Aviation News

The airline business is on the rebound but there still aren’t as many people flying as before 9/11. The International Civil Aviation Organization said commercial traffic was up 2 percent over 2001. But that’s about 2 to 3 percent below 2000 levels. Spokesman Denis Chagnon said it would be 2004 before the industry returns to […]

AOPA’s First Flight pilot facility currently under construction at Kill Devil Hills, N.C., is nearing completion. The facility should be ready for the 99th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first poweredflight on December 17, 2002… United Air Lines announced it would cut another 9,000 jobs by the end of 2004 in an effort to avoid […]

Two explosions in the cargo wing of Lagos International Airport hurt eight and damaged airport buildings and a warehouse Thursday. Airport officials said they don’t know what caused the blasts but we wonder if they might spring for more firefighting equipment, now. A single pumper and hose were used to battle the huge blaze… The […]

Kris Kringle received all necessary flight certifications and clearances needed to embark on his annual gift-giving flight on Dec. 24-25. The order — signed by U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta — said that Santa Claus was “exceptionally fit, joyfully willing and uniquely able to engage in the interstate air transportation for which he has […]

The Civil Air Patrol’s 9/11 work has won it two awards. CAP, which provides search-and-rescue service in most areas, won two awards of excellence from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) for its relief efforts after Sept. 11 and for its overall emergency services operations… All bags going through O’Hare will be screened for […]

BE A PILOT reported Monday that response to its learn-to-fly program was up 6.2 percent in 2002, through early December. Response this autumn was 50 to 70 percent higher each month compared to post-9/11 months in 2001… The National Aeronautic Association presented Paul H. Poberezny, founder of the EAA, with the Wright Brothers Memorial Award […]

Five U.S. soldiers were killed in the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter in central Honduras Wednesday. The helicopter was on a night training exercise as part of its deployment to Joint Task Force Bravo, which conducts training, counter-drug and humanitarian missions in Central and South America and the Caribbean… A security sweep of Chicago […]

A new series, “A Chopper Is Born,” will air on the Discovery Wings channel. The 15-part series highlights the building of a RotorWay Exec 162F kit helicopter. The series is currently airing in the U.K., and it will appear in the U.S. sometime this fall. For more information, contact RotorWay at 480/961-1001 or visit the […]

There were some tense moments in Miami after an experimental plane crashed into the FederalReserve Bank, Thursday. Both occupants of the Four Winds 192 died but none of the 100 people attending a Christmas party inside was hurt. Authorities quickly determined the mishap was an accident and not deliberate… Steve Fossett’s balloon flight around the […]

Rudder problems continue to bother the Concorde. Maintenance crews found a piece of a British Airways Concorde’s rudder missing last week after a flight from London to New York. The plane, with 96 passengers aboard, landed safely. It’s the fifth such incident since 1989… A new terminal opened on the GA ramp at Dane County […]