperwork by Allegiant could have caught the problem, Flores wrote. But he singled out AAR's employees for "egregious complacent behavior" that led to the incident. Mechanics didn't fill out required maintenance logs, and technicians either skipped inspections or did them so superficially it defeated the point of the inspections altogether. He chronicled five separate times AAR employees should have caught the flaw before the plane left the station. But over and over, required paperwork proving the maintenance had been done was missing. It added up to "careless (and possibly reckless) conduct" by AAR, he wrote - "deliberate and systemic acts of noncompliance" with Allegiant's maintenance procedures and federal aviation rules. "They are clearly a repeat offender that show an unwillingness to admit errors unless it will not cost the company money," he wrote. * * * Government watchdogs have been warning for years that the FAA's oversight of repair stations like the one in Oklahoma City is lacking. In 2013, the Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General released an audit that said the agency wasn't catching and fixing serious problems at repair stations. In one case it cited, an FAA inspector noted the same infraction at the same repair station three years in a row, but accepted the same fix for the problem all three times. U.S. airlines are only becoming more dependent on outsourced maintenance, an industry that the watchdog office estimated had more than tripled in less than two decades. According to AAR's spokeswoman, the company "has performed over 24 million man hours of maintenance work on aircraft for dozens of airlines" over the last five years. The station in Oklahoma City works on 17 air carriers, including Alaska Air. In Indianapolis an AAR station does maintenance on Delta Air Lines' jets. And before U.S. Airways merged with American, it sent planes to AAR's station in Miami. AAR's parent company also pulls in billions of dollars of federal taxpayer money for services that include aircraft maintenance, aircraft leasing and airlift services. In September, less than a year after the FAA finalized its investigation, it won a $10 billion, 11.5 year contract to maintain the fleet of aircraft the State Department uses to combat international narcotics trafficking. * * * Flores submitted his report in November 2015. It landed on the desk of David Ibarra, a technical specialist based out of the FAA's regional office in Van Nuys, Calif. He was responsible for recommending the agency's next course of action. He acknowledged Flores' concerns, but recommended against fining the company. Ibarra's decision relied on the agency's "new compliance philosophy," which the FAA introduced in 2015. It encourages airlines and their employees to report safety problems by punishing them less harshly after mistakes. "Our evolved approach to oversight does not suggest that we are going easy on compliance," the FAA's website says about the policy. "However, FAA will not use enforcement as the first tool in the toolbox." This was not, however, the first time these issues had come up at AAR. In 2014, another Allegiant plane went in for service at an AAR repair station. But a day after it was returned to Allegiant, its right engine flooded with fuel on takeoff, causing it to rev uncontrollably. The pilot had to shut it down and make an emergency landing back at the airport. The investigation into that incident concluded an AAR mechanic had skipped maintenance steps, and neither Allegiant nor AAR's inspectors noticed before the plane returned to service. After the Las Vegas incident, Flores noted that AAR "had two very similar situations that risked lives and property within a one year period, only to find the corrective action by the repair station had no effect." The FAA declined to answer questions about its decision to not sanction AAR. Flores declined to comment. But former FAA inspector Mary Rose Diefenderfer said the FAA should have fined the company, based on its own policies, and that the agency could have gone as far as revoking its certificate to operate. AAR "should have been at least temporarily shut down while an FAA white-glove team came in to investigate," she said. "That would have occurred if blood had been shed, but it's the FAA way not to be proactive." Click to read full report http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/airlines/an-faa-investigation-warned-of-potential- tragedies-officials-hid-it-from/2323698 Back to Top Skills Gap Could Cost Repair Stations $1.95 Billion in Revenue, Survey Finds WASHINGTON - Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) members could miss out on close to $200 million in foregone revenues this year as a result of unfilled technical jobs at their companies, the association announced today. Fifty-five percent of respondents to ARSA's recent member survey reported having unfilled positions. Based on the average number of vacancies at the responding organizations, the association estimates its members have 1,045 open technical jobs. The total economic loss figure - $185 million - was derived by multiplying the number of open positions by the $177,000 in average annual revenue per employee reported