News

FAA modernization is looking more appealing after a domino-effect computer failure affected parts of the air traffic control system on Friday. The flight planning system in Atlanta failed, so the agency routed them to a system in Salt Lake City, which couldnt handle the extra load. That forced controllers to manually enter flight plans, slowing […]

After the private European companies picked to build the controversial Galileo space-based navigation system couldnt find a way to make it work financially, the European Union has decided to build the system itself, at an estimated cost (some say conservative) of $4.6 billion. The system, which will use 30 satellites and is touted as being […]

The FAA has amended its National Air Tours rule to ensure that the EAAs Young Eagles flight familiarization program for young people can continue basically unchanged. The rule, which tightened regulations for most types of sightseeing flights, contained wording that banned so-called charity flights from taking place in experimental aircraft. However, in its amendments, the […]

Rep. James Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told Bloomberg News on Thursday there will be no mention of user fees in the Houses version of the FAA reauthorization bill. The Minnesota Democrat (Cirrus’ headquarters in Duluth is in his district) said none of what the [Bush] Administration is proposing is in […]

The author of the Mountain Flying Bible appears to have broken one of the Ten Commandments of wilderness crash survival last week and lived to tell the tale. Sparky Imeson, 61, of Jackson Hole, Wyo., and Jon C. Kantorowicz, 58, of Great Falls, Mont., the pilot Imeson was teaching canyon flying techniques, survived the crash […]

Adam Aircraft late last week officially announced that Zhong Hang Tai General Aviation Airlines, based in Hainan, China, has placed a firm order for 50 A700 very light jets (VLJs). The order was formalized during the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) last month and facilitated through a partnership with Ameritech. Jason Fan, CEO […]

A new Web site, GAFlightStatus.com, says it offers “a full-featured system” that may be used by operators to publish live flight status, boarding and arrival information — even if that flight is flown exclusively under visual flight rules. The system can be accessed online or from any Web-enabled cellphone and displayed on systems that “recreate […]

A California court held a hearing last Monday in a class-action suit filed against Lycoming in California over an AD affecting 3,774 Lycoming 360- and 540-series engines. In the lawsuit, plaintiff Richard Bristow, a Mooney owner, maintains that Lycoming should bear all the costs of replacing the problem crankshafts, which the manufacturer previously did when […]

Epic Aircraft of Bend, Ore., said its very light jet, dubbed the Elite, made its maiden flight on Thursday morning. The twinjet is a joint venture between Epic parent company Aircraft Investor Resources (AIR) and Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing (TAM) of Georgia (the former Soviet bloc country). According to Epic, the initial flight was flown by […]

The FAA said Tuesday that it withheld $3 million in payments to Flight Service Station contractor Lockheed Martin in the first quarter because of poor performance. “There’s evidence of dropped calls and pilots not getting information,” FAAAdministrator Marion Blakey told Bloomberg. “There are penalties in the contract and we’ll apply them.” In October 2005 Lockheed […]