briefs

The Mooney Aerospace Group is claiming victory in its effort to revive the almost-defunct GA icon. CEO Nelson Happy said in a statement that in the first six months of the year the company finished and sold eight planes that had already been started before Mooney went bankrupt in 2001. With the addition of $1.35 […]

Big Brother or “guardian angel”? We’ll let the ethicists decide that one as an Albuquerque company releases its latest cockpit security device. Management Sciences Inc.(MSI) has developed a flight data and cockpit voice recorder that not only adds video, it can broadcast the goings-on aboard an aircraft in real time to a ground station. “We’re […]

Owners of aircraft grounded by the imposition of the Washington Air Defense Identification Zone may soon be able to make a one-way flight out of the restricted area. We’ve heard lots of opinions about the hassle (and futility) of the ADIZ but lost in the controversy is the plight of scores of owners of ultralights, […]

Capt. Marlon Green may not be a household name but his achievements paved the way for all aviators, regardless of race or ethnic background, to vie for that coveted left seat. On Saturday, Green, 74, was honored in Seattle for his achievements at the Organization of Black Airline Pilots annual convention. The organization promotes the […]

As you may recall from previous coverage, Raytheon Aircraft announced in June that it was decommissioning the 40-ship Starship fleet because its support costs were prohibitive. While some aircraft were reportedly scrapped, others are headed for museums. NC-41 was recently donated to the Kansas Aviation Museum. On Sunday, the aircraft, formerly based in Rockford, Ill., […]

A Qantas Boeing 737-800, carrying 126 passengers, had just taken off from Cairns airport on Sunday night when a bird was ingested into one of its engines. Thanks to technology partially developed by Roxie C. Laybourne, a pioneer in the science of forensic ornithology, the aircraft was able to return for a safe landing. Laybourne, […]

The first FAA authorization to routinely fly an unmanned aircraft within the National Airspace System (NAS) was recently granted to the U.S. Air Force. The military will use this sign-off to fly the RQ-4 Global Hawk, which was widely used in Afghanistan and the recent war in Iraq. The new Certificate of Authorization (COA) allows […]

As in just about everything else, timing is everything in financial forecasting. Just two days before a blackout paralyzed a good part of the North American airline industry, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was giving a rosy outlook for the coming two years. It’s too early to tell what effect the millions in losses […]

It’s too big for some runways and terminals but is Airbus’s A380 also too big for some airlines? According to the CEOs of two major U.S. airlines, the 550-seat behemoth will be shunned in the U.S. as too costly and too crowded. “I don’t think the A380 is going to sell other than to cargo […]