News

The day after the NTSB issued a recommendation that the FAA require that all aircraft be equipped with 406 Mhz ELTs, the FAA issued a safety bulletin reminding pilots that as of Feb. 1, 2009, search and rescue satellites will no longer scan 121.5. However, the agency doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to […]

CLICK FOR A LARGER IMAGE One example of a flagged lead, from an AVweb reader known on Amazon as “bellanca4” In case you haven’t heard, there’s a world-wide effort to find Steve Fossett, and you can help without leaving the comfort of your computer desk. Below is everything you need to know to be part […]

Nine passengers were injured and three of them were hospitalized when a WestJet Boeing 737 hit severe turbulence over Northern Ontario late Thursday. The flight was on its way from Calgary to Halifax when passengers said it suddenly dropped. Some reports have said the plane may have plunged as much as 1,000 feet but there’s […]

Sure, it’s a long shot, but AVweb readers taking part in the Mechanical Turk effort to locate Steve Fossett through Google Earth imagery has found something that doesn’t look like it belongs on a mountainside. Have a close look at the accompanying image. It looks to us like it could be the fuselage and wings […]

The search for Steve Fossett got some potent help from above today, and you might be able to help. DigitalGlobe, which supplies many of the images from space for Google Earth, has fresh imagery of the search area and that’s enabled the activation of something called the Amazon Mechanical Turk. Essentially, anyone with a computer […]

AVweb has received a response through FAA spokesman Les Dorr regarding Cessna’s announcement last month that recommended operators of Cessna 441 Conquest II twin tuboprops comply with a life limit of 22,500 hours flown. Cessna based its action on “data from test articles and from field reports,” according to Cessna spokeswoman Pia Bergqvist. The FAA’s […]

Gobosh Aviation, which introduced its LSA to the American market at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this past July, Thursday announced deliveries of its first two G700S light sport aircraft in North America. The low-wing all metal aircraft is promoted as a “luxury” aircraft for the light sport market and, of course, falls within the 1320 pound […]

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor says the agency will have a “long talk” with pilot William Supan after the 52-year-old Pleasanton, Calif. resident made three emergency landings in the same aircraft on the same day last Saturday. On the third landing his passenger Jinhua Lin had apparently had enough and jumped from the aircraft, breaking a […]

The FAA’s quintennial navel-gazing document, its “2008-2012 Flight Plan” was released Thursday and, while a first glance it doesn’t reveal anything we haven’t reported before, it does flesh out some initiatives that have been in the trial stage for years. The 60-page document concentrates on safety, modernization and management and sets goals to increase both […]

The FAA decided to go with a controversial redesign of the airspace serving New York, Newark and Philadelphia airports on Wednesday but it has a fight on its hands to implement the changes. At least one town, Elizabeth, N.J., has filed a court challenge and several well-organized and well-heeled groups are opposing the so-called Integrated […]