Aviation News

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt retired from government service on Wednesday after nearly 15 years with the Board. NTSB Member Jennifer Homendy has been nominated to succeed him in the position. Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg will serve as the Board’s acting chairman pending Homendy’s confirmation by the U.S. Senate. “The NTSB’s role […]

The Swiss Federal Council announced on Wednesday that it has selected the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II to replace its aging F-5 Tiger and F/A-18 Hornet fleets. Other aircraft models considered for the role were the Airbus Eurofighter, Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and Dassault Rafale. According to the Council, the F-35 was the least expensive […]

If your flying itinerary finds you visiting Bologna Airport in Italy, there’s a good chance you’ll be shepherded from the runway to the ramp by a ground-hugging Lamborghini Huracán Evo. For the seventh time, the supercar maker has provided one of its top models to the airport for “follow me” escort duty. This one will remain […]

In a ceremony today, Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City, Missouri, renamed its general aviation terminal to pay tribute to Brig. Gen. Charles McGee, one of only nine living Tuskegee Airmen who served in World War II. McGee, 101, attended the celebration. In 1940 while enrolled in an engineering program at the University […]

A team from Tukwila, Washington’s Raisbeck Aviation High School has been named the winner of the 2021 General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) Aviation Design Challenge. Around 50 schools from 26 states participated in the competition, which is held annually with the goal of promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in U.S. high schools. Second […]

Delivering the signal that airline travel is storming back (at least domestic leisure travel), United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby sent an email message to customers announcing “the largest aircraft purchase that our industry has seen in a decade.” United placed orders (terms not disclosed) for 270 single-aisle jets—200 Boeing 737 Max-series and 70 Airbus A321neos. […]

Last week, three senators introduced the RETAIN GPS and Satellite Communications Act on Capitol Hill. If signed into law, the legislation would hold communications company Ligado, which won FCC approval to go ahead with its 5G cellular network, financially accountable for private and public sector costs caused by GPS interference from their surface-based telecommunications system. […]

U.K.-government-backed ZeroAvia has acquired a pair of Dornier 228 twin turboprops to use as test beds for its Hyflyer II development phase involving 600-kW hydrogen-electric powerplants. One of the 19-seat former regional airliners will be based at Kemble, U.K., and the second at ZeroAvia’s U.S. location in Hollister, California. The 19-seat aircraft will have hydrogen […]

The often-tortuous post-crash litigation process has been cut short in the Kobe Bryant accident aftermath after the families of the deceased passengers settled their suit against pilot Ara Zobayan and aircraft operator Island Express Helicopters. The families, including Bryant’s widow and mother of their teenage daughter who was killed in the crash, alleged it was […]

An FAA committee is recommending the agency adopt gender-neutral terminology systemwide to purge its millions of pages of regulations, reports and correspondence of terms like cockpit, airman and even NOTAM. The FAA Drone Advisory Committee Task Group 10, which was co-chaired by AOPA President Mark Baker and Patricia Gilbert, executive vice president of the National […]