briefs

You’ve heard all about the so-called pilot shortage but so far all your various ratings and endorsements have you flying the grill at your local McDonalds. How about trading your plastic fork for chopsticks — and maybe a shot at right seat in an airliner. The first private airlines are taking flight in China and […]

A Delta Air Lines pilot says he was grounded for three weeks because of an eye injury resulting from a laser’s being pointed at his aircraft in December. Parry Winder told a House panel the “intensely bright green light” also affected his depth perception and resulted in a bumpier landing than normal. Winder said the […]

There are going to be a lot fewer gray heads in cockpits and towers in coming years and that, according to the Orlando Sentinel, has raised safety concerns. The paper claims that 25,000 seasoned pilots will hang up their hats in the next 10 years, to be replaced by 50,000 rookies, some fresh out of […]

Pilots talk to air traffic controllers all the time but a unique conference in Milwaukee May 3-4 gives those on both ends of the microphones a chance to really communicate. Controllers and pilots meet face-to-face in the National Air Traffic Controllers Association’s annual Communicating For Safety conference at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center. The conference […]

EAA is taking Sport Pilot on the road. As AVweb told you in January, EAA wants to spread the message about the new pilot and aircraft classifications to as many people as possible and the process will begin with a three-stop tour in June. The Sport Pilot Tour will visit Marysville, Calif., June 3-4; St. […]

The United States trade deficit soared in January to its second-highest level ever, according to the International Herald Tribume. But after almost four years of massive layoffs, seas of red ink and numerous bankruptcies and consolidations, GA may now be considered a bright spot in the U.S. economy. In fact, it was one of comparatively […]

Following The New York Times’ message of a yet-unaddressed threat posed to national security by GA’s unfenced airports and unscreened baggage (see above), AOPA says the Bush administration’s 2006 federal budget proposal will cut a wide swath through GA airports, costing them more than large commercial facilities because of the way the funding formula works. […]

The NTSB is “closely monitoring” the Canadian investigation of an incident involving the almost total separation of the rudder on an Air Transat A-310, an aircraft similar to that which crashed in New York three years ago due to a rudder failure. As AVweb told you on Thursday, the A-310, with 270 passengers and crew […]

AVmail: March 14, 2005Reader mail this week about British Airways’ three-engine 747 flight, sharing military airspace, near misses and much more.

COLUMNS CEO of the Cockpit #42: BUFFs and Buggy WhipsAVweb’s CEO of the Cockpit lost a buddy this month — not to death but to retirement. Distance and personality type usually mean pilots don’t see each other once the goodbye party is over. But at that party — everybody wants to outdo each other with […]