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Click for larger images Five people were injured Thursday when Airbus suffered its first ground test accident. The event involved Airbus’s second largest aircraft, a 359-seat A340-600, that “broke free” while testing its four engines (rated at 56,000 pounds of thrust, each) and crashed into a noise-reduction barrier at the Airbus facilities in Toulouse, France, […]

“The FAA funding issue is far from resolved,” AOPA President Phil Boyer warned in a release Thursday. President Bush is using public frustration over airline delays to push his administration’s agenda of imposing a 263 percent increase in avgas taxes plus additional user fees, according to AOPA. For its part, AOPA is using the president’s […]

President Bushs plans to ease congestion and reduce flight delays over the coming holidays were panned as too little, too late in some circles but embraced as a sign of hope in others. Bush announced that the epidemic of flight delays will be addressed with the opening of Thanksgiving express lanes through military operating areas […]

Hampson Aerospace, a U.K.-based company that has been building tail sections in Texas for the Eclipse 500 jet, sued Eclipse Aviation on Tuesday, alleging that required payments have not been made since March, the Albuquerque Journal reported Wednesday. A spokeswoman for Eclipse told the Journal she couldn’t comment on the pending litigation. Email and voicemail […]

Linear Air, of Bedford, Mass., said on Wednesday it is ready to start booking passengers for its Eclipse 500 air-taxi service, making it one of the first companies to operate the very light jet. The company took delivery of the VLJ last summer. “For three years, the entire team at Linear Air has been working […]

Investigators and historians have confirmed that an aircraft wreck that emerged from the sands of a Wales beach over the summer is a P-38 Lightning, not an unmanned drone as first reports indicated. Ric Gillespie, executive director of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), visited the wreck last month and was able to […]

It’s not only heavy iron that gets sold at the Dubai Air Show — some big sales of piston aircraft also were made this week. Cirrus Design announced a sale to Dubai Aerospace Enterprises Flight Academy to supply their training fleet. Two SR22s were delivered at the show, with the rest to come next year. […]

Eight people who have made varied contributions to aviation were named to the EAA’s Halls of Fame at a banquet in Oshkosh, Wis., last Friday. “These inductees represent the best that recreational aviation has to offer and serve as an example for everyone involved in flying,” said EAA President Tom Poberezny. “Those of us active […]

With jet fuel prices in the $3-a-gallon range, the fuel efficiency of turboprops is boosting sales and the total number of shipments was up 14.5 percent in the first nine months of 2007 over 2006. A total of 293 general aviation turboprops were delivered in the period compared to 256 in the same time last […]

The boom in business jet sales shows no signs of abating and the expected influx of very light jets has barely begun. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association third quarter figures last week and there was a staggering 20 percent increase in the number of bizjets sold in the first nine months of the year compared […]