News

The Balloon Federation of America is rejecting an NTSB recommendation that the FAA assume direct oversight of commercial balloon ride operations. Last week the NTSB recommended the FAA require all fly-for-hire balloon operations be covered by a Letter of Authorization as a means to improve safety. The move was prompted by its investigation of three […]

Garmins Pilot app, heretofore limited to U.S. subscribers, will have international support in May, the company announced at Aero Friedrichshafen last week. International coverage will include navigation data, charts, plates and sectionals for Europe and weather coverage for Europe and Australia, including METARs, TAFs, SIGMETs and AIRMETs and satellite and radar data. However, weather data […]

While regulatory reform is inching along in the U.S., its going so quickly in Europe that the EU runs the risk of outstripping the rest of the world, says GAMA. At a press briefing at Aero Friedrichshafen this week, GAMA President Pete Bunce said that although the European Aviation Safety Agency has a reputation for […]

Textron AirLand, LLC, a joint venture between Textron and AirLand Enterprises, LLC, announced that its prototype Scorpion has completed 50 hours of flight time since the start of flight testing in December 2013, including a recent demonstration of low-speed handling in formation with a Cessna 182. After the need for an affordable combat airplane for […]

The first autonomous combat drone for carrier operations is the winner of the 2013 Collier Trophy. The National Aeronautic Association bestowed what many consider aviation’s top prize to the Northrop Grumman X-47B. The stealthy drone first flew in 2011 and spent much of 2013 in carrier and runway recovery operations. Last week it made its […]

The Air Line Pilots Association is stepping to the defense of two pilots fired by their airline after they got lost over the barrens of the Canadian Arctic. ALPA says First Air “rushed to judgment” in firing the experienced pilots. First Air, which serves remote communities throughout the Arctic with gravel-runway-adapted Boeing 737-200s, said the […]

Continental will expand its Zulu Flight Training business model to Europe, the company announced at Aero in Friedrichshafen this week. The Zulu system is a simulator-based franchise model that places flight training facilities in city centers, such as malls and store street front locations. Continental opened its first Zulu center in an upscale mall in […]

Malaysia’s government has begun investigating civil aviation and military authorities to determine why opportunities to identify and track Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 were missed in the hours after it vanished, according toReuters. The internal inquiries come as tensions are rapidly escalating between civilian and military authorities over who bears more responsibility for the initial confusion […]

Maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry officials are claiming that FAA employees and managers are in some cases imposing ad hoc rules on MRO companies. They claim the FAA officials are improperly using the FAAs internal online flight standards information management system (FSIMS), an electronic documentation system the agency adopted to replace the legacy inspectors […]

AVwebs weekly review of news found information about restoration of the oldest CH-47 Chinook, a video answering pilot questions on filling out the FAA medical form, Cessnas delivery of the 100th Grand Caravan EX and an expanded warranty for Penn Yan Aero engines. Building on its experience assembling and modifying Chinook helicopters, Middletown, Del.-based Summit […]