Flight Safety

Airbus has filed a patent application for a bicycle-style seat that allows passengers to ride their airliners in semi-standing position, allowing more bodies to be shoehorned into its airplanes. Recognizing that modern airline passengers will endure almost any indignity in return for cheap fares, the design calls for seats that look like old-style, wide bicycle […]

The family of an airshow pilot who burned to death in an accident at Travis Air Force Base in California in May is suing the federal government for $20 million claiming the emergency response to the accident resulted in his death. Eddie Andreini was doing an inverted pass down the flightline when his Stearman hit […]

This week, AVwebs review of whats new in aviation revealed new, worldwide coverage of a popular app, an airport advocacy program from a major aviation insurer, a pilot proficiency program at EAA Oshkosh and a new app that finds nearest airports at an unfamiliar destination. Garmin International announced worldwide coverage of the Garmin Pilot application […]

The skies have almost emptied over Ukraine as airlines avoid the country after a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 with 298 people onboard was shot down Thursday. The FAA has banned U.S.-registered aircraft from transiting Ukraine airspace and it appears most of the rest of the world is also staying away. No one survived the destruction […]

With the FAA reportedly scrutinizing apps and websites that have sprung up to match general aviation pilots and potential passengers to fly and split expenses, at least one startup has formally asked that the FAA rule on its legality. According to TechCrunch, AirPooler‘s request will be ruled upon in the next few months. In the […]

A fire in an F-35 engine was caused by “excessive” rubbing of fan blades in the engine, Pentagon official Frank Kendall said this week, adding that the cause doesn’t appear to be a fundamental design flaw. The fleet of 97 new Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, operated by the Navy and Air Force, has been grounded […]

I fly from a small air field outside Johannesburg, South Africa. When I had less than ten hours experience, I thought it would be a great idea to fly to one of the larger (controlled) air fields closer to Johannesburg to refuel. I requested joining and landing instructions from the tower. Very nervously. Tower requested […]

Testimony at a coroner’s inquest in England has revived a disputed theory that a crocodile on the loose may have led to the crash of a Filair Let-140 regional airliner in Africa in 2010. The aircraft crashed near Bandundu, Congo, killing 19 of the 20 passengers and crew on board. The inquest was told that […]

The NTSB has cited the FAA’s special issuance medical policies as a contributing factor in the death of an airshow pilot in 2011. In its final report (top of the queue) on the crash of a T-28 at the Thunder Over the Blue Ridge show in Martinsburg, W. Va., the board determined that the airplane […]

Standards must be slipping at CNN. Early Saturday morning, they didnt have the United 777 diversion to Midway story. I expected the network to have summoned their stadium full of talking heads to connect that incident to–what else?–Malaysian 370. I figured they could spin a couple of days of 24/7 speculation out of the Midway […]