by respondents. Projected across the entire population of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-certificated repair stations in the United States, the number of open positions may be close to 11,000. If those positions go unfilled, the industry could stand to miss out on as much as $1.95 billion in economic activity in 2017. "These numbers are a snapshot of how just one industry is being affected by the technical worker shortage plaguing the U.S. economy," ARSA Executive Vice President Christian Klein said. "Well- paying jobs in the high-tech aviation maintenance sector are going unfilled because workers aren't available or candidates lack basics skills. "We hope lawmakers working career technical education policy on Capitol Hill - including the recently-introduced Perkins reauthorization bill - will keep the aviation industry in mind when crafting solutions," Klein said. "But Washington can't solve this problem alone. Expanding the base of eligible job candidates and better aligning school curricula with repair station needs will require greater industry engagement at the local, state, and federal levels," Klein said. The worker shortage has become a major concern for maintenance providers. When asked to indicate the most-pressing risks to company business outlook, "difficulty finding and retaining technical talent" tied with "regulatory costs/burdens" among survey respondents. Availability of maintenance information, international regulatory inconsistencies and restrictions on trade rounded out the top five respondent concerns. Despite these challenges, the survey found ARSA's membership generally optimistic about the future. More than 90 percent of member companies expect their markets to expand or remain stable this year and more than half plan to add positions. The survey also underscored the significant impact that international business has on repair stations: almost one-third (31 percent) of revenues for the average U.S.-headquartered respondent came from customers outside North America. ARSA Member Survey Respondent Overview * Eighty ARSA member companies from around the world provided input for the survey, which was conducted during the first quarter of the calendar year. * Respondents reported total 2016 gross annual revenues of $1.791 billion. * Eighty-eight percent of respondents were headquartered in the United States. * Respondents reported operating facilities in 29 of the 50 U.S. states. * The best represented U.S. states were Florida (17 percent of respondents reported having facilities), California (17 percent), Texas (16 percent), Georgia (10 percent) and Ohio (10 percent). http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12334233/skills-gap-could-cost-repair-stations-195- billion-in-revenue-survey-finds Back to Top National Aviation Academy and Cape Air Establish Preferred Hiring Pathway Concord, Mass. (PRWEB) May 12, 2017 National Aviation Academy (NAA) and Cape Air today announce the implementation of a Preferred Hiring Pathway designed to give NAA graduates priority access to new-hire technician positions. The Preferred Hiring Pathway is intended to assist NAA and Cape Air in the selection, training and education of potential new-hire aviation maintenance technicians (AMTs). AMTs keep aircraft in safe flying condition by servicing, repairing and overhauling aircraft and aircraft components while following detailed federal regulations set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). AMTs are in high demand as the industry expands and technicians age out of the aviation workforce. Technicians selected for Cape Air's Preferred Hiring Path program will be of the highest quality, demonstrating the skills, knowledge, personal and professional qualifications to perform as an airline maintenance member. Students from both NAA locations (New England and Tampa Bay) may apply. Candidates who wish to participate in the Preferred Hiring Pathway must: * Complete the General section of approved Part 147 core curriculum with a grade average of 90% or higher * Submit a completed application * Submit two character references * Pass the Cape Air interview process Students who are successfully admitted to the program will have the opportunity to enhance their personal and professional growth by attending job shadowing events at Cape Air maintenance bases in Hyannis and Boston while attending NAA. "We're excited to team up with National Aviation Academy on the Preferred Pathway program," said Jeff Schafer, Managing Director of Technical Operations for Cape Air. "Establishing a partnership such as this will provide tremendous opportunities for Cape Air, NAA and most importantly, the students." After the successful completion of NAA's combined airframe and powerplant curriculum, candidates within the Preferred Hiring Pathway may qualify for a final interview for employment. Hiring from the pathway will assist Cape Air in meeting the demand for qualified aviation maintenance technicians. "Any opportunity that benefits NAA students and an industry partner like Cape Air is one that we want to approach with enthusiasm and dedication," said David Mead, Senior Executive Vice President for NAA. "The student experience is designed