Flight Safety

Just as a combination of radar, transponders and active traffic systems improved flight safety for manned aircraft, the UAS industry may benefit from different twists on the same technology. At the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International show in Orlando this week, General Atomics, the maker of the Predator UAS, explained its novel approach to […]

Satellite-communications company Inmarsat has offered to provide airlines with free global tracking service over its network, the company announced on Monday. “This service is being offered to all 11,000 commercial passenger aircraft, which are already equipped with an Inmarsat satellite connection, virtually 100 percent of the world’s long-haul commercial fleet,” the company said. The offer […]

I was picking up my Cherokee 160 at the Charlotte County (Florida) airport after IFR/weight-and-balance certifications. As I was preparing to taxi out, I heard another pilot report there was a turtle that was “taxiing” toward runway 22. Not too long after this report, I heard yet another taxiing pilot ask the question, “What type […]

There’s one feature Cirrus Aircraft sales people talk about a lot but had never demonstrated until Saturday when an Australian rep had to deploy the parachute while on a demo flight with prospective customers. Peter Edwards, 62, and his unidentified prospects, both 58-year-old men, took off for a flight over Australia’s Blue Mountains, just outside […]

Were flying along blissfully the smooth night flight conditions and the panorama of lights below. The engine is purring, and, for once, we have caught a tailwind. We think this is why we became pilots and then we proudly wonder out loud what the groundbound populace below is doing on such a pleasant evening when […]

The body of the pilot of a hot air balloon that caught fire at a Virginia balloon festival was found Sunday. Daniel T. Kirk was an experienced pilot and witnesses said he did everything possible to keep the balloon from climbing after it struck power lines and the basket ignited Friday night. The bodies of […]

A regional airliner on approach to Tallahassee, Fla., in March nearly collided with a drone, an FAA official said on Thursday. Speaking before a drone conference in San Francisco,Jim Williams, head of the FAA’s UAV office, said the near-collision occurred at about 2300 feet nearTallahassee Regional Airport in Florida. The flight was operated by USAirways, […]

AVwebs weekly news roundup uncovered reports about the tight competition in the Red Bull Air Race series as it touches down in Asia, the success of the Pilatus PC-7 trainer in service with the Indian air force, Embry-Riddle Universitys new Masters degree program in Unmanned Systems and an upcoming NTSB meeting on ag aircraft safety. […]

Sixteen media organizations filed a brief (PDF) with the National Transportation Safety Board in support of aerial photographer Raphael Pirker. Pirker was fined $10,000 by the FAA for flying a drone near the University of Virginia to make a commercial video in October 2011. An administrative law judge ruled in March that the FAA can’t […]

The destruction of a B-17 Flying Fortress in June 2011 was caused by “inadequate repair of the fuel tank that allowed the fuel leak to continue, ultimately resulting in an in-flight fire,” the NTSB has concluded in its final report. The Liberty Belle, operated by the Liberty Foundation of Florida, was destroyed by fire after […]