Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

One of the Pratt &amp; Whitney PW1500G turbofans installed on the first Bombardier CSeries flight-test vehicle suffered an unspecified “incident” late on Thursday afternoon during stationary ground maintenance testing at Bombardier’s facilities in Mirabel, Quebec, the airframe manufacturer confirmed on Friday.


Bombardier said it is investigating the incident with the support of Pratt &amp; Whitney and the appropriate authorities, namely Transport Canada. “Safety is the priority, and the CSeries aircraft flight-test program will resume once the investigation is completed,” it said in a statement.


Contacted for comment by AIN, a Bombardier spokesman would not elaborate on the exact nature of the incident, but did acknowledge that it resulted in external damage to the engine and the airframe. He also noted that flight-test crew gained control of the situation soon after event and subsequently towed the aircraft into its hangar for more thorough inspection.


The spokesman added that the company did not expect the incident to result in another major disruption to the program.


Asked to elaborate on the nature of the episode, Pratt &amp; Whitney issued a short statement acknowledging its participation in the investigation. “Pratt &amp; Whitney is working closely with Bombardier to understand the incident,” it said. “No further details are available at this time.”

Bombardier Confirms Engine Incident on CSeries FTV1 

An engine on CSeries FTV1 has halted progress on the flight-test program.

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