News

A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that the state of New York lacks the jurisdiction to require background checks on student pilots. AOPA and seven flight schools filed suit against the law, and on Aug. 2 Judge Gary Sharpe ruled in favor of AOPA’s motion for summary judgment. In essence, the ruling affirms that […]

An Arizona woman who was the FAA’s deputy director during the Reagan era is being touted as current Administrator Marion Blakey’s replacement. According to Aviation Daily, unnamed sources say Barbara Barrettis being chatted up in Washington circles to take over from Blakey when her term expires on Sept. 13. Barrett has been on the boards […]

An unheralded but vital aspect to the (mostly) orderly aerial migration to EAA AirVenture each year is undergoing a major change. Approach control services, which have been handled by Chicago Center since 1969, are switching to Milwaukees tower and TRACON facilities for the 2008 show. “Chicago Center employees do a remarkable job with Oshkosh, and […]

What the Corona, Calif. Press-Enterprise calls the local airport’s “signature airplane” is headed to South America’s largest aviation museum. The DC-3, owned by John and Betty Pappas of Mission Viejo, left Saturday on a 5,300-nm trip over the Andes and across the Amazon jungle to be featured in the museum at Sao Carlos, Brazil. Boeing […]

Local authorities and the FAA are wondering what to do about an apparent fad among some pilots in northern Michigan. For the third time in two months, aircraft have been reported flying under the giant Mackinac Bridge that connects Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with the rest of the state. The last time an airplane was reported […]

A young pilot who witnesses say did a miraculous job in a forced landing on a busy Fort Lauderdale street last Wednesday has been cited by the FAA and has a checkered driving record, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.Austin Brennan, 24, of Hollywood, Fla., dodged people, cars and fast food restaurants when he brought […]

A judge has ruled that Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky., cannot be sued because it enjoys “sovereign immunity” under the Kentucky constitution that prevents counties from being sued without a waiver approved by the General Assembly. Comair is trying to sue the airport for its alleged role in the 2006 fatal crash of one […]

Piper Aircraft is always for sale, but that doesnt mean its being sold, according to some cryptic reaction to rumors the Florida planemaker is on the block again. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, AOPA apparently fueled the rumors by running an item in its EAA AirVenture coverage (which we couldnt find) saying the current […]

It was a testament to the ruggedness of the IL-76, but well let others decide what it says about the crew flying it. According to a Transport Canada incident report published by Canadian Defence and Geopolitics, the Silk Way Airways plane was headed for Canadian Forces Base in Trenton, Ontario, in early June when it […]

As a group that has pored over Gardner Island several times failed in its attempt to find conclusive evidence that the island is the final resting place of Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan, another effort to solve the 70-year-old mystery has received fresh funding, thanks in part to its exposure in AVweb. Last […]