briefs

AOPA this week released its annual review of aviation safety, the Nall Report, and this year’s edition shows the overall 2005 accident rate increased to 7.2 accidents per 100,000 flight hours, compared with 6.5 the year before. The rate of fatal accidents also increased, from 1.3 to 1.4 per 100,000 flight hours. “While the sky […]

A 30-year-old man who was flying a 1972 Bellanca Super Viking when it crashed into a lake in northeastern Oklahoma on Saturday night, killing all three passengers, has been charged with three counts of manslaughter. Thomas Brent Caldwell, 30, of Pryor, Okla., apparently never had a pilot certificate and was drinking at the time of […]

On Tuesday morning, officials in Gilroy, Calif., drained a sewage tank that held the wreck of a small airplane. The aircraft was a Beech 95 Travel Air that went missing on Monday afternoon after taking off from Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose with an instructor and two students on board. All three were Japanese, and […]

The European Commission (EC) is funding development of a 230-seat pilotless airliner, according to a report this week by Flight International. According to the magazine, the math behind the program forecasts a jet with 10 more seats than its piloted brethren plus design and technology improvements that would allow it to burn 1,500 fewer gallons […]

Diamond Aircraft’s Austrian unit today announced the DA50 Super Star five-place “up to 350 hp” aircraft, offering what it says will be “the most spacious in the new generation of single-engine aircraft in General Aviation.” An image of the aircraft shows a DA40-like planform (fixed-gear, low-wing and T-tail), but the horizontal stabilizer sports anhedral tips […]

COLUMNS Pilot Workshop #2: GPS Tips for IFR FlightIn this 10 minute workshop, 2004 National CFI of the Year Doug Stewart will provide operational tips to ensure your GPS is your ally. Hell also point out the common mistakes that can get you in trouble.

COLUMNS CEO of the Cockpit #65: Walking on the Moon in Zip-Up BootsSure, pilots in space now are astronauts — scientists or the cream of the jet jockies. But someday NASA will need regular service to and from the moon, and then…

AVweb posts audio news on Mondays, plus a new in-depth interview each Friday. In last Friday’s podcast, you’ll find an interview with Bill Lear Jr. on light jet progress. And AVweb’s podcast index includes interviews with NATA President Jim Coyne; Eclipse Aviation’s Vern Raburn; Honda Aircraft’s Jeffrey Smith; Cirrus Design cofounder and CEO Alan Klapmeier; […]

The aerospace industry had record sales for the third year in a row, according to an analysis by the Aviation Industries Association (AIA). In its annual review of aviation commerce, AIA said total sales were up $14 billion to $184.4 billion, an increase of 8.4 percent over 2005. “It would be hard to overstate aerospace’s […]

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has set aside $150 million to invest in a fourth major airport to serve the metropolitan area over the next 10 years and the favored location appears to be Stewart International Airport, about 50 miles north of the city. The airport is a former Air Force […]