Aviation News

The Transportation Department’s inspector general says the FAA allowed American Airlines to fly snagged and even non-airworthy aircraft without following up on whether repairs were made. According to an Associated Press report, the IG was generally critical of the performance of both the airline and the regulator in the new safety enforcement environment of safety […]

A Swedish company has unabashedly adopted the pop culture name synonymous with flying cars and is now taking orders for what might be a viable personal eVTOL. The production model Jetson One was unveiled last week and the 12 ultralight and drone-like single-seat aircraft being built in 2022 have already been sold at the introductory […]

Ohio’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles did a quick 180 after failing its creative license test on Thursday with a physics-defying image of the Wright Flyer. The state’s motto is “Birthplace of Aviation” in reference to the Wright brothers’ Dayton headquarters for development of what is generally accepted to be the first powered aircraft. The BMV’s […]

Mesa Air Group has partnered with aerospace tech company and drone manufacturer Flirtey to launch a drone delivery service. The service will initially focus on last-mile food and beverage deliveries in the U.S. with plans to eventually expand to New Zealand where Flirtey is already active. As part of the arrangement, Mesa has signed an […]

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) has formed a team to study 180-degree turn-backs to the runway following engine failures on takeoff. Designed to improve aviation safety by looking at turn-back responses, the study will focus on how pilots react to an engine failure on takeoff, stall awareness, recognition and prevention after loss of power in […]

Boeing is forecasting that the Middle East will require around 3,000 new airplanes and Africa’s airlines will need 1,030 new aircraft over the next 20 years. The company’s recently released 2021 Commercial Market Outlook (CMO) also suggests that the Middle East will see a demand for aftermarket services worth an estimated $740 billion over the […]

The all-volunteer RedTail Flight Academy will be receiving advanced safety management system (SMS) software from Baldwin Safety & Compliance, according to an announcement from Baldwin. The Academy, which is working to promote the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen and provide programs for “youth from areas traditionally underrepresented in aviation [and] other science, technology, engineering and mathematics […]

NASA and Boeing have announced that the next launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has been pushed back to next year while the company works to correct an oxidizer isolation valve issue on the vehicle’s service module propulsion system. The problem was discovered last August when unexpected valve position indications caused the cancellation of an uncrewed […]

Urban air mobility (UAM) company Volocopter completed the first public test flight of its VoloDrone all-electric, heavy-lift utility drone in Hamburg, Germany, last week. The flight lasted three minutes, reaching a maximum altitude of 22 meters (72 feet) with the aircraft carrying a Euro-pallet-sized load. The test was conducted in partnership with international logistics company […]

Safran Helicopter Engines has opened an assembly line for the Arriel 2E engine at its facility in Grand Prairie, Texas. Previously produced only in France, the engine powers the Airbus H145 and UH-72B Lakota helicopters. The Arriel 2E variant was certified in December 2012 and entered service in August 2014. “Assembling this variant in Texas […]