Aviation News

A team of elite balloonists claimed one of ballooning’s top prizes this week but there was definitely no one to see the final moments of their historic flight. Polish pilot Krzysztof Zapart and American teammate Andy Cayton landed their gas-filled balloon on the muskeg of an uninhabited wilderness about 100 miles south of Hudson Bay […]

Boeing’s Board of Directors separated the roles of company chairman and CEO on Friday, removing Dennis Muilenburg from the position of chairman but emphasizing that he will remain Boeing’s president, CEO, and director. Independent lead director David Calhoun was elected to serve as non-executive chairman. According to the board, separating the roles will “enable Muilenburg […]

This week, AVweb’s news roundup found reports on aircraft battery approvals, new USB charging ports and the signing of a service agreement for a training management system. Battery manufacturer True Blue Power announced the TSO certification of its Gen5 main ship lithium-ion battery family. The batteries received a C179b CLASS A-4B rating after undergoing testing […]

The FAA delegated too much of the 737 MAX’s certification oversight to Boeing and it failed to understand the implications of the MCAS autotrim system, according to an international panel that reviewed the troubled aircraft and released its report today. In the wake of two hull loss accidents that killed 346 people, the Joint Authorities […]

Even with higher flight activity, the general aviation fatal accident rate continues to decline, according to the just-released AOPA Joseph T. Nall Report. In 2015, the fatal rate was at a historic low of 0.92/100,000 flight hours and in 2016, the most recent year for which reliable data is available, it inched down further to […]

Airbus delivered the 1,000th aircraft in its A320neo family of passenger jets on Thursday. The neo—standing for “new engine option”—line includes the A319neo, A320neo and A321neo. Number 1000, an A321neo, went to India-based airline IndiGo, Airbus’ biggest customer for the A320neo family with orders for 430 aircraft. The aircraft was assembled at Airbus’ factory in […]

Boeing and Porsche announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Thursday launching a partnership to “explore the premium urban air mobility market and the extension of urban traffic into airspace.” According to Boeing, the companies plan to create a team to study areas of urban air mobility including market analysis and use cases […]

The FAA has established a Women in Aviation Advisory Board, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced on Wednesday. According to the FAA, the purpose of the new board is to “provide independent advice and recommendations to the FAA in supporting women’s involvement in the aviation field.” It will focus on “analyzing industry […]

Embraer announced that it has successfully completed the first test of an autonomous aircraft in Brazil. As shown in the video below, the taxi test, which was overseen by a pilot in the cockpit, took the aircraft “along a previously established path without human interference.” According to Embraer, an integrated artificial intelligence system capable of […]

American Airlines has announced that it now expects its 24 grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to return to service on Jan. 16, 2020, extending its September decision to cancel all MAX flights through Dec. 6. According to the airline, other aircraft types will be substituted on scheduled MAX routes to avoid flight cancellations. The 737 […]