Aviation News

Joby Aviation announced Tuesday (Dec. 3) its flight academy has received an FAA Part 141 certificate—and its air operations voluntary Safety Management System (SMS) has been accepted by the federal agency. The Part 141 certificate will enable “streamlined” pilot training, setting up a pipeline of qualified aircrew members for Joby’s planned Part 135 commercial air […]

The FAA revealed to Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs) in an educational session today it will be making changes on Jan. 1, 2025, to color-vision testing “to improve safety.” Dr. Richard Kaplan, an AME, pilot and flight instructor who is also color-blind, attended the online session. He told AVweb, “The longstanding Ishihara color testing book will […]

Multiple news sources, including Axios, have reported that the U.S. House of Representatives GOP steering committee has granted a waiver for Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., to continue as chair of the chamber’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Under Republican House rules, a waiver is required to serve in that leadership position for more than six years […]

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is reporting on a recent FAA Advisory Circular (AC) that refers to a new generation of collision avoidance technology. The AC, itself, “provides an acceptable means to address operational use of collision avoidance systems (CAS), including ACAS and traffic alert and collision avoidance systems (TCAS).” “ACAS” is the generic […]

A pair of aerodynamic researchers at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have created a raptor-inspired drone that uses its tail feathers to control bank, rather than wingtip feathers mimicked by ailerons on airplanes. Hoang-Vu Phan and Dario Floriano built a feathered drone with morphable wings and a twistable tail that they […]

A nighttime emergency highway landing in Utah left an instructor and student pilot uninjured, but the subsequent traffic pileup injured several drivers. One of the motorists subsequently died from injuries sustained in the collision. About 8:15 p.m. local time Monday night (Dec. 2) over Payson, Utah (about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City), a […]

Ten companies from five European countries have demonstrated a sense and avoid system for large drones they intend to certify in the next few years. The European Detect and Avoid System (EUDAAS) was installed on a Leonardo Falco Xplorer drone and demonstrated at Trapani Birgi Airport and did well enough to advance to the next […]

A New Zealand controller is being celebrated five months after she talked a panicked international student pilot on a solo flight to a safe landing at Dunedin Airport. Airways New Zealand, the country’s private airspace management company, presented Kate Lindsey with an award for keeping her cool as the student screamed in terror. “I knew […]

Boeing executives are getting to know their products and those of competitors like they’ve probably never done before after their new boss all but grounded the company’s fleet of Challenger 650 business jets. Bloomberg used ADS-B tracking sites to deduce that use of the Challengers has dropped 80% with just 29 flights in October compared […]

GA aircraft sales remain strong across the board with both numbers and billings showing strong growth in the first nine months of 2024. According to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s third-quarter report, aircraft sales were up 6.3% while the billing totals jumped a whopping 20.5%. “The health of our industry remains stable, which allows our […]