News

Cessna last week announced that two of its airplane fleets had reached significant time-in-service milestones: The Cessna Citation business jet fleet has surpassed the 20-million flight hour milestone and the Cessna Caravan has accumulated more than 10 million flight hours. The announcement was made at the annual Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In, at which the company […]

Despite increasing rhetoric on both sides of the issue, there’s still no clear winner in the ongoing battle engaging the FAA and the airline industry against general and business aviation to impose user fees. Meanwhile in Congress, indecision reigns, with the House unlikely to develop legislation to fully implement the FAA’s legislative proposal but an […]

The NTSB says the pilot of Piper PA-28 Warrior misjudged his approach to a private airport in Georgetown, Del., on July 26, 2005, but it also suggests the consequences would have been far less grave had a road that passed perpendicular to the threshold been in compliance with FAA standards. The pilot of the Piper […]

The greatest threat of collision at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport during early April’s unprecedented spring snowstorms was apparently from deicing trucks. Associated Press reported last week that no less than three collisions occurred between trucks and airplanes during whiteout conditions at the airport. In one case, the driver of the truck didn’t mention that he’d […]

The operator of the Embraer Legacy 600 business jet involved in a midair with a Gol Airlines Boeing 737-800 over the Amazon jungle is blaming the accident on Brazilian air traffic controllers, according to the Associated Press. All 154 people aboard the 737 were killed when the jets collided over the Amazon jungle in late […]

A Gulfstream V twinjet will be used to track and analyze large plumes of dust and pollution from Asia as they journey across the Pacific Ocean, according to New Scientist. The airplane is expected to start its first research mission this week to monitor the plumes, which affect cloud formation and are believed to contribute […]

Vero Beach, Fla.-based Piper Aircraft is reportedly considering Tallahassee, Fla.; Vero Beach, Fla.; Columbia, S.C.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Albuquerque, N.M. for its PiperJet manufacturing facility, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. The newspaper reported on Sunday that if Piper chooses the capital city for its new plant, the facility would be built on a 275-acre […]

Paula Abdul either overestimated her star power or underestimated the sort of primeval code of conduct that rules when 100 or more people are packed in an aluminum tube, rebreathing each other’s air. The American Idol judge’s first mistake was to ask for first-class treatment on the successfully proletariat Southwest Airlines by demanding advanced boarding […]

The FAA Safety Team (FAAST) is changing the focus of its Wings-Pilot Proficiency Program from an awards-based program to a true proficiency program. The new system is expected to be in place in June. In a release on the FAAST Web site, spokesman James Pyles said the goal of the program is to instill a […]

Pilots in South Florida have said for years that it’s been an accident waiting to happen, and now it has. Three people died Friday when the Cessna 182 they were in hit the cable used to tether a surveillance and propaganda blimp over Cudjoe Key in the Florida Keys. The blimp, known locally as Fat […]