Aviation News

Canadian seaplane company Harbour Air announced that its modified all-electric DHC-2 de Havilland Beaver has successfully completed its first flight. The six-passenger “ePlane,” which the company is calling the world’s first all-electric commercial aircraft, took off from the Fraser River at the Harbour Air Seaplanes terminal in Richmond, British Columbia, on Tuesday morning. The aircraft […]

The NTSB says doors-off helicopter flights where passengers are secured with safety harnesses should stop. This recommendation comes after reviewing the March 2018 accident where five passengers perished in New York’s East River and includes the board urging the FAA to close a loophole that allows such flights under the guise of aerial photography. “These […]

The FAA has selected twelve organizations to advise the agency as it develops test administration requirements for an aeronautical knowledge and safety test for recreational Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS/drone) operators. Among the organizations that will be advising the FAA are Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, DJI, King Schools, the Unmanned Safety Institute, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association […]

Northrop Grumman will let a 1972 Sabreliner live on after retirement, though it won’t be sleeping in and playing golf. The twinjet has been donated to Maryland’s Anne Arundel County public schools as an “aviation training aid … to support AACPS’ new Aviation Maintenance Technician program for high school students pursuing formal certification in airframe […]

Garmin has announced that its G1000 NXi integrated flight deck has been certified for Embraer Phenom 100 business jets equipped with the G1000-based Prodigy Flight Deck. The NXi upgrade adds features including wireless connectivity, Garmin SurfaceWatch runway monitoring technology, visual approach guidance, map overlay within the HSI and split-screen view on the MFD. In addition, […]

On Jan. 8, the FAA will discontinue the Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service (HIWAS) after discussions with industry going back a year and a half. Ending HIWAS is “part of FAA efforts to modernize and streamline service delivery.” Citing new weather-dissemination technologies, the FAA says that “the demand for inflight services from Flight Service specialists […]

Wired is reporting that next generation 3D manufacturing processes are coming to the rescue of warplanes designed with slide rules and blueprints. The aircraft that form the backbone of the Air Force’s strategic forces, the B-52s, B-1s and KC-135s, are approaching pension age in human years and have myriad knobs, pulls, cabinets and other ancillary […]

Textron is laying off 875 people including some in its aviation division and closing some facilities just before Christmas as part of a restructuring plan outlined in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday. The company announced on Thursday that it would lay off an unspecified number of salaried employees but refused to offer […]

A former FAA inspector who claims he was “promoting aviation” has been sentenced to six years in jail for a string of corruption and theft charges that even involved his mother. The Miami Herald is reporting that Manuel Fernandez, a senior FAA safety inspector in South Florida, stole expensive repair manuals and resold them, took […]

After dropping steadily for most of the past two decades, the helicopter accident and fatal accident rates have plateaued and the FAA is redoubling efforts to keep the numbers dropping. The U.S. Helicopter Safety Team (USHST), an FAA-led initiative with the lofty goal of eliminating helicopter fatalities, released the latest stats on accident rates and […]