News

Both occupants of a twin Cessna survived a crash on the 405 freeway shortly after departure from John Wayne Airport. The pilot reported to the tower that they had lost the right engine and were trying to circle back to the airport (recording from LiveATC.com available below). The tower offered the Cessna right traffic for […]

The Senate’s Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will almost certainly include authorization for $1.2 billion to buy a fleet of light attack aircraft. Support for the OA-X project has been steadily gaining traction since Senator John McCain proposed that the Air Force acquire 300 low-cost, off-the-shelf observation and attack aircraft early this […]

Prompted by reports of engine exhaust leaks from Lycoming TIO-540-AJ1A engines, found most commonly on the Cessna T206 Turbo Stationair, a new urgent Airworthiness Directive requires inspection of the exhaust system within in the next 10 hours time-in-service (TIS) “to prevent engine exhaust leaks, which could lead to uncontrolled engine fire, harmful exhaust gases entering […]

The Department of Homeland Security has decided not to extend the ban on laptops, currently affecting only flights originating from one of ten Middle Eastern and African airports, to all U.S.-bound flights, choosing instead to require “enhanced” checkpoint screening and other unpublished security measures. According to the DHS fact sheet on the new screening methods, […]

The effort now underway in Congress to privatize the air traffic control system would be a disaster for general aviation, according to Mark Baker, the president of AOPA. In a podcast interview this week, Baker told AVweb that July is a critical time for aviators to lobby their congressional representatives, if they agree with AOPA’s […]

An AH-64 Apache with a pod-mounted laser was test fired on targets at the Army’s White Sands Missile Range late last week. The laser, made and tested by defense contractor Raytheon, engaged a stationary target 1.4 kilometers (slant range distance) from the helicopter. The promise of directed energy weapons is highly appealing to U.S. Special […]

Mahindra Aerospace has successfully certified its turboprop 10-passenger GA10 Airvan utility aircraft but hasn’t been crowing about it. The FAA accepted the certification May 19, the same day it was certified in Australia and word is only getting out now because of third-party interest in the design. Although the program has been reportedly owned by […]

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved a proposal on Tuesday to separate air traffic control from the FAA and transfer to it a nonprofit corporation over three years, according to a report in The Hill. The bill would create a board of directors with the power to impose user fees; however, general aviation users […]

A deHavilland Mosquito T Mk III, which was restored and test-flown in New Zealand, flew for the first time in the U.S. last Friday in at Paine Field, in Everett, Washington. The Mosquito now is based at the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum, where it received a fresh coat of paint on arrival, plus […]

A dispute over noise caused by helicopters flying over the tony Hampton area outside New York City made it all the way to the Supreme Court, but this week, the judges said they won’t hear the case. The Town of East Hampton had petitioned the court last November, after a federal appeals court said the […]