Aviation News

On Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump announced Jared Isaacman as his pick to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur, pilot and commercial astronaut, has made two trips to space aboard SpaceX capsules in fully private missions organized through his Polaris program. He has partnered closely with Elon Musk and invested […]

Archer Aviation has teamed with Vertex Solutions on mixed-reality flight training device (MR FTD) for Archer’s Midnight eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft. The two companies announced the tie-up this week. The goal is to support Archer’s relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense. The new simulator is currently on display at the weeklong […]

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 […]