to mirror best practices within the aviation industry, and the Preferred Hiring Pathway will give individuals an even greater ability to prepare for their desired careers while at NAA." NAA incorporates the latest technology and industry resources to deliver high quality aviation maintenance training. Partnering with Cape Air will strengthen NAA's ability to achieve its mission of preparing students for employment in the aviation industry. About National Aviation Academy: National Aviation Academy (NAA) has been training aviation maintenance professionals since 1932. Dedicated to building a quality aviation maintenance workforce, NAA offers training in Aviation Maintenance and Advanced Aircraft Systems. A worldwide reputation has been cultivated through the use of innovative curriculum, hands-on training and a forward-thinking sensibility. Students gain industry knowledge and exceptional skills by engaging with faculty who have years of experience across all maintenance levels. Companies that hire NAA graduates offer long-term and viable careers with great earning and growth potential. NAA trains individuals from across the globe at campuses located in Clearwater, Fla. and Concord, Mass. For more information, call (800) 659- 2080 or visit http://naa.edu. https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/17/05/p9453618/national-aviation-academy-and-cape- air-establish-preferred-hiring-pathw Back to Top Ho Airport will be aviation training and maintenance hub - Minister Madam Cecilia Dapaah, Minister for Aviation said the Ministry would make the Ho Airport an aviation training and maintenance hub, when completed. She said the nation's aviation industry was losing pilots and crew to other airlines and that the Ho Airport would be positioned to train people for the industry. Madam Dapaah who inspected construction work at the $25 million dollar airport on Friday said the facility would provide flights to and from other parts of the country, and would boost tourism in the Volta Region. She commended Amandi, the firm constructing the airport and said the facility had a perimeter fence which should be replicated at all airports in the country to ward off encroachers. Mr Daniel Benayum, General Manager, Amandi said the Company had engaged over 500 local employees and suppliers and gave assurance that the airport would be ready by the end of the year to take light aircrafts. He said the facility included a 1.6-kilometre airstrip, a 1,500 square metre terminal building, power station, water reservoir, and safety installations among others, and added that provisions had been made in the design for future expansions. Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minister said there was heavy human traffic between Ho and Kumasi and that the airport would make the Region more accessible. https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2017/05/12/ho-airport-will-be-aviation-training-and- maintenance-hub-minister/ Back to Top SNC & Embraer to Participate in USAF OA-X Experiment with A-29 Super Tucano Sparks, USA, May, 12th, 2017 - Embraer Defense & Security, together with its partner, Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), has been invited to participate in the U.S. Air Force's (USAF) Capability Assessment of Non-Developmental Light Attack Platforms, known as OA-X. SNC and Embraer will take part in the experiment with the A-29 Super Tucano, which is the only light air support (LAS) aircraft in the world with a USAF Military Type Certificate. The OA-X assessment begins in July at New Mexico's Holloman Air Force Base. "SNC is proud to participate in the USAF's effort to enhance warfighter support and bring greater value and affordability to the American taxpayer," said Taco Gilbert, senior vice president for SNC´s Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) business area. "Partnering with Embraer, we're proud to present the U.S.-made, combat-proven A-29 as part of this experiment." The OA-X experiment is part of the USAF's effort to explore the benefits of acquiring a new, low- cost, non-developmental light attack aircraft to provide close air support and other missions in permissive and semi-permissive environments, reduce fighter pilot training costs, and accelerate pilot seasoning. The OA-X will accomplish those objectives while preserving and extending the service lives of other jet fleets. "The A-29 is uniquely suited for training and seasoning fighter pilots," said Jackson Schneider, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security. "This means more highly-trained pilots more quickly and less expensively, while allowing other platforms to do the work they do best." Manufactured in Florida and in use by a dozen air forces worldwide, the A-29 is a durable, versatile and powerful turboprop aircraft capable of carrying out a wide range of fighter and ISR missions. The USAF-certified A-29 is combat-proven in Afghanistan and in theaters around the globe. