News

Pilots in Part 121 operations should not be using personal electronic devices or laptop computers in the cockpit at any time, the FAA said in a proposed new rule published on Tuesday. The rule, which complies with legislation passed last year, was prompted by an incident in 2009 when two pilots flew 150 miles past […]

With glass everything the rule rather than exception, the lowly navcomm hasn’t seen much market push lately, but Garmin changed that this week with a series of new VHF navcomms. The GTR and GNC series will replace the aging but still popular SL 30 and SL 40 radios, which were developed more than a decade […]

Fire and rescue workers who responded to a Boeing 787 lithium-ion battery fire at Logan Airport last week reported that it was difficult to access the battery for removal during extinguishing efforts, the NTSB said Monday, in an update on its investigation. All the workers who responded to the incident had previously received aircraft familiarization […]

The Steamboat Springs Airport in Colorado has been getting plenty of snow this year, and the airport operators say they’ve successfully tested a new method for dealing with snow that’s safer and more economical than just plowing it out of the way. Crews have instead been compacting the snow and using it as part of […]

EAA has reportedly confirmed that it’s talking with “Jetman” Yves Rossy to perform at AirVenture 2013. AOPA Online reported that the talks, which will include Rossy’s sponsor Breitling, are under way but the performance is far from a sure thing. “Our people have talked with him and his group. Nothing is confirmed,” EAA spokesman Dick […]

A spokesman for a major aircraft leasing company says a new “golden age” of aviation is upon us and will persist for at least a decade. Dick Forsbergh, head of strategy for Avolon, an Irish leasing company, told a Manila newspaper that aviation is a fundamental component of economic expansion and developing economies all over […]

The FAA has certified the upgraded Cessna Grand Caravan EX and deliveries are already under way. The core of the upgrade is a much more powerful (867 shaft horsepower) Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A-140 engine in place of the 675-horsepower Pratt that powers the standard models. The effect on performance is substantial. Cessna was hoping […]

An Alabama man has been placed on probation for a year and may have to take anger management lessons after he admitted shooting at a neighbor’s biplane as it was about to land on the neighbor’s home strip last June. Jason Allen McCay, 36, of Hayden, Ala., admitted to investigators that he fired at the […]

Japan Airlines says a mysterious series of fuel valve malfunctions will keep one of its Boeing 787s out of service indefinitely as engineers track the problem. According to Reuters, the aircraft dumped about 40 gallons of fuel on the ramp at Boston Logan Airport after a transfer valve linking the belly tank and a wing […]

An agreement published in a Pentagon inspector general (IG) report to Congress last month discloses that Boeing has agreed to pay the Air Force $1 million to replace “defective” parts that in 2007 caused the in-flight breakup of an F-15 (AVweb video). The pilot in that event was able to eject and survived with injuries […]