Aviation News

Diamond‘s turbo-diesel TwinStar has received IFR certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency, the company announced yesterday. Deliveries in Europe begin next month… Photo IDs for pilots included in intelligence reform bill signed into law last week… The launch date for Steve Fossett’s GlobalFlyer round-the-world nonstop solo flight has been pushed back from early January […]

Thirteen whooping cranes followed an ultralight to arrive at their winter home in Florida on Sunday. Funding for the program is in question… New methods for predicting cloud formation under development at Georgia Tech… Former Cessna President Charlie Johnson has joined Aviation Technology Group, developer of the two-seater Javelin Jet… Pilots can share rides and […]

The Federal Communications Commission may study allowing cellphone use on airliners. A vote next week among FCC officials will determine whether the issue comes up for discussion. Whether passengers uncomfortable at the thought of sitting next to a cell yeller will get a vote is not known… The owner of a Washington State charter company […]

Australian authorities are investigating whether faulty GPS data contributed to an accident that killed six people near Benalla, Victoria, last July. The Piper Cheyenne involved strayed almost continuously off course and hit a mountain miles from the nearest GPS approach waypoint… The NBAA is countering all the negative press surrounding three recent high-profile crashes by […]

A 1940’s-era Convair CV-340 cargo plane sporting “EELECT (sic) GEORGE W. BUSH” down the length of its fuselage Saturday departed Opa-Locka airport in Florida, reportedly suffered engine trouble and ditched in nearby Maule lake. The crew of two avoided densely populated Miami-Dade suburbs (excepting vast expanses of open water) and escaped unhurt. The aircraft and […]

At least 31 died in Indonesia on Tuesday when a Lion Air MD-82 skidded off the runway while trying to land in heavy rain… Seven soldiers died in the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter near Fort Hood, Texas, on Monday. The helicopter hit wires supporting a television transmission tower, which was unlit, in foggy […]

An early winter storm knocked out the DME at Reno-Tahoe International Airport Saturday, canceling 69 flights and stranding 2,000 passengers. Airport spokesman Brian Kulpin said it was the second such failure of the FAA-operated equipment in a month and he described it as “inexcusable.” The FAA’s hazardous-materials enforcement process needs improvement, according to the Department […]

The Department of Defense has decided to keep its air navigation secrets … well … secret. The DoD’s National Geospatial Intelligence Agency will no longer allow the public to snoop in its aeronautical navigation publications and Web sites. The idea is to keep would-be terrorists from having “unfettered access to air facility data” and to […]

The Air National Guard has changed rules at a New Jersey firing range to avoid populated areas, after a school was accidentally hit by stray bullets… Starting this month, airports can opt to use private contractors instead of federal security screeners from the Transportation Security Administration. (Why does that sound so familiar?)… The FAA says […]

All five people on board died Sunday when a Piper Navajo crashed near an apartment complex in San Antonio, Texas. An investigator said Monday the pilot told controllers he was climbing, but radar showed the airplane in a steep descent… Cessna’s huge new Wichita Service Center is preparing for its grand opening next month. The […]