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12334498/snc-embraer-to-participate-in-usaf-oa-x- experiment-with-a-29-super-tucano Back to Top ALTA Adds Trio Of MRO Members Aeroman, which provides airframe and component MRO along with associated engineering, testing, inventory and logistics services from a sizable complex of maintenance hangars and specialist workshops at El Salvador International Airport, has become an affiliate member of ALTA, the non- profit Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association. Not only is Aeroman the fourth MRO company to become an affiliate member of ALTA, according to Eduardo Iglesias, ALTA's executive director, but it is also the third MRO company to do so within the past 40 days. On April 3 ALTA announced that Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance had become an affiliate member of the association. Then ALTA announced on 18 April that Costa Rica-based MRO company COOPESA had also become an affiliate. MTU Maintenance was the first MRO company to become an affiliate member of ALTA, which says its affiliates are airline-related organizations that work collaboratively with the association on aviation-industry initiatives throughout the Latin America and Caribbean region. "Aircraft maintenance and repair shops provide a valuable necessity and our growing partnership with MRO companies such as Aeroman contribute greatly to the high level of quality maintenance services needed by the region's airlines," says Iglesias. ALTA's three new MRO-industry partners have provided several reasons for affiliating with the Miami-based air transport-industry association. However, a common factor in all three MRO companies' decisions to join ALTA is that they expect their affiliations to produce opportunities for new business with airlines in the Latin America and Caribbean region. "Over the past years we have had the opportunity to work with many of its member airlines, and with this new affiliation between ALTA and Aeroman, we seek to gain further insights into the Latin American and Caribbean aviation community and to explore new business opportunities in the region," says Aeroman CEO Alejandro Echeverria. Similarly, says Lic. Minor Rodriguez, COOPESA's CEO, "ALTA ... helps us have greater face-to-face contact with our defined target-market customers. This is a great opportunity for operational benchmarking in terms of good practices and to have greater empathy with the needs of our clients." Likewise, AFI KLM E&M EVP Anne Brachet says of her company's decision to affiliate with ALTA, "Along with our American subsidiary Barfield, we are delighted to join ALTA. We have been fortunate to work with many of its member airlines over the years, and we look forward to exploring new business opportunities in the region with the association." ALTA's newest MRO-industry affiliate member Aeroman has been providing MRO services to the commercial-aviation sector for more than 30 years. El Salvador-based Aeroman focuses its maintenance services on five highly produced commercial- aircraft families: the Airbus A320 family, the Boeing 737 and 757 families and - as more recent additions to its MRO portfolio - the Airbus A330 family and the Embraer 190. COOPESA, an FAA- and EASA-certified airframe MRO, has been in operation for 53 years. San José- based COOPESA specializes in providing MRO services for the A320 and Boeing 737 families, as well as for the Embraer 190 and the Boeing 757. Today ALTA's membership complement includes 19 Latin American and Caribbean carriers as full members. Another 11 North American and European airlines are ALTA associate members, while 48 companies representing a wide variety of aviation activities are affiliate members of the association. http://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/alta-adds-trio-mro-members Back to Top Ghafari to Design Turkish Airlines Critical Facilities at New Istanbul Airport ISTANBUL, May 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global firm Ghafari Associates has been awarded a contract to provide full planning, architectural, and engineering services for airline operations support facilities at the New Istanbul Airport. Considered the largest and most strategic development project in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the New Istanbul Airport will serve as headquarters for Turkish Airlines' operations as well as its primary hub airport. Each facility developed under this contract will be among the largest of its kind in terms of size and operational capacity. Totaling nearly167 hectares, Ghafari's scope of work covers facilities for air cargo logistics, aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul, ground support services, and flight operations, including an integrated operational control center and in-flight catering. Design services for the site's next-generation critical support facilities will be led out of Ghafari's Istanbul office with support from the firm's Aviation Design Center in Chicago, Illinois. To meet the airport's first-phase opening in early 2018, Ghafari is working on a fast-track basis, applying an integrated planning methodology and advanced technologies. Each building will be tied together through common architectural identities and materials to create a unified campus. Each structure will be developed as modernized and streamlined airline operational centers that accommodate the central hub's future expansion and sustainability requirements. Applying