News

After weighing aircraft wreckage and contents, the NTSB has determined the Challenger’s center of gravity was well forward of the allowable limit. The NTSB took into account the interior cabin configuration combined with full or nearly full fuel tanks, a full or nearly full passenger load and minimal passenger baggage. The horizontal stabilizer was set […]

On Feb. 2 of this year, a Bombardier Challenger CL-600 ran off Runway 6 while attempting to take off from the Teterboro, N.J., airport. The ensuing crash involved a fence, two cars, a warehouse and a fire … but though four people were seriously hurt, no one, amazingly, was killed. Speculation immediately afterward focused on […]

If flying in 2004 “felt” safer to you, there was a reason, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Just-released NTSB figures show that fewer accidents in air taxi, general aviation and scheduled airliner categories helped lower the number of fatalities, which fell from 695 in 2003 to 635 in 2004. Overall good news, yes, […]

The next frontier … the brave, new land for bizjet makers could soon be opening up in a big way. Business jet manufacturers are readying for China’s first international business aviation conference in August, wanting to get in on the ground floor of a predicted aviation boom. There are fewer than 500 commercial aircraft licensed […]

CitationShares says it is taking a leap in going where no fractional aircraft business has gone before. The company, co-owned by Cessna Aircraft and TAG Aviation, is offering private jet accessibility in the form of a 20-hour jet card instead of the industry-standard 25. What that means is that customers can purchase just 20 hours […]

101 Gulfstream bizjets have been retrofitted with technology once in the realm of fiction writers. Several of Gulfstream’s models can now be purchased with an Enhanced Vision System (EVS) that allows the pilot to “see” down to an altitude of just 100 feet above a runway’s touchdown zone. The FAA-certified equipment includes a forward-looking infrared […]

An expansion being discussed for months is now final. Adam Aircraft, headquartered at Centennial Airport outside Denver, Colo., is putting their A500 and A700 manufacturing facility at the Kemp Ogden (Utah) Gateway Center. “We believe Utah will be an excellent location for adding to our existing capacity in Colorado. The quality of the workforce in […]

Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp.’s (SSAC’s) new SJ30-2 twinjet has overcome yet another of the FAA’s testing hurdles. The aircraft is one step closer to FAA certification after the first flight of the third and final conformed flight-test aircraft. Afterward, SJ30-2 serial number 0005 joined S/N 0004 and 0003 in the company history. SSAC sources say […]

West Star Aviation in Grand Junction, Colo., has been named the latest — and only the sixth non-factory-owned — Authorized Citation Service Center. West Star has the factory’s blessing to perform warranty work and scheduled and unscheduled maintenance on all Citation model 500 aircraft. West Star Aviation was purchased by Premier Air Center in December […]

Cessna hit another milestone last week in the development of its newest entry-level business jet, the Citation Mustang. The Wichita, Kan.-based company completed a successful first run of the Mustang’s Pratt & Whitney Canada PW615F engines, which is another step leading toward a hoped-for first flight this summer. Cessna is more than ready for things […]