Aviation News

With concerns raised over whether pilots fear seeking treatment for mental health issues, the FAA announced today (Nov. 9) it will establish a Pilot Mental Health Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to address the issue. According to the announcement, the FAA “expects the committee to provide recommendations on breaking down the barriers that prevent pilots from […]

Ontario, Canada-based air ambulance service provider Ornge has placed an order for a dozen Pilatus PC-12s. The single-engine turboprops are scheduled to be delivered between 2026 and 2030. Ornge has operated PC-12s since 2009, and its current fleet of eight PC-12 NGs will be progressively phased out of service as the newer aircraft arrive. According […]

Not to be confused with fanciful speculation about toxic “chemtrails” (chemical trails), actual condensation trails—better known as contrails—have been legitimately shown to contribute to global warming. This is because, just as with any cloud, lingering contrails can trap heat and keep it from escaping the atmosphere. If the aviation industry can minimize the formation of […]

After an extensive trial, the University of North Dakota’s flight school has dropped Swift UL94 fuel and resumed use of 100LL. The school said ongoing maintenance monitoring of aircraft using UL94—almost exclusively Lycoming-powered Piper Archers and Seminoles—resulted in measurable exhaust valve recession. The school made the switch back to 100LL on Oct. 27. Partly because […]

One measure of the health of general aviation is the activity within the avionics sector—involving both forward-fit (factory installations) and retrofit sales. The Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) released its Third Quarter Market Report Monday (Nov. 6) and the results are encouraging. Overall sales for the July-September time frame were up by 9.9 percent compared with […]

This afternoon (Nov. 8), U.S. defense officials confirmed that Iranian-backed Houthi forces shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft over the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. The Reaper was reportedly on a surveillance mission over Yemen and the U.S. said it was in international airspace and over international waters when it was […]

Nashua, New Hampshire-based Rotor Technologies announced yesterday (Nov. 7) it has completed a test campaign for its uncrewed R220Y, a derivative of the Robinson R22 piston-powered helicopter. Rotor, which self-describes as a developer of autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, claims theirs is the first-ever test program involving an uncrewed full-scale civilian helicopter. A […]

Firefighters used water-dropping helicopters to try to quell a fire at one of two enormous blimp hangars in Tustin, California, but the historic structure couldn’t be saved. The massive building, 1,000 feet long, almost 200 feet tall and 300 feet wide, caught fire overnight and continued to burn through the day. Firefighters on the ground […]

A total of 193 pilots have accepted buyouts offered by UPS, and they can all walk straight into a job at American Airlines subsidiary PSA. According to Freight Waves, UPS offered the buyouts in August and hoped that 167 pilots would bite. At the same time, PSA, which is actively recruiting pilots, asked UPS if […]

The FAA is monitoring the correlation between pilot inexperience and aviation incidents and so far it isn’t finding much. In the recent hiring sprees at most airlines, pilots have been moving up the ranks at unprecedented rates. Rather than taking years, sometimes decades, to move up to larger and more complex equipment, the hiring blitz […]