Aviation News

Robotics company Merlin says it has flown the first three flights in its autonomous control program on the KC-135. The flights were conducted at the Pittsburgh Air National Guard Base under a waiver from the Air Force. Merlin has contracts to develop autonomous flight systems for several Air Force platforms and the 1960s-era tankers are […]

Separatists in the West Papua Liberation Army shot and killed a pilot for Indonesian aviation company PT Intan Angkasa Air Service after he had dropped off four passengers at the remote village of Alama. The passengers were not harmed because they were indigenous people from the village. Glen Malcolm Conning, a New Zealander, has been […]

Unionized workers in the FAA’s Flight Standards and Aircraft Certification organizations will be getting a $5,000 cash bonus and be allowed to continue spending only two days a week in the office. According to Federal News Network, negotiators for the 11,000 members of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union said this week they’ve reached a […]

It’s looking more likely that test pilots Sunni Williams and Butch Wilmore won’t be going Boeing for their trip back to earth from the International Space Station. Instead, there are reports now leaking out of NASA that a SpaceX Dragon capsule will do a quick turnaround launch from Cape Canaveral to pick them up and […]

There were no injuries but it will be awhile before the practice green at Haggins Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, California, is back in play after a Piper Arrow made a forced landing on the course. The pilot reported an engine failure on takeoff from Sacramento McClellan Airport on Sunday at about 700 feet. He […]

An avgas shortage in Western Canada and parts of the Pacific Northwest is easing somewhat, but the company that supplies the fuel isn’t saying how much longer it will last. About a month ago, Imperial Oil’s Strathcona refinery near Edmonton, Alberta, stopped making 100LL and it affected fuel sellers from Northern Ontario to the West […]

Tailwind Air, the innovative seaplane scheduled and charter service between Boston and New York harbors, ceased operations last week. The service, which used a company-owned base in Boston Harbor and the 23rd St. seaplane dock in Manhattan, began service in 2021 but didn’t make enough money to keep going. It used amphibious Cessna Caravans and […]

Frontier Airlines has confirmed that it canceled a flight on Saturday because one of the pilots was arrested on the flight deck. Seymour Walker, 45, was arrested on a family violence warrant after the plane landed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Walker was supposed to fly the next leg to Dallas. “The activity occurred prior […]

General Aviation Modifications Inc. (GAMI) says the gunk that smeared the underside of the left wing of the AOPA Beech Baron fuel test bed aircraft at AirVenture originated with a leaky patch in the 50-year-old bladder in the tank. In a report prepared by GAMI, the company said the mechanics who removed all four bladders […]

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian criticized cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and software provider Microsoft, noting that the IT outage cost the airline $500 million. The massive July 19 computer outage at Delta disrupted the airline’s crew tracking system for nearly a week, preventing the company from locating pilots and flight attendants to operate flights. As […]