briefs

A British military helicopter pilot says his aircraft didn’t cause a Cessna landing on a nearby runway to suddenly veer off the pavement. Flt. Lieut. Peter Binstead was taking off adjacent to the runway as Hugh Paton was landing at St. Mawgan Airport in Cornwall when Paton’s plane left the runway and crashed in flames. […]

As AVweb told you in January, Israeli government-owned defense contractors have come up with a retrofit missile defense system for airliners and they didn’t fool around putting it to use. The national airline El Al now carries the Flight Guard system on each of its 29 aircraft. It took three years to develop and certify […]

The FAA says a 2.2-pound chunk of metal that smashed through the roof of a Broward, Fla., home, cracked four skylights, sliced through a den and finally came to rest, scorching hot, on the pool deck, where it cracked tiles, didn’t come from an airplane. But the owner of the house is alleging a cover-up. […]

Eclipse Aviation has joined the ranks of Orville Wright, Chuck Yeager’s sonic boom and the B-2 bomber, among many others, in winning the National Aeronautic Association’s Collier Trophy, considered among the most prestigious aviation awards. In a press release announcing the winner, NAA CEO David Ivey says Eclipse is “applying innovations created in the technology […]

While the U.S. is having trouble keeping people from pointing lasers at airplanes, it seems the Australians have convincingly dealt with another type of threat to aviation: flying tomatoes. Southport Magistrate Alex Chilcott put Anthony Douglas Donohue, 35, of Sorrento, in Queensland, on two years of probation after the man admitted threatening to bring down […]

NEWS FEATURES The Making of the World’s Largest SkydiveThe world’s most experienced skydivers recently met in Thailand to build a record, 400-way formation. What did it take? The resources of an entire air force, 300 tons of Jet-A, a trainload of oxygen bottles and the determined endurance of a marathon runner, according to AVweb’s Editorial […]

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP yet for AVwebs NO-COST twice monthly Business AVflash? Reporting on breaking news, Business AVflash also focuses on the companies, the products and the industry leaders that make headlines in the Business of Aviation. Business AVflash is a must read. Watch for a Business AVflash regular feature, TSA WATCH: GA IN THE […]

Drop us a line. If it caught your attention, it will probably interest someone else, too. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. You’re a part of our team … often, the best part.

LiftPort Group, a consortium of companies working together to develop a space elevator, said on Monday it has successfully completed a second round of tests of its high-altitude platform. The tests, which required an FAA waiver to use the airspace, were completed earlier this month in Arizona. LiftPort says it launched an observation and communication […]

A Glasair II two-seat kitplane crashed into a house in a suburban neighborhood outside Sacramento, Calif., on Sunday afternoon. The airplane’s owner, Patrick O’Brien, 49, of San Clemente, was killed, along with James McIsaac, 43, of Roseville, who was also a pilot. Chris Musil, 19, who lived in the house with his father, was killed. […]