Aviation

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. - As environmental disaster sites go, it doesn't look like much. A scattering of rusting wellhead covers and a machine noisily sucking hydrocarbon vapors from the earth scarcely hint at what has grown into a $50-million headache. But nearly 500 feet beneath this spot, a plume of aviation gas and jet propellant that leaked undetected for decades from an Air Force fuel depot has sunk into the aquifer, drifting toward wells that help supply Albuquerque's drinking water.

Prominent real estate developer Robert F. Maguire has been sued for more than $50 million by the family trust behind the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, alleging that Maguire hasn't kept up payments for an aviation business he bought. The R.E. & M. Petersen Living Trust is the legacy of Robert Petersen and his wife, Margie, who built a magazine empire that published Hot Rod, Motor Trend and other popular titles. Maguire bought Petersen Aviation from the Petersens in 2006 for about $115 million and renamed it Maguire Aviation.

U.S. aviation regulators proposed to fine Boeing Co. $13.6 million for delays in telling airlines how to install devices on 383 aircraft to prevent fuel-tank explosions. Boeing was given a Dec. 27, 2010 deadline to submit instructions on how to add the systems in its U.S.-registered 747 jumbo jets and 757 single-aisle planes, according an e- mailed statement today by the Federal Aviation Administration. The Chicago-based company missed the deadline for 747s by 301 days, and was 406 days late for 757s, according to the FAA release.

NEW DELHI - Hundreds of Air India pilots did not report to work Thursday, the fourth day of a sickout to protest their treatment by management, a dispute that so far has resulted in the cancellation of numerous international flights and cost about 45 pilots their jobs. Officials said the Mumbai-based airline was forced to cancel more than 35 international flights this week, including several bound for New York and Frankfurt, because of the protest. India's aviation minister called the sickout illegal, the airline said it had fired some pilots, and a high court called for negotiations.

A business dispute between two aviation companies at Van Nuys Airport is threatening emergency helicopter flights for injured and severely ill children from around Southern California to Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The disagreement could result in flight delays or even cancellations, according to executives at Helinet Aviation, which owns and operates 15 helicopters at the airport. Flights carrying donated organs for transplantation could also be affected, Helinet executives said.

In the latest sign of China's rising importance in the global aviation industry, Cessna Aircraft Co. said it would develop a plan to build business jets with the state-owned Aviation Industry Corp. of China. The announcement paves the way for Cessna of Wichita, Kan., to become the first U.S. aircraft maker to manufacture business jets in China, the fastest-growing market for the multimillion-dollar planes. "We believe China represents a significant opportunity for growth," said Scott Donnelly, chief executive of Cessna's parent company, U.S. conglomerate Textron Inc., at a signing ceremony Friday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Airfares are rising, planes are packed, and carriers are abandoning less-profitable routes. What's to blame? Climbing fuel prices. And there will be no relief in the immediate future, according to an analysis released by the Federal Aviation Administration. "Planes will remain crowded," said the report released Thursday, and "shrinking capacity will further lift fares higher in 2012. " The nation's airlines buy about 48 million gallons of fuel each day at a price that jumped nearly 40% in the last year.

After a nearly decade-long hiatus, the Museum of Flying has once again spread its wings at Santa Monica Airport. Under blue skies, a new 22,000-square-foot facility opened its doors Saturday to hundreds of aviation enthusiasts who stood in line for a chance to check out about two dozen flying machines on display. Guests ranged from babies in backpacks to retired aviation and aerospace workers such as Richard Schneidmiller, 82, who analyzed failed aircraft parts at the airport for two years after World War II. Griffin Gamble, 10, of Brentwood was among the first to man the controls of a Boeing 727, donated by FedEx, that juts straight out of the museum's corrugated metal wall on Airport Avenue.

GE, one of the country's largest conglomerates, launched a four-day conference about growing the American economy by promising to hire 5,000 veterans over the next five years. The vow is one of many that General Electric Co. made Monday as it began welcoming senators, mayors, governors and executives from companies such as Boeing, Dow Chemical and Google to its Washington, D.C., confab. By 2013, GE said it will open three new aviation factories in the U.S. -- in Mississippi, Alabama and Ohio.

EVENTS The Academy of Model Aeronautics offers Southland aero modeling enthusiasts an opportunity to see and purchase the latest in model aircraft technology, plus competitions, and presentations by aviation celebrities and aero modeling experts. Ontario Convention Center, 2000 E. Convention Center Way, Ontario. Fri.-Sun. Various times. $10-$28. (909) 937-3000. amaexpo.com.