best practices from previous international airport operations programs, Ghafari's design will foster an efficient flow of personnel, materials, and equipment across each facility. Among many of the project's challenges are the region's seismic conditions. "This major capital investment will not only expand and improve Turkish Airlines' long-term operations, but will also place Istanbul's new airport among the world's most vibrant mega hubs," says Ali Solaksubas?, Ghafari's President of Chicago Office and International Operations. "We are excited to help set a new standard in world-class aviation facilities." The airport will provide nearly 100 airline companies opportunities for flights to more than 350 destinations. The new airport's first phase of operations will accommodate 90 million travelers, growing to more than 150 million in annual passenger volume upon completion. The new airport will be the world's largest airport built from the ground up. "The team we assembled brings the best practices in aviation facility design," states Mr. Bayram Temel, Constuction & Property Manager at Turkish Airlines. "Istanbul's newest airport will meet the region's higher traveler volume as a destination of choice for those traveling between the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. Ghafari brings the perspective of their many international carrier clients and airports, and the passengers they serve. This viewpoint is critical to developing the best-in- class facilities this project demands." About Ghafari Ghafari is a full-service global engineering, architecture, process design, consulting, and construction services firm. With 14 offices across the globe, the firm supports clients in sectors such as aviation, corporate / commercial, education, government and institutional, healthcare and industrial / manufacturing. Ranked number 21 in the aviation sector by Engineering News-Record, Ghafari has proven to be an industry leader. More information on Ghafari and its services can be found on www.ghafari.com. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ghafari-to-design-turkish-airlines-critical-facilities-at- new-istanbul-airport-300456978.html Back to Top Airbus Creates New Commercial Drone Services Start-up "Airbus Aerial" DALLAS, May 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Airbus (stock exchange symbol: AIR) today launched its U.S. base and operations of a new commercial drone start-up, named Airbus Aerial, at the AUVSI Xponential tradeshow and conference in Dallas. With bases both in the U.S. and in Europe, Airbus Aerial's initial business will focus on developing new imagery services. These services will leverage the best software and aerospace technology from across the globe to offer actionable data and analysis of information provided by drones, satellites, high altitude aircraft and other sources. "Through Airbus Aerial, we are uniquely positioned and fully committed to advancing the commercial Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) industry. It is bringing together partners from across the industry - ranging from vehicle manufacturers, data analytics companies, service providers and others - to enable data-focused services at large scale," said Dirk Hoke, Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Defence and Space. "Using an integrated combination of assets, from UAS platforms to satellite imagery, Airbus Aerial is rolling out a wide range of new imagery services. In the future, additional pillars of the Airbus Aerial activities will be in the area of cargo drone services as well as providing connectivity via aerial assets." The U.S.-based part of Airbus Aerial will be headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and is led by Jesse Kallman, a UAS industry expert with more than 12 years of experience including research at Georgia Tech, federal policy at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), commercial UAS at Airware, and advocacy with groups like AUVSI (Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International). Kallman has served as a trusted adviser to executives at Fortune 500 companies, members of Congress, senior officials at the FAA and White House, and leading Silicon Valley Venture Capital groups. "Drones are only a piece of a much larger picture for us," said Kallman. "Airbus Aerial brings together a variety of aerospace technologies - including drones and satellites - combines them in a common software infrastructure, and applies industry-specific analytics to deliver tailored solutions to our customers' biggest challenges." Airbus Aerial imagery services targets a range of applications for commercial industries, such as insurance, agriculture, oil and gas, and utilities, as well as state and local governments. Recruitment for positions in software development, data analytics and drone operations, among other roles, has begun. AirbusAerial is also looking for new partnerships to help bring these new services to market. For more information on available positions with Airbus Aerial or to inquire about partnerships, please visit www.airbusaerial.com. