News

Virgin Galactic CEO Richard Branson says the company will return to space before the end of the year and he’s looking forward to a trip there shortly afterward. The company essentially had to start over after losing its spacecraft SpaceShipTwo in a crash in 2014 that killed one of the two pilots onboard. There will […]

Attempting to tamp down pilot concerns about its 737 MAX following the Lion Air crash, Boeing technical representatives met with at least two pilot unions this week. And industry sources say the company is considering a software revision to the airplane’s anti-stall autotrim system. Lion Air JT610, a 737 MAX with only 800 hours on […]

A Frontier Airlines A320 returned to Las Vegas immediately after takeoff on Friday after the right cowl flipped up on takeoff. The flapping aluminum met a predictable demise and passengers recorded the mishap with their phones. The short climb out and the quick return were reportedly routine but the plethora of smartphones at the ready […]

Air traffic controllers at Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage were off the air for less than a minute when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake shattered the morning routine at the busy polar route crossroads at 8:30 a.m. local time on Friday. “FedEx go around! FedEx, go around,” an agitated controller shouts as the shaking starts […]

Air rescue organization ADAC Luftrettung will be conducting a feasibility study on the use of a manned version of the Volocopter VTOL multicopter in air rescue and emergency service operations, according to an announcement from Volocopter. The project will start with computer simulations and move to research flights within a few months, with a focus […]

Aspen Avionics has issued a mandatory service bulletin identifying how to avoid issues with the repeated inflight system resets recently noted in an FAA Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB). As previously reported by AVweb, the resets are occurring in a small number of Aspen Evolution EFD1000 Primary Flight Display (PFD), EFD1000 Multi-Function Display (MFD) and […]

A Florida man says he’ll try hang gliding again after his first tandem flight left him hanging on for dear life over the Swiss countryside. Chris Gursky’s pilot on the flight forgot to attach his harness to the aircraft and as they soared from the takeoff point Gursky grasped the control bar and the pilot’s […]

At a follow-up press conference in Indonesia Thursday, accident investigators said they did not claim that a Lion Air 737 MAX 8 was unairworthy before it crashed into the Java Sea on Oct. 29. The investigators said the unairworthy comment applied to the aircraft’s previous flight, during which the 737’s stick shaker activated constantly because […]

Pilatus delivered the first PC-24 configured for medevac missions to the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS) on Monday. According to Pilatus, the interior of the PC-24 air ambulance is designed to allow fast, flexible modification. Modifications include an electric stretcher, a separate power system for the cabin, dedicated communication systems for the medical […]

Australian authorities are investigating after a sleeping pilot overflew his destination by 30 miles before waking up and turning around. The Vortex Air Navajo was on an early morning flight from Devonport, Tasmania, to King Island, which is between Tasmania and the Australian mainland. The Navajo was on autopilot and assuming a direct track from […]