Aviation News

Peter Miranda, of Charlotte, N.C., is the 10,000th AOPA Skyspotter. Like his 9,999 predecessors, Miranda took an online course on how to properly file a PIREP. AOPA runs the program through its Air Safety Foundation… Airlines, the New York Port Authority and Boeing could face lawsuits from Sept. 11 thanks to a federal judge’s ruling. […]

The National Air Tour launched on Monday from Willow Run Airport near Detroit for a 4,000-mile journey to 26 cities across the eastern United States… Virginia State EAA Fly-In ready for takeoff on September 20-21… Eclipse Aviation has developed new performance estimates for its personal jet based on preliminary data on the PW610F engine from […]

The FAA is widening a future AD on a specific brand of seatbelts after comments from the public indicated more than one aircraft manufacturer used them. The original Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) applied only to Socata aircraft equipped with the malfunctioning Anjou Aeronautique belts. The next NPRM will apply to all aircraft so equipped… […]

One man’s noise is another’s music. Local residents and town officials are unhappy about the sounds emanating from an ultralight airfield. The Morningside Flight Park in Charlestown, N.H., operates ultralights for hang glider towing. Recent town council meetings have addressed the issue of this airborne noise, although officials aren’t sure if they can regulate the […]

Families of six people who died in the plane crash that killed Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone last October have settled for $25 million from the operators of the charter flight. Pilot error was blamed in the crash… The Air Force computer system has allowed classified parts to be shipped to countries that are banned from […]

Test Pilot Len Fox parachuted to safety yesterday morning after the failure of a test recovery system rendered the prototype Lancair Columbia 400 he was testing unable to land safely. The aircraft crashed in a field near Millican, Oregon, a rural community east of The Lancair Company’s Bend, Oregon, headquarters. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board […]

A set of heroic landing gear will get a place of honor at the Smithsonian. The gear from an Air Transat A330 held despite enormous stresses in an emergency crash landing on the Azores in 2000. The plane had glided to a 250-mph landing at Lajes after a fuel problem emptied the tanks over the […]

Cessna feels good despite some tough times. Company spokesperson Jessica Myers recently told The Wichita Eagle the manufacturer had a very good show at EAA AirVenture and took orders in the “double digits” for various Cessna single-engine Caravan and Citation aircraft. She declined to offer any further details. This follows Cessna’s recent announcement to lay […]

Southwest Airlines carried more passengers than any other U.S. airline in May. That’s the first time a low-fare carrier has knocked one of the major carriers from the top spot… Diamond Aircraft is helping more pilots get into their aircraft by donating $20,000 to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s scholarship fund. The university flies 10 DA40 Diamond […]

A helicopter owned by Indian oil company crashed with 29 people aboard on Monday. The aircraft, which had been chartered by one of India’s largest oil companies, crashed into the Arabian Sea near Bombay. The helicopter took off at 12:15 p.m. from an offshore rig about 22 miles from the coast, and plunged into the […]