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12334129/airbus-creates-new-commercial-drone- services-start-up-airbus-aerial Back to Top Boeing Breaks Ground On Chinese 737 Completion Center Boeing has started construction of a new 737 completion and delivery in China, as part of a cooperation with domestic aircraft manufacturer Comac. The facility is Boeing's first overseas and is scheduled to open 2018 in Zhoushan, situated in China's Zhejiang Province. The center's capabilities will include fitting the 737s with seating and inflight entertainment systems on the aircraft before carrying paint services. A target for between eight to ten monthly aircraft deliveries has been set, with around 100 737s being delivered annually to Chinese operators. Plans for the center were first announced in 2015, followed by the U.S. aircraft maker entering an agreement with Comac and the Zhejiang provincial government in Hangzhou in October of last year. http://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/boeing-breaks-ground-chinese-737- completion-center Back to Top SPACEX TARGETING TWILIGHT THUNDER FOR MAY 15 INMARSAT BLASTOFF KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - SpaceX is targeting twilight thunder with the firms Falcon 9 rocketing skyward from the Florida Space Coast on Monday 15 carrying a commercial High-Speed broadband satellite for London based Inmarsat. Blastoff of the Inmarsat-5 Flight 4 communications satellite for commercial broadband provider Inmarsat is slated for early Monday evening, May 15 at 7:21 p.m. EDT (or 23:21 UTC) from SpaceX's seaside Launch Complex 39A on NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. All systems are currently GO and the weather outlook is quite favorable at this time. The twilight setting will put on an outstanding sky show - if all goes well. But there are no guarantees. So now is the time is come and watch a launch in person if you have the availability. "Targeting launch of Inmarsat-5 Flight 4 from Pad 39A on Monday, May 15," SpaceX confirmed via social media accounts. The Falcon 9's launch window extends for 49 minutes until 8:10 p.m. EDT. "SpaceX will not attempt to land Falcon 9's first stage after launch due to mission requirements," says SpaceX. The historic pad 39A was previously used to launch NASA's Apollo Saturn Moon rockets and Space Shuttles. The built from scratch 229-foot-tall (70-meter) SpaceX Falcon 9 is set to deliver the huge 6100 kg Inmarsat-5 F4 satellite to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). The integrated Falcon 9/Inmarsat-5 F4 were rolled out to the KSC launch pad on Sunday to begin final preparations for Monday's liftoff. "#I5F4 satellite, built by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, has been loaded into the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and rolled out to Launch Complex 39A," Inmarsat announced Sunday. "The countdown to launch tomorrow begins!" You can watch the launch live on a SpaceX dedicated webcast as well as via Inmarsat starting about 20 minutes prior to the 7:20 p.m. EDT opening of the window. Watch the SpaceX broadcast live at: SpaceX.com/webcast Alternatively you can catch the launch on Inmarsat's dedicated webpage: "Make sure you catch all the live action here": www.inmarsat.com/i5f4 Mondays weather forecast is currently 80% GO for favorable conditions at launch time. The concerns are for Cumulus clouds and Anvil clouds according to Air Force meteorologists with the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base. In case of a scrub for any reason on May 15, the backup launch opportunity is Tuesday, May 16 at 7:21 p.m. EDT, or 23:21 UTC The path to launch was cleared following the successful completion of a critical static hot-fire test of the first stage this past Thursday, May 11. Watch this cool video of Thursday's engine test as seen from the National Wildlife Refuge near Playalinda Beach on the Atlantic Ocean. Video Caption: Static fire test of Falcon 9 booster for Inmarsat 5 F4 launch. Testing of the 9 Merlin 1D engines of a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster on Pad 39A in preparation for launch of the Inmarsat 5 F4 satellite on May 15, 2017 from pad 39A at KSC. Credit: Jeff Seibert The Inmarsat-5 F4 (I-5 F4) will become part of the firms Global Xpress network "which has been delivering seamless, high-speed broadband connectivity across the world since December 2015," says Inmarsat. "Once in geostationary orbit, the satellite will provide additional capacity for Global Xpress users on land, at sea and in the air." I-5 F4 was built by Boeing at their satellite operations facility in El Segundo, CA for Inmarsat. The new satellite will join 3 others already in orbit. Inmarsat 5 F4 will be the sixth SpaceX launch of 2017. The 7 meter long satellite be deployed approximately 32 minutes after launch when it will come under the command of the Boeing and Inmarsat satellite operations teams based at the Boeing facility in El Segundo. It will then be "manoeuvred to its geostationary orbit, 35,786km (22,236 miles) above Earth, where it will deploy its solar arrays and reflectors and undergo intensive payload testing before beginning commercial service." https://www.universetoday.com/135553/spacex-targeting-twilight-thunder-for-may-15-inmarsat- blastoff-watch-live/ Curt Lewis