News

An internal report by the CIA’s inspector general accuses agency officials of withholding information and obstructing inquiries regarding the investigation of a 2001 fatal downing of an aircraft thought to be carrying narcotics that was in fact carrying missionaries over Peru. Three aboard the stricken aircraft were injured when it crashed into the Amazon River. […]

With a Nov. 18 executive order published Thursday, President George W. Bush has dictated policy designed to drive “effective implementation of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen)” and sets its first deadline “not later than 60 days after the date of this order,” or roughly when President-elect Barack Obama takes office. (That point is […]

In our years in aviation, we’ve seen countless variations on the “flying car” theme, from rickety jalopies with wooden wings bolted on to high-tech dream machines with folding wings and James Bond-level slickness. But a recent report from the fringe strikes us as something so simple that it might actually work. The Parajet Skycar is […]

The NTSB on Wednesday issued an update into its investigation of a September incident when a Canadair CRJ-700 regional jet taking off with 56 passengers had to swerve to avoid a Cessna 172 that was on the runway. Nobody was hurt, but the jet crew said they cleared the Cessna by only 10 feet, and […]

Jane Garvey, who served as FAA administrator from 1997 to 2002, will accept a position on the transition team for President-elect Barack Obama, it was announced on Wednesday. She will leave her current post as a board member for Bombardier, where she has served for about a year. “I would like to thank Jane Garvey […]

With many buyers putting their plans on hold in an uncertain economy, manufacturers are offering deals to tempt them into taking the plunge. “Turbulent markets may make today seem like the wrong time to buy an airplane — [but] there has never been a better time to buy,” said Diamond Aircraft in a news release […]

The FAA has revised its rules that govern the operation of helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS), and has invited comment on the changes. The changes were made because the FAA determined “that safety in air commerce and the public interest requires additional hazard mitigation for HEMS operations,” according to the FAA notice published on Friday. […]

Well, while everyone in business aviation seems to be looking at their bottom line, the folks at Emivest (formerly Sino Swearingen) found a brief diversion in monitoring the ground speed of their SJ30 business jet between London and Dubai last week. The speedy little jet covered the 3,470 miles at an average speed of 488 […]

President Bush on Tuesday signed an Executive Order to mandate that modernizing our national airspace system remains a leading priority for federal agencies. “At an age when teenage drivers use GPS systems in their cars, air traffic controllers still use World War II-era radar to guide modern jumbo jets,” Mr. Bush said. “That doesn’t seem […]

A final rule issued by the Department of Homeland Security this week is not as bad as it might have been for GA pilots, but it still will have an impact on all across-the-border operations. That’s the bottom line from AOPA’s analysis of the rule published Tuesday by the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, […]