Aviation News

Text messaging may be old hat to cellphone users, but it is still new in the air-traffic control system, where the FAA this week announced that it is now operational at Miami International Airport, the 12th busiest airport in North America. The text-based communication system, known as “Data Comm,” represents “a whole new era of […]

NBAA filed a motion in a federal appeals court on Monday seeking a stop to any actions that would affect aviation operations at Santa Monica Airport, while the matter is under judicial review. The FAA and the city have announced plans to close the airport in 2028 and to immediately reduce the length of the […]

When I was preparing this week’s Question of the Week, I was up to the third question when I realized that blood cheering for errant drone pilots to be jailed is not a good thing. In fact, it’s a distinctly bad thing, absent any malicious intent or egregious negligence. To review, this concerns the story […]

XTI Aircraft Company, which has been working since 2012 to develop a ducted-fan VTOL design, said on Monday they will work with Bye Aerospace to develop a hybrid-electric prototype of their TriFan aircraft. The new propulsion system will “significantly reduce” the weight and cost of producing the aircraft, according to TriFan CEO Robert LaBelle. Because […]

Angered by noise from Pilatus PC-12s operated by Surf Air, residents of San Mateo county have taken a new tack in their fight to shut down the operation. A proposed curfew ordinance, drafted by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, would limit any operator to one takeoff and one landing of a “noisy airplane” […]

The New Age Space Conference will convene March 11 at the MIT Samberg Conference Center to discuss the future of the commercial space industry. Barret Schlegelmilch, the conference organizer and an MIT graduate student, told AVweb the conference is “is one of the only places where you’ll find entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, astronauts, startup founders and […]

Several hundred pieces of software written by NASA engineers for air and spacecraft design, business optimization, systems interaction and biomedical applications have been released by the agency for free public use. The software is being made available through the NASA Technology Transfer Program (motto, “Bringing NASA Technology Down to Earth”). The available codes are listed […]

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the EU equivalent of the US FAA, published today long-awaited rules broadening the permitted use of single-engine turbine (SET) aircraft in commercial operations. Previously, commercial operators, both charter and cargo, were not permitted to operate any single-engine aircraft at night or in instrument meteorological conditions. Today’s rule lifts those […]

Sales of aircraft avionics and related equipment were down for a second year in a row, says the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) in their annual market report. Sales totaled $2.26 billion in 2016, down 6.4% from $2.42 billion the prior year. The market for forward-fit avionics—sales of equipment destined for newly manufactured aircraft—slid 9.4%, fairing […]

The pilot of a drone that hit a building, then fell into a crowd watching a parade and hit a 25-year-old woman, knocking her unconscious, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail by a Seattle municipal court. Paul Skinner, 38, of Washington, who owns an aerial photography company, was convicted of reckless endangerment, which […]