briefs

The pilot of a Colgan Air Beech 1900 that crashed into the ocean off Cape Cod last Tuesday had declared an emergency and reported a problem with “runaway trim,” according to preliminary reports. The pilot tried to return to the airport at Hyannis, Mass., but in less than two minutes hit the water at a […]

AVweb told you last week that the little state of Rhode Island had enacted an “emergency regulation” that could slap a 7-percent use tax on transient aircraft … but despite what the regulation says, that is not what it means, according to a Rhode Island tax official. The regulation is intended only for residents of […]

Last week, two Olympic Airways jets had to return for emergency landings after seagulls were sucked into their engines on departure from Thessaloniki’s Macedonia Airport. Both aircraft landed safely. In Japan, a runway at Tokyo International Airport was closed for two and a half hours last Friday after two departing flights reported seagull strikes, and […]

Proposals to protect commercial aircraft from shoulder-fired missiles have been submitted to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by eight defense contractors, The Washington Post reported last Friday. However, officials at the DHS seemed skeptical that any system would be effective and affordable. “We are in the process of determining if in fact there is […]

The airspace above Iraq is now open to civil aviation, for the first time since U.N. sanctions were imposed in 1990 — go on and get in line to use it. “The first response (from a European airline) came within a couple of hours,” a Coalition Provisional Authority official told Dow Jones Newswires. Airlines that […]

Two Cuban fighter pilots and a Cuban general were indicted for murder last Thursday by federal prosecutors in Miami, Fla., for shooting down two Brothers to the Rescue airplanes in 1996. The two civilian airplanes were shot down over international waters by Cuban MiGs, killing all four men on board. However, the indicted men cannot […]

As supersonic passenger travel comes to a close — at least for the time being — British Airways is planning a North American farewell lap for the Concorde. Special “celebration” flights to Boston, Toronto, and Washington, D.C., are scheduled in the weeks prior to the aircraft’s retirement date on October 24. First stop on the […]

You might not live in Rhode Island, or even keep your airplane in Rhode Island, but if you’re not careful you could end up paying taxes for flying in Rhode Island. A recent “emergency regulation” states that if a “non-commercial” (business or private) aircraft flies between two points in the state, stays overnight, or lands […]

What’s louder than an F-16 in full burner? Well, besides an F-14, it’s the collective voices of Melbourne (Fla.) International Airport neighbors protesting a military flight school next door. Residents near the airport shouted out Aerogroup Inc.’s operation at Melbourne saying the training provided F-16 pilots of the Royal Netherlands Air Force was too noisy […]

Seeing is believing and the dust raised by wingtip vortices is giving them away in a unique test at Denver International Airport. NASA and the FAA want to try predicting wake turbulence by listening for the wind it creates. The Wake Turbulence Research Program (WTRP) has installed a series of microphones at DEN and hopes […]