AvCraft Technical Services was a

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as "The Grand Strand" in the northeastern part of the state. Its y ...

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, based company that supplied maintenance and technical support services for owners/operators of

Bombardier Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) and ...

ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed b ...

and

Fairchild Dornier Fairchild was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company based at various times in Farmingdale, New York; Hagerstown, Maryland; and San Antonio, Texas. History Early aircraft The company was founded by Sherman Fairchild in ...

328 turboprop and jet aircraft. Avcraft operated from a 136,000 sq ft complex of hangars, paint facilities and back shops that provide

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

EASA The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitori ...

and

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...

-approved heavy maintenance, as well as structural repairs, modifications and refurbishment.

History

The company began its life as AvCraft Support Services, Inc., the North American operating subsidiary of Avcraft Inc. The parent company purchased the production rights for the 328JET from the receivers of Fairchild Dornier GmbH in December 2002 following the European company's demise. The final transfers of the type and production certificates were completed in the third quarter of 2003. The company intended to restart 328Jet production in Germany during 2004 and was bringing the production of its wing, formerly outsourced, in-house. By August 2004, AvCraft Inc. had re-entered the

regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

market and was entering the corporate aircraft market, placing previously unsold Dornier product with a number of customers. It exhibited at the 2004

Farnborough Airshow The Farnborough Airshow, officially the Farnborough International Airshow, is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors. Since its fir ...

and joined major industry associations. However, in March, 2005, the company went into

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citing a lack of cash caused, it claimed, by an airline failing to accept delivery of completed aircraft. AvCraft Support Services continued to operate while under company administration, initially focusing exclusively on MRO support for the Fairchild Dornier 328 family, operating from a facility at

. In September 2009 AvCraft Support Services entered into a joint venture agreement with Indaer International, a commercial aircraft technical services company with offices in Colombia and Canada. The joint venture initially targeted heavy maintenance on ATR regional turboprops and then expanded to include Dash 8 aircraft too. In September 2010 Indaer International led a group of investors that purchased AvCraft Support Services out of

, renaming it AvCraft Technical Services. In the summer of 2015, AvCraft filed for bankruptcy, laying off all remaining employees and closing down.

Capabilities

AvCraft holds US, European, Canadian and Venezuelan approvals to provide MRO services in their 136,000 sq. ft. facility and 500,000 sq. ft. of ramp space. The company is ideally situated in

, AvCraft can easily provide easy access to North American, South American, Caribbean and European customers. AvCraft provides the following in-house capabilities: * Aircraft Heavy Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul * Aircraft Modifications * Structural Repair and Modifications * Engineering Liaison * Flight Control Repair and Overhaul * Composite Repair and Painting * Avionics and Battery Services * Aircraft Exterior painting * Aircraft Interior Refurbishment and Painting * Airworthiness Certification Assistance and Coordination * Aircraft Ground Testing and Flight Test Support * Aircraft Parts and Logistics support and certification (Form 1 / 8130) * Aircraft Teardown and Crating Services * Aircraft Storage - short term and long term * Aircraft Selection and Acquisition Support * Honeywell dealer and HAPP (Honeywell Avionics Protection Program) support

Approvals

FAA Certificate Number CMRR055C EASA Part-145 Approval Certificate EASA.145.5615 Transport Canada Bilateral Approval Venezuelan INAC Approval Number OMAC-E 576.

Aircraft Supported

ATR 42, ATR 72, Dash 8-100/200/300, Dornier 328-100/300, ERJ135/140/145, Cessna Caravan, Cessna 402, Piaggio Avanti P.180

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avcraft Aviation Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States