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Report: FAA To Require 700 Hours For First Officers

The FAA is expected to issue a proposed rule this month that will require pilots flying in the right seat for airlines to have at least 700 hours, up from the current minimum of 250 hours, according to The Wall Street Journal. Proposals in Congress have suggested raising the minimum as high as 1,500 hours. […]

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GA Forecast: Slow But Steady Growth

Production of general aviation aircraft is expected to grow slightly through next year, with stronger growth starting in 2013, according to a report by Forecast International released this week. The research firm, based in Newton, Conn., excluded business jets and light sport aircraft from its study, which focuses on the projected GA market from 2011 […]

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NASA Awards $1.35 Million For Efficient Flight

First place in NASA’s Green Flight Challenge went to Pipistrel-USA, for a prize of $1.35 million, and the second-place prize of $120,000 went to team eGenius, NASA announced on Monday. The prize purse was the biggest ever awarded for an aviation competition, according to NASA. To win, the aircraft had to fly 200 miles in […]

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Report Recommends Changes In ATC Training

An independent panel has reviewed how the FAA hires and trains air traffic controllers, and this week released a report (PDF) with 50 recommendations for improvements. The panel, made up of five experts in the field, including one from the FAA and one from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, recommended that the FAA should […]

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Paper Clip Repair Sparks Charges

Six former employees of WECO Aerospace, a Lincoln, Calif, maintenance and repair facility near Sacramento, are facing charges relating to work done on aircraft prior to 2007. California residents Jerry Edward Kuwata, 60, of Granite Bay; Michael Dennis Maupin, 58, of Arbuckle; Scott Hamilton Durham, 39, of Roseville; Christopher Warren MacQueen, 53, of Lincoln; Douglas […]

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GPS Complacency Cited In Accident

A pilot’s sole reliance on what proved to be unreliable GPS information during an approach in IMC is being blamed for the crash of Piper Cheyenne that killed six people in Australia in 2004. A coroner has ruled that the pilot didn’t check the GPS information against other navigation instruments as the Cheyenne went off […]

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Plane Hits Ferris Wheel; No Injuries (Updated)

The 52-year-old Australian pilot has answered the obvious question. Paul Cox told rescuers he didn’t see the Ferris wheel. “The next thing I knew, I was stopped inside the Ferris wheel,” he said. “I had no idea for a few minutes and I was just hoping no one got hurt.” There are likely to be […]

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Safety Board: Switch Mistake Nearly Flips ANA 737

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. On Sept. 6, an ANA 737-700 with 117 aboard rolled through 130 degrees of bank and lost more than 6,000 feet of altitude partly due to poorly placed switches, according to Japan’s Transport […]

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DC-9-50 Nearly Loses Engines On Hard Landing

On Sept. 26, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 operated by Aeropostal landed at Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela, with enough force to crack both engine pylons at the airframe, leaving them dangling at the rear fuselage sides. None of the five crew and 125 passengers were seriously injured and all were evacuated onto the runway after the aircraft […]

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Drug Bust At Boeing Plant

A Thursday morning raid at Boeing’s helicopter plant outside of Philadelphia resulted in the arrest of 37 current and former Boeing employees who authorities allege were associated with the purchase and sale of prescription drugs. The plant at Ridley Park produces the CH-47 Chinook and the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. It employs roughly 6,000 workers. […]

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