News

On Dec. 28 the FAA released a proposed change to Advisory Circular150/5340-1J, Standard Airport Markings. The updated AC would require all 567 airports certificated under Part 139, not just the 75 large air carrier airports that are already affected, to install surface-painted holding position signs and enhanced taxiwaycenterlines. The AC would also apply to all […]

Millen Aviation Services of Kent, England, filed a lawsuit on Dec. 17, 2007, against Diamond Aircraft Industries in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, over their Thielert diesel-powered DA40s. “The claim for damages is based on our experience with our two DA40 1.7 TDIs, their extremely poor reliability, highmaintenance costs, waiting time for spare parts and, our firm […]

The Coalition for an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights (CAPBOR) has compiled and made available on its Web site a spreadsheet that the group claims brings some clarity to the results of NASA’s controversial National Aviation Operational Monitoring Service (NAOMS) project. NASA collected surveys frommore than 30,000 pilots between 2001 and 2004, including 4,777 responses […]

medium | large While we run a weekly photo contest ourselves, there’s no such thing as too many beautiful airplane pictures, and AOPA is also giving you the opportunity to showcase your finest work. You’ll only win cash in the AOPA contest (rather than the coveted AVweb ball cap), but you can’t have everything. Last […]

We’ve all seen aircraft and various types of vehicles “race” at air shows but authorities in Auckland, New Zealand, cleared both runways at the country’s largest airport, without actually closing the airport, to stage just such a spectacle. Now, the Kiwis do love their sport and the race between an Air New Zealand Boeing 777 […]

The chairman of the Indian River County Commission, Gary Wheeler, says a deal is all but sealed to keep Piper Aircraft in Vero Beach. Wheeler said the commission will vote Jan. 15 on a $12 million incentive package, which, if approved as expected, will be enough to keep the planemaker and its 1,100 existing and […]

Pilots will soon be able to receive all NOTAMs relevant to their intended flight on their computers. On Jan. 28, all local or L-designated NOTAMs will be reclassified and published on the national NOTAM system. What it theoretically means, according to AOPA, is that pilots will no longer have to call flight services to get […]

Survivors of the crash of a Piper Chieftain that killed six people off Kodiak Island in Alaska last weekend say the nose baggage door came open as the aircraft was taking off. The plane crashed into the ocean about 100 yards from the end of the runway and a taxiing floatplane picked up the four […]

It’s often said that aircraft accidents are the result of a series of seemingly innocuous events strung together and the crew of a Qantas Boeing 747 might agree with that. The flight from London to Sydney was 15 minutes from touchdown for a scheduled stop at Bangkok when it lost power from all four engine-driven […]

South Africa has revised pilot training and examination standards to try and stop an upward spiral of accident rates that generally bucks the trend of other countries with active GA communities. Starting Jan. 1, flight schools had to follow a standardized training syllabus and administer standardized exams that are in line with training in other […]