briefs

COLUMN INDEX Probable Cause #23: Unnatural Selection The NTSB suspects a dry fuel tank in the crash of a Cessna 340, but did the loss of an engine on an approach have to end in tragedy?

Whatever you might say about the aviation industry, you can’t say its not proactive. Over the last week, competitors jumped to the plate to scoop up customers dismayed by the closing of Direct To Avionics. And now, repair shops are speaking up to welcome owners of older aircraft who have been turned away elsewhere. Lynn […]

The family of a man who died after crashing at the Arlington (Wash.) Fly-in in 1999 was awarded $10.5 million this week by a jury that found EAA and the Northwest EAA didn’t provide adequate fire and emergency response services, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported on Wednesday. Don Corbitt crashed while attempting to take off in […]

The NTSB on Tuesday blamed the pilots of a Pinnacle Airlines Bombardier CL-600-2B19 regional jet for the crash that killed them both in October 2004. “This accident was caused by the pilots’ inappropriate and unprofessional behavior,” said NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker in a news release. “Simply adhering to standard operating procedures and correctly implementing emergency […]

Build A Plane, a nonprofit group that has donated more than 30 aircraft to schools in the U.S., has teamed up with the Thomas W. Wathen Foundation in Riverside, Calif., an aviation-education operation based at Flabob Airport. The new partners aim to develop world-class aviation education curricula to motivate students to learn science, technology, engineering […]

With GPS available everywhere, cheap and reliable, do we really still need Loran, the venerable long-range navigation system? The U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday issued a request for public comment to search for reasons to continue to maintain the aging system — or not — beyond the end of fiscal year 2007 (Sept. 30). […]

The idea is simple enough: What you don’t hear could kill you. The Flight Standards Service last week released an InFO to alert operators that “noise-canceling” headsets might be susceptible to “misdetection” and subsequent electronic attenuation of some things you’d probably rather hear. (Note: The memo might also pertain to what many pilots refer to […]

As Aviation Technology Group works toward certification of its 500-knot, $2.795 million Javelin executive jet and military trainer aircraft, the FAA on Monday proposed special conditions regarding the aircraft’s internally-mounted turbofans. The FAA believes “applicable [Part 23] airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards” for two turbofans set side by side inside […]

AVMAIL AVmail: Jan. 8, 2007Reader mail this week about aging aircraft maintenance, user fees, charter crackdowns and more.

COLUMNS Pelican’s Perch #82: The Dreaded Three-Engine 747With 27 years as a worldwide 747 captain, five as a worldwide Gulfstream IV captain, and lots of overwater time in a host of piston aircraft (including singles), AVweb’s John Deakin has some pretty strong opinions about overwater flying in general, and about the recent flight of a […]