(Reuters) – Nine people were killed and three were injured in an airplane crash in the U.S. state of South Dakota, the Associated Press reported late on Saturday, citing authorities.
The aircraft, a Pilatus PC-12, carrying 12 people on board, was bound for Idaho from South Dakota before it crashed around noon on Saturday, the news agency said, citing National Transportation Safety Board’s Peter Knudson.
The cause for the crash has not yet been determined, the report said.
Reporting by Akshay Balan in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Raju Gopalakrishnan
U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters from the 58th Fighter Squadron, 33rd Fighter Wing, Eglin AFB, Fla. perform an aerial refueling mission with a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 336th Air Refueling Squadron from March ARB, Calif., May 14, 2013 off the coast of Northwest Florida. The 33rd Fighter Wing is a joint graduate flying and maintenance training wing that trains Air Force, Marine, Navy and international partner operators and maintainers of the F-35 Lightning II. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen/Released)
FORT WORTH, Texas, Oct. 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — The F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) finalized a $34 billion agreement for the production and delivery of 478 F-35s at the lowest aircraft price during the history of the Program. This contract includes all U.S., International Partners and Foreign Military Sales aircraft in Lots 12, 13 and 14.
In the agreement, the F-35 Enterprise meets and exceeds its long-stated cost reduction targets for each variant – and the F-35A unit price, including aircraft and engine, is now below $80 million in both Lot 13 and Lot 14, the F-35A unit cost represents an estimated overall 12.8 percent reduction from Lot 11 costs for the conventional landing variant, and an average of 12.7 percent savings across all three variants from Lot 11 to 14.
“Driving down cost is critical to the success of this program. I am excited that the F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin have agreed on this landmark three-lot deal. This agreement achieves an average 12.7 percent cost reduction across all three variants and gets us below $80 million for a USAF F-35A by Lot 13 – one lot earlier than planned,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. Eric Fick, F-35 Program Executive Officer. “This $34 billion agreement is a truly historic milestone for the F-35 Enterprise.”
The agreement includes 291 aircraft for the U.S. Services, 127 for F-35 International Partners, and 60 for F-35 Foreign Military Sales customers. Price details include:
“With smart acquisition strategies, strong government-industry partnership and a relentless focus on quality and cost reduction, the F-35 Enterprise has successfully reduced procurement costs of the 5th Generation F-35 to equal or less than 4th Generation legacy aircraft,” said Greg Ulmer, Lockheed Martin, F-35 Program vice president and general manager. “With the F-35A unit cost now below $80 millionin Lot 13, we were able to exceed our long-standing cost reduction commitment one year earlier than planned.”
The sub $80 million unit recurring flyaway cost for an F-35 represents an integrated acquisition price for the 5th Generation Weapon System. With embedded sensors and targeting pods, this F-35 unit price includes items that add additional procurement and sustainment costs to legacy 4th Generation aircraft.
Program Progress
With more than 450 aircraft operating from 19 bases around the globe, the F-35 is playing a critical role in today’s global security environment. More than 910 pilots and 8,350 maintainers have been trained, and the F-35 fleet has surpassed more than 220,000 cumulative flight hours. Eight nations have F-35s operating from a base on their home soil and seven Services have declared Initial Operating Capability.
In addition to strengthening global security and partnerships, the F-35 provides economic stability to the U.S. and International Partners by creating jobs, commerce and security, and contributing to the global trade balance. The F-35 is built by thousands of men and women in America and around the world. With more than 1,400 suppliers in 46 states and Puerto Rico, the F-35 Program supports more than 220,000 direct and indirect jobs in the U.S. alone. The Program also includes more than 100 international suppliers, creating or sustaining thousands of jobs.
The business year 2018 was an exceptionally successful one for Pilatus, but also a challenging one. At around 1.1 billion Swiss francs, sales revenue was brought back to the billion mark again. The 128 aircraft delivered in total included the first PC-24 – a milestone in the company history. All in all, 18 PC-24s were handed over to customers in the past year.
Financial 2018 was better than the previous year. At 1,092 million Swiss francs, sales revenue surpassed the one billion mark for the first time since 2015. The operating result totals 157 million Swiss francs. And the future looks good: following incoming orders worth 1 billion Swiss francs, the current order volume stands at 2.1 billion Swiss francs – the equivalent of just under two years of sales revenue. A total of 128 aircraft were delivered to customers – 18 PC-24s, 80 PC-12 NGs, 27 PC-21s and three PC-6s.
PC-24 in focus
Pilatus PC-24 Jet
The delivery of the first PC-24 to the first customer in February 2018 marked a milestone in the development phase spanning over eleven years. The brand-new Super Versatile Jet was the focus of much work throughout 2018: besides bringing PC-24 series production operations up to speed, the customer service unit and entire service network also switched to “live” mode. Pilatus continued to make improvements to the PC-24 in parallel, pushing ahead with various post-certification test programmes aimed at delivering all aircraft capabilities promised to customers at the outset. The next milestone is just around the corner: the reopening of the PC-24 order book.
Customer service business grows in both pillars
Whilst the military sector is hugely important to Pilatus, the lack of new trainer fleet contracts in 2018 is not unduly worrying: Pilatus is focused on the necessary upstream work and has reinforced its sales efforts in this area. Constant growth in after-sales business is encouraging.
Pilatus PC-12
The Business Unit General Aviation also saw continued expansion of its customer service operations. The volume of PC-24s in operation grows with every week that passes, generating similar growth in the number of customers requiring support. The network of Authorised Pilatus Centres was further strengthened to offer customers around the world the level of service they are entitled to expect in the business aircraft league.
Preparing for success in the future
At the end of 2018 the Pilatus Group employed 2,283 people, including 127 apprentices. Over 150 new jobs were created. 93 percent of all employees work in Switzerland. At the headquarters in Stans work progresses on the construction of the new structure assembly hall: this new centre of competence for airframe construction operations will be commissioned in spring 2019 – a clear sign of commitment to the location in Switzerland.
Pilatus PC-21
The new completion centre run by the US subsidiary Pilatus Business Aircraft Ltd in Broomfield, Colorado, opened in the autumn. In Adelaide, preparatory work continued for the construction of a new, company-owned building for the subsidiary, Pilatus Australia Pty Ltd.
Commenting on these results, Chairman Oscar J. Schwenk remarked: “I am pleased to note that financial 2018 was a very successful year for us. A year in which a great deal of energy went into performing much detailed work. Work which will take us forward throughout the coming year, creating added benefit for our customers. The good financial results of the past year will also benefit our employees under our profit-sharing programme. In addition to an extra month’s salary, they have also been paid a bonus of 1.5 salaries. Our next challenge is already in sight: the imminent re-opening of the PC-24 order book. This is the year in which the reputation of the PC-24 and all other related services will be established. We are consistent in our efforts towards that goal, thereby consolidating our success and our future.”
