News

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 […]

The Secret Service announced it will conduct “exercises” using unmanned aerial vehicles around Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks. While the agency didn’t disclose further details, including what kinds of drones are involved or the nature of the activities, it’s fair to surmise they will include some kind of security-related testing. A Washington Post blog […]

A Delta MD-88 overran a runway at New York’s La Guardia Airport just after 11 a.m. Thursday and it appears there were no serious injuries to the 125 passengers and five crew. It was snowing at the time. The aircraft came to rest with its nose on a berm after going through a fence. The […]

The case of the storied 1959 Beech Bonanza crash that killed Buddy Holly, two fellow singers and the pilot could reopen at the request of a New England man who has his own theories about what happened on that February night. L. J. Coon, who describes himself as a retired pilot and aircraft dispatcher, has […]

FreeFlight Systems is expanding its line of radar altimeters for rotorcraft, announcing on Wednesday the FRA-5500 system for transport-category helicopters. The system is similar to its RA-4000 series of radar altimeters, certified for Part 29 rotorcraft to comply with equipment mandates related to a 2014 FAA rule that targets helicopter air ambulance operations. FreeFlight says […]

The manager of Kathmandu Airport in Nepal said Wednesday that all 227 people aboard a Turkish Airlines A330 are safe after the aircraft “somehow missed the runway and ended up in the grassland area.” Birenda Prasad Shrestha told AFP that the plane was on its second attempt to land at the airport. Officials refuted earlier […]

It appears that FlightPro, the well-regarded Android flight planner and chart app, will not be back anytime soon, thanks to increasingly intense legal wrangling among the shareholders and entities involved. FlightPro missed the Feb. 5 update for its subscribers and at least some of those involved were hopeful the service could be restored. That doesn’t […]