LSA

Cellphone video shot by the boaters who were first on the scene at retired Major League Baseball pitcher Roy Halladay’s plane crash showed him doing a low-level steep turn and flying just above the Gulf of Mexico off Florida before he crashed. The video, obtained by TMZ, accompanied a story in which other witnesses said […]

Two men who died in the crash of a Czech-built light-sport aircraft in Rhoadesville, Virginia, in May 2016 had deployed a parachute recovery system, but it failed when the single front attachment point detached, according to a recent NTSB report. According to the NTSB, the pilot had recently purchased the Jihlavan KP 5 ASA (Skyleader […]

Citing a lack of FAA guidance or industry expertise in training pilots for low-altitude operations, Icon Aircraft has created guidelines for pilots flying the A5 and is preparing a low-altitude training course for pilots who want to go lower than the guidelines provide. “Our goal is to take a proactive, leadership role in the flight […]

Icon has delivered the first of its Model Year 18 aircraft, the company said on Thursday. The new version incorporates “numerous functional and manufacturability improvements,” the company said. The changes include improved nosegear, which makes the A5 easier to steer and taxi; instruments with better legibility, illumination and reliability; and reduced complexity, weight and airflow […]

The Icon A5 has been, for years, a press darling. Experienced journalists fresh off assignments flying multi-million dollar jets gushed over a pre-production light sport airplanes. Seriously? Icon said I could try to answer that question for myself, but only if I really flew the airplane and understood the customer experience. “Spend four days at […]

The NTSB on Tuesday released its final report on the Icon A5 crash on May 8 that took the lives of two Icon employees, pilot Jon Karkow and passenger Cagri Sever. The investigators found the probable cause of the accident was “the pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from terrain while maneuvering at a low altitude.” […]

Flight Design, which has been in receivership in Germany since February 2016, is now under new ownership, the company announced on Wednesday. Lift Air, from Eisenach, Germany, has taken over all assets and operation of the company. “I am glad that we are able to maintain the know-how of one of the world’s market leaders […]

Icon has started to deliver airplanes to customers and let them “take them home and fly them wherever they want,” the company said in its annual newsletter, issued on Tuesday. The first deliveries, completed in June and July, went to owners in Seattle, Montana and California. To support these A5s out in the field, Icon […]

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, a Chinese conglomerate that owns the Volvo and Lotus automobile brands, has agreed to buy the Terrafugia flying-car company, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. The XConomy Boston website also reported on the sale, saying they have “independently been tracking rumors about the acquisition.” Terrafugia CEO Carl […]

The NTSB issued its preliminary report this week on the fatal crash of an Icon A5 on May 8 in California. A witness, who was aboard a boat on Lake Berryessa, told investigators he saw the A5 flying over the lake about 30 to 50 feet above the water, at what seemed to be a […]