San Diego politicians say foot-dragging by state officials kept 24 firefighting helicopters on the ground for a full day last week, critically hampering firefighting efforts in the early stages as the blazes gathered strength. The helicopters, operated by the military, were grounded because a state regulation requires that all firefighting choppers have a “fire spotter” […]
Pundits say the traditional training models for professional pilots are changing and there’s never been a better time for young people to get in the left seat. In an extensive feature in Florida Today, various institutions say a looming pilot shortage should also make it much easier for students to get the training they need […]
An air traffic controller called police to report a pilot he believed was drunk at the controls and the cops in Mitchell, S.D., later arrested a 65-year-old man on various alcohol- and drug-related charges. The controller became suspicious of the pilot’s slurred speech and his apparent difficulty holding altitude on Thursday. According to the Sioux […]
Click for a Larger Image Integrity Aircraft Holdings Ltd. (IAHL) of Nevis, in the West Indies, recently announced it will develop an 18-20-seat commuter aircraft with a single 1,100-hp Honeywell TPE 331-12 mounted on the tail. The aircraft is similar in appearance to the British-built Britten-Norman Trislander, which has three piston engines, one each on […]
Click for a video from Danish TV 2 Bombardier insists its Q400 airliners are safe despite SAS’s decision to “permanently” ground its fleet of 27 of the aircraft after a partial gear-up landing in Copenhagen Saturday. The decision came after the airline’s third landing-gear-related emergency landing in a little more than a month. But Bombardier […]
A reader sent us the tower tape clip (MP3) of the exchange between a smooth, professional air traffic controller at Republic Airport on Long Island and the pilot of a Piper Saratoga who’d been in a midair collision with a Cessna 152 last Sunday. As we reported on Monday, both pilots were able to land […]
The U.S. aviation community has made significant progress in efforts to improve on-airport safety in the last two months, the FAA said on Monday. “Recent close calls at some of our nation’s busiest airports show that action must be taken to reduce the risk of runway incursions and wrong runway departures,” the FAA said in […]
The White House announcement that Robert Sturgell will be nominated as the next FAA administrator drew quick reaction from the GA alphabet groups. Sturgell has been with the agency long enough that the players are familiar with him and his stand on the issues. None of the major groups mentioned the user fee issue, which […]
It takes a certain kind of person to enjoy jumping out of airplanes — or off of mountains, or out of balloons, or from bridges — and those people look like cash cows to the new space-tourism industry, according to New Scientist magazine. That’s because while most people will be satisfied with a once-in-a-lifetime trip […]
NASA got into hot water over the weekend when The Associated Press reported that the agency refused a Freedom of Information Act request to release the results of a pilot survey on aviation safety, citing concerns that the report could reflect badly on the aviation industry. U.S. Rep. Brad Miller D-N.C., a member of the […]
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