News

The NTSB’s preliminary report, posted online on Tuesday, revealed no new details about Harrison Ford’s accident in Santa Monica last week, and reports on the actor’s recovery also are sparse. Local news outlets have reported that Ford, age 72, underwent surgery to repair broken bones at UCLA Medical Center, and according to a statement from […]

The FAA has found that hook-and-loop Velcro-style fasteners for ELT units are subject to failure in an accident, but the agency said on Tuesday it has decided against issuing an airworthiness directive that would address the problem because manufacturers have already either revised or are in the process of revising those designs. The FAA did […]

The aerospace industry and a group representing airline pilots are planning to call for a ban on bulk shipments of lithium batteries on passenger aircraft, The Associated Press reported Monday. The batteries create an “unacceptable risk” of fires, according to a not-yet-published position paper from the International Coordination Council of Aerospace Industry Associations and the […]

The NTSB issued an update Monday on its investigation into last week’s runway accident involving a Delta MD-88 at LaGuardia Airport, in New York, but the cause is not yet clear. The safety board said investigators were examining and testing the jet’s antiskid, autobrake and thrust reverser systems on Monday. The board also reported that […]

Solar Impulses left Abu Dhabi Monday morning local time on its attempt to make the first circumnavigation solely on solar power. The aircraft took off heading east late Sunday night EDT and the first leg is to Muscat in Oman. Plans are for a five-month journey that will include some major ocean crossings. Andre Borschberg […]

Helicopter accidents are on the decline for the first time and the International Helicopter Safety Team hopes it’s a trend that will continue. The communications lead for the group, Tony Molinaro, an FAA public affairs officer, said in a podcast interview the accident numbers are looking better these days because of the education and awareness […]

Helicopter Association International (HAI) is forming a committee on unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and President Matt Zuccaro is urging members to get involved in both the committee and the industry itself. At a session on UAS at HAI’s recent Heli-Expo in Orlando, Zuccaro said there is no question that unmanned systems will cut into operations […]

The FAA executive in charge of integrating unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS) says that if and when a small UAS (sUAS) and a manned aircraft collide, the manned aircraft isn’t likely to suffer serious damage. Jim Williams was speaking to a nervous audience of helicopter operators at HAI Heli-Expo in […]

Mesa Airlines and ATP Flight School are starting a new program that offers tuition reimbursement for pilots who commit to fly for the airline. The program is starting with ATP’s current instructor group of 200 pilots at its Florida site. Phoenix-based Mesa, which operates as American Eagle, US Airways Express and United Express, said the […]

Actor and pilot Harrison Ford was hospitalized Thursday when the Ryan PT-22 he was flying landed in a golf course after departing Santa Monica Airport. CNN reported his son, Ben Ford, tweeted that his father is stable:“At the hospital. Dad is ok. Battered, but ok!” The incident prompted world-wide reaction and EAA Chairman Jack Pelton […]