News

Citing concerns over privacy, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta has told members of Congress that the selection of six testing sites for unmanned aerial vehicles, which was expected this year, has been indefinitely put on hold. According to the Dayton Daily News, Huerta wrote to members of the Unmanned Systems Congressional Caucus, but no public statement […]

Recent reports in the mainstream media raised questions about whether FAA’s NextGen air traffic control system might be vulnerable to hackers who can create “ghost airplanes,” and also asked why 102 “zombie towers” across the country are kept open all night despite low traffic. The FAA has said that airports with four or fewer flights […]

Three high school students have won an innovation award for developing an adaptive 737 winglet that could save the fleet up to $2 billion per year in jet fuel, the Department of Transportation has announced. Miraj Rahematpura, Christopher Muckle, and Mario Chris, of Middletown, Conn., entered their project in a competition organized by the DOT […]

Plans were in the works for a sequel to Top Gun, one of the most popular aviation films ever, when director Tony Scott’s suicide in August stalled the project, but a 3-D Imax version of the original movie now is expected to debut in February. The new version of the film already has been completed […]

The NTSB said last week it won’t make any major changes in the way it oversees FAA enforcement actions against pilots, and NBAA says that’s not fair to small aviation businesses. The current NTSB rules stipulate that NTSB administrative law judges who review emergency actions by the FAA against certificate holders must assume the allegations […]

Six people were hurt after two police helicopters collided at the Pasadena Police Department’s heliport in Altadena, Calif., on Saturday. The injuries were thought to be minor and the cause is under investigation. CBS News reported the blades of the OH-58 Kiowa helicopters touched. It’s not clear whether one or both of the aircraft were […]

Three people aboard a Cessna 172 were killed after the aircraft hit a pickup truck on the runway of Knox County Regional Airport near Rockland, Maine, late Friday. Airport Manager Jeffrey Northgraves told Bangor Daily News the 172 was taking off just before 5 p.m. when it hit the front of the truck, which was […]

Jet A was in the air at Amelia Island, Fla., in late October as the annual TBM Owners and Pilots Association met for the ninth time. A total of 95 TBM 700 and 850 very fast turboprops landed at Fernandina Beach Airport for the event, held Oct. 24-27. More than 275 registrants took part in […]

A California pilot who has run afoul of various authorities before has had his pilot certificate revoked by the FAA. Dave Riggs, 50, who is perhaps best known for buzzing the Santa Monica pier in an L-39 in 2008 (resulting in a one-year suspension), had his ticket pulled for his involvement in an illegal fly-for-hire […]

Mountain View, Calif.-based Airship Ventures has grounded its zeppelin and will most likely dismantle it and send it back to Germany where it was built. Since 2007 the company, based at historic airship base Moffett Field, has offered trips, rides, promotions and anything else it could think of to keep the aircraft, named Eureka, afloat […]