Aviation News

The Air Force has pitted a human fighter pilot against artificial intelligence but it won’t say who won. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force’s Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base poured AI into a modified F-16 called the X-62A VISTA for a head-to-chip battle over the high desert last […]

The FAA is investigating a runway incursion at Washington-Reagan Airport on Thursday in which two airliners were stopped by controllers about 300 feet apart. According to ATC recordings, the Southwest 737 and JetBlue A320 were both following ATC instructions when they came close to meeting at the intersection of a taxiway and runway. The FAA […]

Italian planemaker Vulcanair says it will begin deliveries from its new manufacturing plant in North Carolina in 2025. Spokesman Mike McMann said the company is also building a parts distribution warehouse at the Elizabethtown complex. At a news conference at Sun ‘n Fun last week, McMann also announced the sale of five of the four-place […]

uAvionix has won a contract to supply ADS-B-based systems to provide tower controllers with real-time positions of aircraft on airport taxiways, ramps and runways. The FlightLine system was picked as a cost-effective solution to boost situational awareness of surface movements for controllers through the agency’s Surface Awareness Initiative. The first two deployments are at Austin […]

For the first time in its history, the FAA has issued a special flight authorization to allow Boom Supersonic to break the sound barrier. The approval will allow the Colorado startup to fly its XB-1 demonstrator aircraft faster than Mach 1 up to 20 times over the next year in the Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor […]

The FAA has launched a barrage of social media posts aimed at gathering applicants for its next intake of air traffic controller trainees. The next application period begins Friday and lasts until May 8. The agency is short about 3,000 controllers and is under pressure to get those posts filled in light of a rash […]

The bankruptcy consultant helping Van’s Aircraft says he’s confident the company will emerge from Chapter 11 and resume profitability. Clyde Hamstreet, of Hamstreet and Associates, said in a video update hosted by Van’s that almost 85% of customers with deposits on kits and parts stuck with the company after its bombshell announcement late last year […]

The Marine Corps’ top pilot for 2024 never leaves the ground. For the first time, a drone pilot, Maj. Shane Gentry, has been named the Corps’ Marine Aviator of the Year. He was also named recipient of the Alfred A. Cunningham Award by the Marine Corp Aviation Association. Gentry is a member of the Marine […]

While all the attention seems to have been on United Airlines, American pilots say they, too, are seeing a lot more maintenance issues since the airline reduced routine inspections. The Allied Pilots Association sent an email to its members over the weekend saying it has been “tracking a significant spike in safety- and maintenance-related problems […]

According to GlobalAir, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley is calling on the FAA to tighten up aircraft registration to prevent drug cartels from using N-registered planes to move drugs. Grassley, who’s co-chair of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, issued a report on Monday alleging the cartels are using loopholes to get U.S. registration on […]