News

Just three days into the federal government shutdown, GA advocacy groups are stepping up their protests to the action. NATCA issued a statement on Monday noting that this is the third government shutdown this year. “The air traffic controllers and traffic management coordinators that NATCA represents remain on the job, dedicated to the safety of […]

Those of a certain age may remember the famous New York Sun editorial from 1897, when a little girl was reassured that “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” The FAA took the same position this week, announcing that Santa has equipped Rudolph with new ADS-B avionics and received a $500 rebate. “This state-of-the-art technology […]

Michael Graham, the director of flight operations safety, security and standardization at Textron Aviation, has been nominated to succeed Earl Weener, who has served on the NTSB since 2010. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Graham will complete Weener’s term, which expires at the end of 2020. He has been with Textron Aviation for 21 […]

Cameron, a manufacturer based in England, has completed a project to build the biggest hot-air balloon ever made, with an envelope 223 feet tall. The one-of-a-kind aerostat is intended for an attempt by Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov to complete the highest flight ever in a hot-air balloon, with the goal to fly into the stratosphere […]

Boeing and Embraer continue to navigate the complicated and apparently fast evolving legal landscape to formalize a deal they’ve reached for Boeing to buy 80 percent of the Brazilian company’s commercial airplane business. It would appear the most important part of that process is formally applying to the Brazilian government to approve the deal. The […]

The Aviation Herald is reporting that a TAM Boeing 777-300 made a successful but dramatic emergency landing in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on Wednesday. Flight 8084, with more than 350 people on board, was still on the climb on its way to London when it experienced an almost total electrical failure shortly after takeoff from Sao […]

Airbus got a joint type certificate from both EASA and the FAA on Friday for its A319neo. The smallest of Airbus’s single-aisle family (not including the recently acquired A220/Bombardier CSeries line) has the CFM Leap-1A that brings quiet fuel efficiency to the Airbus line and look after the lower-volume routes that are beyond regional aircraft. […]

U.K. police have cleared a married couple of any involvement in the Gatwick Airport drone incursions after they spent most of the weekend in jail. Paul Gait, 47, and wife Elaine Kirk, 54, were arrested at their home in Crawley, near the airport, late Friday. They were arrested “on suspicion of disrupting services of civil […]

GA groups can claim a victory in the fine print of the latest government shutdown. The FAA has confirmed to AVweb that aircraft registry services will be maintained throughout the shutdown, which began at midnight Dec. 22 and is still the subject of political machinations in Washington. “Air traffic controllers, as well as those who […]

The FAA has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the adoption of an airworthiness directive (AD) that would require wing spar inspections on nearly 20,000 Piper aircraft. According to the FAA, the AD comes after an investigation into the report of a fatigue crack on a Piper PA-28R-201 “revealed that repeated high-load operating […]