News

Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) has added the aerial equivalent of drag racing to its popular World Drone Racing Championships and the new record holder got his specialized quadcopter to 114.2382 kmh (70.98 mph) in a 100-meter (328-foot) straight-line course. The drones rise vertically from boxes below the lighted course and then accelerate to the finish […]

One person died but two others were uninjured in a midair collision between a Piper Cheyenne and another unidentified aircraft near Canada’s capital city of Ottawa on Sunday. The Cheyenne pilot reported the touch to ATC and did not declare an emergency. “Somebody hit the bottom side of my aircraft,” the unidentified pilot told the […]

An ID plate from Apollo 11’s lunar module Eagle sold for $468,500 at an auction of 2,000 items of memorabilia owned by the first man on the moon Saturday. The auction raised more than $7.4 million and was held on behalf of Neil Armstrong’s family. A piece of the propeller and wing from the Wright […]

Canadian prosecutors want the book thrown at a Quebec pilot whose beef against a utility company turned into what some suggested was an act of domestic terrorism using an Aerocruiser homebuilt, a kit aircraft he designed. Government lawyers have asked for the full 10-year maximum sentence on “mischief” charges against Normand Dub, who came close […]

The FAA has issued a notice removing several regulatory restrictions identified as major contributors to increasingly long wait times for pilot practical exams. FAA Notice N 8900.485 (PDF) gives designated pilot examiners (DPEs) the ability to conduct up to three tests and an unlimited number of retests per day and lets flight instructor applicants schedule […]

The failure of a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle on Oct. 11 was caused by abnormal separation of one of the rocket’s boosters, according to Russian space agency Roscosmos. The committee investigating the incident says the malfunctioning booster hit the vehicle’s core stage in the fuel tank area, resulting in its decompression and a loss of attitude […]

A law firm has filed a second class-action suit against the FAA based on the agency’s air traffic controller hiring practices in 2014. The lawsuit alleges that the biographical assessment added to the initial air traffic controller application process in late 2013 was used to “intentionally disadvantage [Hispanic, Asian, Caucasian, and other] applicants based on […]

The Catalina Island Conservancy has announced that it will be partnering with the U.S. Marine Corps to repair the runway at Catalina Airport (AVX), also called the “Airport in the Sky.” AVX is the only airport on California’s Santa Catalina Island, which is home to approximately 4,100 people and sees over 1 million visitors annually. […]

Six aviation associations released a document detailing a series of communications best practices for FBOs on Wednesday. “Know Before You Go” (PDF) calls on FBOs to provide clear, complete and easily accessible online descriptions of available services, along with all associated prices and fees. The organizations, which include the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), […]

Seventy years after it was lost during World War II, amateur divers found the wreckage of a B-24 Liberator bomber in the Adriatic Sea, off the coast of Italy. The U.S. Air Force airplane was badly damaged during an aerial engagement with the Luftwaffe in 1944, and the crew was forced to ditch. Several of […]