News

The fatal crash of a Grumman Turbo Mallard on Dec. 19, 2005, was caused by the failure and separation of the right wing, the NTSB said on Wednesday. That failure resulted from “(1) the failure of Chalk’s Ocean Airways’ maintenance program to identify and properly repair fatigue cracks in the wing, and (2) the failure […]

Pilot fatigue for years has been listed on the NTSB’s “Most Wanted List” for aviation safety improvements, and the subject will be explored further in a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Aviation next week. This week, John Prater, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, talked to the Memphis Commercial Appeal about the issues. […]

When ADS-B technology was deployed in remote parts of Alaska as part of the Capstone project, accidents declined by about 40 percent. Now an Alaskan entrepreneur is helping developing aviation systems in China and Africa to leapfrog over the expensive step of installing conventional radar and use ADS-B instead. “This is the air traffic management […]

Recent reports raising concerns about the FAA’s approval — or lack of approval — of many GPS units for instrument flight have raised questions that still are being sorted out. The Aircraft Electronics Association says the confusion, arising from recently issued FAA Advisory Circular 90-100A, stems from the FAA’s deletion of a paragraph in an […]

Gene Carswell, a former US Airways pilot, has filed suit in federal court in the District of Columbia, claiming that the airline discriminated against him on the basis of age when he was forced to retire at age 60. He also alleges that US Airways, the Air Line Pilots Association and the AFL-CIO colluded to […]

Murphy Aircraft of British Columbia, Canada, will be showing its new four-seat Murphy Yukon kit aircraft to the public for the first time this July at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis. The Yukon is the original concept design behind two of the company’s high-wing taildraggers — the Super Rebel and the Moose. “We started this […]

Paul “Ed” Yost, 87, who designed and flew the first modern hot-air balloon in 1960, died Sunday at his home in Taos, N.M., from natural causes. Yost updated the Montgolfier brothers’ concept from the 1700s with modern technology, designing an onboard propane-burner system and incorporating modern materials to build a durable envelope with maneuvering vents […]

Cartoon airliners have to wait on the runway while corporate jets zip ahead of them and clog up the airways, causing delays for travelers, according to ads produced by the Air Transport Association. The ads are being shown on the CNN Airport Network on TVs in passenger terminals around the country. “We pay while they […]

In a letter sent Tuesday to follow up on questions arising from a March 29 House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee hearing on NextGen, Government Accountability Office Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues Dr. Gerald Dillingham reiterated that “the current FAA funding structure can provide sufficient funding for NextGen-with some caveats.” He said that the FAA itself […]

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, vice chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, voted against the Nelson/Sununu amendment that would have stripped the $25 user fee out of S.1300, the Senates FAA reauthorization bill, but he secured an exemption for many Alaskan aviators. The hotly debated anti-user-fee amendment, supported by general aviation lobbying groups, […]