Aviation News

The NTSB has issued its preliminary report on the fatal crash of a Beech 65-A90 conducting a skydiving flight from Dillingham Airfield (HDH) in Mokuleia, Hawaii, on June 21. As previously reported by AVweb, all eleven people onboard—the pilot, three tandem parachute instructors and their three customers, two camera operators and two solo jumpers—were killed […]

Aireon and the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) have announced that the Aireon Aircraft Location and Emergency Response Tracking (ALERT) service is now live. According to Aireon, the ALERT service is designed to provide Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), commercial aircraft operators, aviation regulators and search and rescue organizations with the last known position of ADS-B-equipped […]

The Patrouille Suisse, a Swiss air force aerobatic demonstration team, performed a planned flyby over the wrong town last weekend. The team was scheduled to conduct the maneuver above Langenbruck, Switzerland, as part of a ceremony commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Swiss aviator Oskar Bider, who became the first man to cross […]

Rolls-Royce is working on an initiative to strengthen its hybrid electric power and propulsion research and development activities in Brandenburg, Germany, according to a company announcement on Monday. The company says the proposal will build on an established Rolls-Royce partnership with the Brandenburg Technical University (BTU) along with potentially including participation from small and medium-sized […]

Safran has announced plans to build a new production facility for aircraft carbon brakes in Feyzin, France. The company says the plant will incorporate a range of “Factory 4.0” technologies developed by Safran, which it expects to result in reduced energy and water consumption and increased use of renewable energy. Safran anticipates adding up to […]

A new issue with the Boeing 737 MAX autopilot has emerged in the European Aviation Safety Agency’s bottom-line position on returning the airliner to service. Bloomberg, citing an unnamed source, is reporting EASA listed five major issues that need resolution and four of those have been widely discussed publicly. But the European regulator has also […]

The International Civil Aviation Organization will hold meetings in Montreal next week to review pilot licensing requirements. ICAO officials said the meeting was organized to review whether current training standards are relevant for pilots of modern highly automated airliners. “Recently, with current events, people are discussing whether the minimum requirements or experience are still valid, […]

The European Aviation Safety Agency has issued a “special condition” for the certification of eVTOL aircraft up to a maximum takeoff weight of 7,000 pounds carrying up to nine passengers. The two-tiered regulation on so-called “small” eVTOLs is described by EASA as a “first building block” to integration of hybrid and electric VTOL aircraft that […]

A spokesman for the union that represents some of the workers who build Boeing airplanes claims the company’s shift to a “cost-cutting” corporate culture has isolated employees, alienated suppliers and customers and ultimately underlies the problems it’s having with its current airplanes, including the 737 MAX. Stan Sorscher, of the Society for Professional Engineering Employees […]

uAvionix has received technical standard order (TSO) authorization for its tailBeacon ADS-B Out system that could offer a last-minute solution for GA operators who haven’t yet complied with the Jan. 1, 2020, mandate. The tailBeacon could replace the rear position light on dozens of light aircraft types and includes an integrated complying GPS, barometric altitude […]