News

A Wall Street Journal editorial last week said it would be a good idea to privatize the air traffic control system, and singled out the opposition by NBAA and AOPA for critique. “What’s really going on,” the WSJ editorial board says, is that the business jet industry pays just 0.6 percent of aviation user taxes, […]

Canada is looking at banning some types of laser pointers after its Transport Minister ordered his staff to look at “all possible options” to halt laser attacks on aircraft. Marc Garneau called a news conference last week after there were six reported incidents at Trudeau International Airport in Montreal over two days earlier this month. […]

The only fatalities resulting from the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in Mexico on Friday were 13 people on the ground hit by a crashing military Blackhawk helicopter on Saturday. The helicopter was carrying government officials surveying the damage in Santiago Jamiltepec in Oaxaca state in southern Mexico when it crashed while attempting to land in a […]

All 65 people aboard an Aseman Airlines ATR-72 turboprop were killed when the aircraft crashed in bad weather in the mountains of southern Iran Sunday. The aircraft hit Mt. Dena, which is almost 14,000 feet tall, while on approach to Yasuj on a flight from Tehran just after midnight. Wind, snow and dense fog prevented […]

Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) has certified the Pipistrel Alpha Electro in its advanced ultralight category, the first certification of an electric aircraft in North America. The certification means the aircraft can be used commercially in its intended role as an economical trainer. Electricairplanes can’t qualify for the factory-built light sport category (S-LSA) because FAA […]

The FAA and NTSB are now mulling the circumstances of a relatively minor helicopter crash in South Carolina that may go down in history as the first U.S. aircraft crash caused by a drone. According to the narrative available so far, the drone didn’t directly cause the crash but the pilot’s evasive maneuvers to avoid […]

FBOs and local airports across Canada have been affected by a quarantine of avgas following a quality control problem at the only refinery that makes 100LL in Canada. Imperial Oil’s Strathcona refinery in Edmonton issued a directive Wednesday to its wholesale customers saying any avgas they obtained from the refinery from Dec. 28, 2017, shouldn’t […]

A company in Wyoming has secured FAA approval to start flight tests with a large twin-engine drone, the Flyox Mark II, built by Singular Aircraft of Barcelona, Spain. The amphibious drone has a 35-foot wingspan and can carry up to 4,000 pounds of water for dropping on forest fires. According to Singular, it’s the world’s […]

The FAA said this week it plans to spend $100 million in Phase II of its CLEEN (Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions, and Noise) program, working with industry partners to develop new aircraft and engine technologies that are more efficient and quieter, and advance the development of alternative jet fuels. The program aims to enhance environmental […]

The FAA has published an Airworthiness Directive affecting an estimated 2,147 Cessna twin-engine airplanes, requiring the owners or operators of high time aircraft to inspect the spar caps, and if cracks are found, replace the carry-through spar. Sixteen models in the 400-series are listed in the AD, along with serial numbers for each type. If […]