News

The Chinese government says the country’s airlines are free to choose the airliners they need despite suggestions by Airbus that they might be discouraged from buying the European products. Last week Airbus said it was afraid the burgeoning Chinese market would shun its products to protest the European Union’s new carbon tax on foreign carriers […]

The NTSB says a high-speed pitch-up “consistent with an ostentatious display” snapped the wing of a Cessna 337 and resulted in the deaths of all five people onboard at Farmingdale, N.J., on Feb. 15, 2010. The board also said data recovered from the Skymaster’s GPS showed the aircraft was going about 160 knots when witnesses […]

Less than six months since it was announced, a prototype of Cessna’s new eight-place (including two crew) Citation M2 has successfully flown, Friday, March 9. The timeline was helped along by the jet’s extensive mechanical similarities to the CJ1+, and pilots will need the same C525 type rating to fly it. There will, of course, […]

A flight attendant on American Airlines flight 2332, a loaded MD-80 out of Dallas for Chicago Friday morning, launched into an intense tirade that culminated in her being restrained and the aircraft returning to the gate. As the event unfolded, the flight attendant’s agitation grew until she was being held down and screaming “Get outta […]

The FAA plans to identify six test ranges “to integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in to the National Airspace System” and it is seeking pilot input. The FAA says it will also host webinars for further exchange of information between the agency and the public. The sites will be used to help develop certification standards […]

The FAA Thursday issued notice that it intends to discontinue the paper application form used to apply for FAA medical certification. The agency will on Oct. 1, 2012, switch to its online FAA Form 8500-8 application, otherwise known as “FAA MedXpress.” That virtual form was introduced in 2007 and “has evolved considerably, streamlining FAA medical […]

Rotax has added a new engine to its line of popular four-cylinder, four-stroke aircraft engines — the 912iS. The new engine represents somewhat of a technological leap for large-volume, small-displacement aircraft powerplants in that it features electronic fuel injection and an electronic engine management unit. Company officials rolled out the new engine at BRP/Rotax’s company […]

The environmental group Friends of the Earth (FOE) has sued the EPA asking for the regulation of lead emissions from general aviation aircraft under the Clean Air Act, and Wednesday, AVweb spoke to a lawyer on the case. According to attorney Marianne Engelman Lado, “The sky is not falling and no one is even calling […]

Tom Cruise, star of the first Top Gun film, is expected to appear in Top Gun 2, now in the works, and according to recent reports, he’ll play the test pilot of a Lockheed Martin F-35 joint strike fighter. Cruise confirmed a few months ago that he was talking with the producer and director of […]

Over the years, various events to recognize women’s contributions to aviation have been held in March to coincide with Women’s History Month, and this year, many events are scheduled for this week, in honor of International Women’s Day on Thursday. A group based in Canada has organized Women of Aviation Week Worldwide to encourage pilots […]