Aviation News

The FAA has issued an Airworthiness Directive (AD) on most modern Piper aircraft requiring modifications to the control-wheel assembly — Piper had previously addressed the problem. A crash that occurred last year was attributed to the control wheel retaining screw backing out and the wheel coming free. The pilot subsequently lost control… A vertical takeoff […]

The FAA will test solar-powered taxiway edge lights this winter with an eye to approving them as an alternative to costly hard-wired systems. The lights, made by Carmanah Technologies Corp., of Victoria, B.C., Canada, will be installed at various airports to see if they can do the job of the regular systems. If they can, […]

One crew member died on Friday when a Convair 580 cargo plane crashed short of the runway at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport; the other crew member was seriously hurt… The man who inspired Spielberg’s “The Terminal” movie is rich and famous, but still lives on a bench at a Paris airport… Ultralight pilots who want […]

Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation announced Tuesday it has successfully completed high-speed dive testing to .90 Mach for its seven-seat SJ30 light biz jet. The manufacturer lost its chief test pilot, Carroll Beeler, last year when the SJ30-2 aircraft crashed during dive testing to .9 Mach… Delta says it needs $1 billion in salary concessions from […]

Two pilots died in a midair collision near Essex County Airport (Caldwell) in New Jersey on Saturday. The two aircraft, reportedly a Piper and a Cessna, were both in the pattern, one for landing and one doing touch-and-goes… Extra Aircraft‘s EA-500 six-seat single-engine turboprop has been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency. Company officials […]

Here’s a new air show for the calendar, especially if you like Mustangs. Gathering of Mustangs and Legends — The Final Roundup will be held at Reno Stead Field June 9 to June 12, 2006. Organizers hope to attract 100 of the estimated 150 P-51s still flying and many of the Second World War pilots […]

The Air Force spent $2.6 billion on 50 transport planes it can’t use according to a report by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General. The C-130Js don’t meet operational requirements and can’t be used in combat. Both Lockheed Martin and the Defense Department say the C-130J program is meeting all cost and contractual targets… […]

A cheap ($100,000) surveillance drone will start service in Iraq this summer. The U.S. Marines have ordered several ScanEagledrones that can linger over a battlefield at up to 16,000 feet while beaming real-time images of the world below. The drones have a 10-foot wingspan and weigh just 33 pounds… A Virgin Atlantic Airways pilot suspected […]

Southwest Airlines CEO James Parker unexpectedly resigned on Thursday. Gary Kelly, who was CFO, will take over the slot… A military plane carrying Britain’s Prince Charles was involved in an incident in March during which it may have come close to a midair collision with an airliner, according to news reports over the weekend. The […]

The pilot of a single-engine Cessna was handcuffed and questioned when he landed at a Lancaster, Pa., airport last Friday after violating a TFR that accompanied a visit by President Bush… Cessna and Learjet would get tax breaks worth up to a half-billion dollars over 10 years, in bills now pending in Congress, The Washington […]