News

AirMule, an autonomous VTOL aircraft built by Tactical Robots, made its first untethered flight on Dec. 30, in Israel, the company has announced. The aircraft is powered by internal rotors, and is designed to enable autonomous evacuation of one or two people. It also can be quickly reconfigured for a variety of other missions. Flight […]

In 2015, 560 people were killed in 16 commercial aviation accidents worldwide, the Aviation Safety Network reported this week. Overall, it was the lowest number of fatal crashes ever, and it was the fifth-safest year for fatalities, according to ASN. The five worst crashes all had “at least a contributing cause ofhuman factors,” according to […]

The Mountain States Legal Foundation has launched a class action lawsuit against the FAA over an abrupt change in its air traffic controller hiring practices. As we’ve reported, two years ago, the agency announced that rather than give preference to graduates of college ATC programs, it was administering a “biographical” test as the first qualifying […]

The FAA has reminded more than 30 RC model and drone clubs in the Washington, D.C., area to at least temporarily shut down or risk enforcement action. In mid-December, the agency sent an email to the clubs saying it’s strictly enforcing a 30-mile zone around Reagan National Airport in which anything that flies must be […]

A British woman completed a 20-day flight from England to Australia in a Stearman on New Year’s Day, commemorating a flight made by Amy Johnson in 1930. Tracey Curtis-Taylor, 53, landed at Darwin to complete the 8,000-mile trip, which began Oct. 1. “I’m feeling just a bit windblown, sunburnt and a bit punch drunk,” Curtis-Taylor […]

The pilot of a Civil Air Patrol airplane that crashed into a building in Anchorage, Alaska, this week committed suicide, according to media reports Friday.Doug Demarest, 42, died Tuesday morning when the Cessna 172 he was flying hit one of the upper floors of an office building, then struck another building before coming to rest […]

An unmanned aerial system that can take off and land on destroyers and other small military ships is nearing reality. After completing initial design phases, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency this month awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman Corp. to build a full-scale demonstration model of the yet-to-be-named UAS.DARPA’s goal is to build a […]

Police in Belleville, Ontario, said Tuesday they can’t find any laws to apply against the operator of a drone that was in a head-on collision with a car last Monday. The aircraft hit the grill of the vehicle, which was traveling on a country road, and caused about $1,000 in damage. There were no injuries. […]

A total of 21 people, including three children, were taken to the hospital in Calgary, Alberta, Wednesday after their flight hit severe turbulence on its way from Shanghai to Toronto. The Air Canada Boeing 777-300ER was over Dawson City, Yukon, when it hit the rough patch of air. There’s been plenty of speculation on the […]

Homebuilt aircraft saw a drop in fatal accidents in the most recent year reported by the FAA, the Experimental Aircraft Association reported Wednesday. Aircraft in the FAA’s experimental category had 40 fatal accidents from October 2014 through September 2015, down 20 percent from 51 accidents in the previous fiscal year. There also was a drop […]