Week in review (4/17 to 4/23)

Airbus will deliver the first Airbus jetliner made in the United States to customer JetBlue at a first-of-its-kind event in Mobile, Ala., on Monday. The twin-engine, A321 single-aisle plane took its first flight March 21 and has flown several times since then.

Earlier this week in Mobile, the European Aviation Safety Administration (EASA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Airbus completed the EASA Export Certificate of Airworthiness in the offices of the Mobile Airport Authority for the A321, according to Roger Wehner, the MAA executive director.

The Gulf Coast Reporters' League aerospace newsletter will have a special issue about the event.

Meanwhile, the first Airbus A321 aircraft built for American Airlines at the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility made its first flight April 19. The aircraft is going through a few more weeks in final production before being delivered to American Airlines. (Post)


Bases/federal
A Navy Tomahawk missile fired from a sub off the southern tip of Florida aborted before completing its mission and crashed in Hogtown Bayou in Choctawhatchee Bay Tuesday. There were no injuries or property damage. The unarmed missile’s flight path in the routine test mission was coordinated with the Federal Aviation Agency to avoid residential and commercial areas. The Navy is investigating the cause of flight termination near Eglin. (Post)

-- Brig. Gen. Kirk W. Smith, director, plans, requirements and programs, Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Fla., has been assigned to director, force management and development, Headquarters U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. (Post)

-- The Federal Aviation Administration adopted a proposed rule that removes restricted area R–4403 over Gainesville, Miss., and replaces it with an expanded area redesignated as R–4403A, B, C, E and F over NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss. More restricted airspace is necessary to support NASA testing and Navy training requirements, including weapons firing. The restricted area expansion becomes effective on May 26, 2016. (Post)


Contracts
Rockwell Collins Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was awarded an $83 million contract for Common Range Integrated Instrumentation System (CRIIS) modification, integration and support. The location of performance is Cedar Rapids. The work is expected to be completed by April 18, 2021. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity.