News

A Sunwing Airlines flight had to divert to Bermuda after a family of smokers found lighting up in the lavatory refused to cooperate with the cabin crew and became verbally abusive. The flight was en route from Halifax to the Dominican Republic on Friday night when a mother, father and two sons ages 16 and […]

Piper Aircraft has confirmed the FAA will issue an AD on Monday requiring specific inspection, at annual, of the control cable assemblies of tens of thousands of aircraft that are 15 years or older. The AD will affect Cherokee, Saratoga, Lance and Seminole models. It will at first apply to the older aircraft but as […]

Iran has unveiled a new fighter/bomber (or a mockup of one) it says is stealthy and proves the country’s ability to “conquer scientific peaks.” The Qaher (Dominant)-313 looks like an F-35 with canards but technical details on its performance and capabilities are scant because Iran doesn’t talk about such things in any way except with […]

A non-profit group is organizing what it hopes will be a major warbird event. The Gathering of Warbirds and Legends will be held at Forbes Field in Topeka, Kan., from Aug. 1-4 and is inviting warbird owners and operators to reserve one of 65 “slots” to participate in the event. Slot holders will be picked […]

China will host the next biennial World Assembly meeting of the International Council of the Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA), AOPA announced Friday. Specifics have not yet been set, but the organization is considering later dates in 2014, with details to be resolved “soon.” IOAPA is administered through AOPA and is made up of […]

Alaska Airlines says illness caused one of its pilots to pass out Thursday, while flying a Boeing 737-700 with 116 aboard out of Los Angeles for Seattle, leading the copilot to declare an emergency, divert, and land safely at Portland. The pilot, who has reportedly flown with the airline for 28 years, stood up while […]

The death of two former British Airways pilots, both 43 years of age, who both believed they were poisoned by breathing contaminated air in the cockpit of jets they flew may now lead to legal action. Shortly before his Dec. 12 death, pilot Richard Westgate reportedly instructed his lawyers to sue BA over his alleged […]

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge Friday approved the joint plan of reorganization submitted by Hawker Beechcraft — pension plan agreements were approved earlier. The judge had asked Thursday that a slight modification be made before issuing a final order regarding reorganization. The plan should become effective by the end of February. The court has approved […]

A man entered a guilty plea in federal court Tuesday for shooting at (and hitting) a crop-dusting airplane on Feb. 22, 2008, while it was flying near his hunting ranch in Texas. The man, Stephen Paul Riley, 41, will face sentencing in May. Court documents state that Riley shot at the crop duster, striking it […]

The number of workers employed full-time by U.S. air carriers dropped 2 percent to 381,639 from November 2011 to November 2012, the Department of Transportation said Tuesday, adding to a recent downward trend. Though the overall number of employees recently saw 22 months of growth, the movement was subtle and began to reverse in late […]