News

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) says there have been five operational errors in less than two weeks at the nation’s busiest terminal radar control (TRACON) center in San Diego, and it blames a punishing work schedule and gross understaffing. Spokesman Steve Merlin said in a news release that there are sometimes fewer than […]

Epic Aircraft says it took nonrefundable deposits on orders worth $40 million for its kit and certified aircraft during EAA AirVenture last month. Epic President Rick Schrameck said much of the interest came from its two very light jets introduced at the show, the single-engine Victory and twin-engine Elite. He also noted that the company […]

Seawind President Dick Silva says the company is temporarily suspending operations after the loss of a test pilot in the crash of the Seawind 300C prototype. In a posting on the Seawind Web site, Silva says the “business interruption” will last until “we can determine the cause of this event and develop a plan to […]

There are high-tech systems run by highly trained people designed to prevent runway incursions, but it appears a lesson learned by most of us before we hit kindergarten prevented disaster at LAX on Thursday. According to the Calgary Herald, a series of miscommunications between controllers and the crew of a WestJet Boeing 737 resulted in […]

North American Jet Charter became the first air taxi operator to put the Eclipse 500 very light jet to its much-anticipated use as a point-to-point charter aircraft. According to CharterX, a charter industry Web site, North American Jet CEO Ken Ross flew as pilot in command on the round trip from Chicago to Baltimore with […]

The FAA is telling pilots operating in some of the nations busiest airspace to ignore a newly released chart until Aug. 30. AOPA says the Cincinnati sectional chart includes a sliver of the current Air Defense Identification Zone around Washington, D.C., but that section of the ADIZ will be eliminated when the boundaries of the […]

At Cessna Aircraft in Wichita, Kan., production has continued despite the G1000 problems, Director of Corporate Communications Doug Oliver told AVweb on Tuesday. “We anticipate a resolution from Garmin literally any minute,” he said. However, deliveries of single-engine piston aircraft are suspended until the issue is resolved. “Mustang deliveries were originally suspended as well,” Oliver […]

At Columbia Aircraft in Bend, Ore., the company announced on Monday that it would halt its production line and lay off about 300 workers until problems with Garmin G1000s could be resolved. Although Garmin says the AHRS problem does not require limitations on use of the aircraft, Columbia spokesman Randy Bolinger told AVweb that, nonetheless, […]

A problem with a component of the Garmin G1000 glass panel, a popular choice for avionics in many general aviation aircraft, has stalled production and delayed deliveries at factories around the country as Garmin searches for a fix. The problem stems from a sudden increase in failure rates in recent flight tests of new GRS […]

It’s not often we can report that a pilot complained to the FAA about an unreasonable regulation, and — a mere nine months later — the pilot came away saying, “We asked the FAA to be reasonable — and they were.” But that’s what happened to Dan Nachbar, a pilot in Amherst, Mass., who built […]