News

Boeing’s goals of building 160 aircraft and flying its 787 Dreamliner for the first time before year-end may have hit a snag when the company upset the Machinists union by the way it offered workers an 11-percent raise in base pay. The plane-maker apparently held one-on-one meetings between managers and machinists to lay out its […]

The FAA plans to reduce VOR coverage beginning in 2010, according to AOPA, in spite of AOPA’s urging against the reduction — particularly if widespread implementation of WAAS is not part of the plan. The association argues that FAA regulations require pilots flying with non-WAAS GPS to also carry a “primary navigation system” and AOPA […]

Civil Air Patrol members spent the weekend making preparations both to safeguard their assets and to respond to those in need after Hurricane Gustav makes landfall. And forecasters are now tracking Tropical Storm Hanna, which they say may follow Gustave to New Orleans. Both Southeast and Southwest wings of CAP were Friday ordered to initiate […]

Garmin Model 819 and Model 820 Flybuddy GPS units “stopped working” on or about Aug. 16, according to e-mails received by AVweb from users of those products. Thursday, AVweb contacted Garmin for comment and Friday, Garmin responded with Service Advisory No. 0835 (PDF), which clearly states that the affected units “cannot recover normal operation on […]

The National Airspace Data Interchange Network (NADIN), which failed Tuesday at a Georgia facility causing at least 646 flight delays, is scheduled for an update to be installed by year-end. Hank Krakowski, COO of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization, said Wednesday an improved version with vastly higher memory will offer noticeable improvements before November, according […]

A corrupt file contained in a normal software upload brought down the FAA’s main flight planning computer on Tuesday, delaying hundreds of flights and prompting questions about the inevitability of it happening again. FAA spokesman Paul Takemoto told eWeek the corrupt file stopped flight plans from being filed at the FAA’s Hampton, Ga., facility, which […]

Sikorsky flew its X2 technology demonstrator for the first time on Wednesday, from its facility in Horseheads, N.Y. The X2 is intended to advance the state-of-the-art for counter-rotating coaxial rotor helicopters, the company said, and establish that a helicopter can cruise at 250 knots while retaining excellent low-speed handling, efficient hovering, safe autorotation, and easy […]

When non-flying bystanders are killed in the crash of a general aviation airplane, it’s sure to raise safety concerns about GA airports and operations. Last Friday, when a homebuilt Velocity crashed into a house near North Las Vegas Airport, killing an elderly couple in the house, officials questioned whether experimental aircraft should be allowed to […]

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates several busy airports in the New York City area, is at odds with the FAA over a plan to auction off takeoff and landing slots at JFK, Newark and LaGuardia. The Port Authority and the Air Transport Association both have asked a federal court […]

A solar-powered, unmanned aircraft launched from the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona has flown for 82 hours 37 minutes, more than twice as long as the current official world record of 30 hours 24 minutes set by Global Hawk in 2001, the manufacturer said on Sunday. However, the flight by Zephyr, built by QinetiQ for […]