News

An FAA order to remove supplemental oxygen from airline lavatories puts passengers and crew at risk, the Association of Flight Attendants told USA Today last week. The order, made earlier this year in conjunction with the FBI and TSA, was a “precautionary measure,” the FAA said, because the chemical oxygen generators were easily accessible and […]

The FAA requires that you fly with ADS-B Out by 2020, but one member of a rulemaking committee last week told AVweb he expects many pilots and operators will opt to also equip with ADS-B In (which is not mandated) within the next few years. FreeFlight Systems’ president and CEO, Tim Taylor, confirmed that the […]

Don’t see a video screen?Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page.If that doesn’t work, click here to download the video directly. The Thanksgiving Eve crash of a Turbo Commander near Phoenix could reignite debate over a controversial 2007 airspace redesign that substantially changed procedures for VFR aircraft flying in the area of the crash. […]

There is new life available for old Twin Otters in the form of an STC obtained by a California aircraft modification company. IKHANA Aircraft Services at Van Nuys has received FAA approval to remanufacture the fuselages of timed-out DHC-6-100, 200 and 300 aircraft. Twin Otters, which were built in Toronto from 1965 to 1988, are […]

Owners of certain new and rebuilt turbocharger-equipped Continental 520 and 550 series engines should be aware of a mandatory service bulletin (PDF) issued last week that will ground some airplanes immediately. There have been five instances where the starter adapter on engines produced since the beginning of 2011 have failed due to misalignment of parts […]

Don’t see a video screen?Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page.If that doesn’t work, click here to download the video directly. Don’t see a video screen?Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page.If that doesn’t work, click here to download the video directly. TED, a nonprofit “devoted to ideas worth spreading,” has released a […]

The pilot of a Turbo Commander that hit a cliff near Phoenix Thursday was an acknowledged expert on the type and familiar with the area. Shawn Perry, his three children Morgan, 9, Logan, 8 and Luke, 6, and Perry’s colleagues at Ponderosa Aviation, Russell Hardy, 31 and Joseph Hardwick, 22, died when their AC690 aircraft […]

Thanksgiving feels like the right time to confirm that the town of Yellville, Ark., this year did break with tradition and did not punctuate its October Turkey Trot Festival by dropping live turkeys from an airplane … though it may next year. According to the Arkansas Times blog, the drop was effectively discouraged when the […]

Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., appears to be taking some heat from online commenters after introducing legislation that would prohibit airlines from charging a fee for a passenger’s first checked bag. The proposed legislation is called the Airline Passenger BASICS, or Basic Airline Standards to Improve Customer Satisfaction Act. Among other things, it would require airlines […]

One of two low-time pilots used a helmet-camera and filmed the crash that killed them both on July 10, 2010, near Oxfordshire, England, according to testimony by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). The information came to light in court and was reported by British news sources this week. Both pilots had less than 200 […]