News

Citing four foreign accidents in two years involving uncontained engine failures, the NTSB Thursday issued recommendations that ask the FAA to require GE to redesign a specific engine component. The failures (one each on two Boeing 747s, an Airbus A300 and a DC-10) did not result any injuries or death, but the NTSB believes they […]

The FAA Thursday released a final rule dictating requirements for aircraft owners to operate in NextGen’s ADS-B-required environment by 2020, and it’s going to cost you. The rule addresses ADS-B Out and applies to aircraft “operating in Classes A, B, and C airspace, as well as certain other specified classes of airspace,” (see below) not […]

Click for the full text of the rule (PDF). The FAA has published its final rule on NextGen airspace powered by ADS-B – and what that will cost GA operators. Following is the complete text of section II.Z.8 of the document: General Aviation: High Equipage Costs With Little Benefit In the proposal, the FAA estimated […]

The features and convenience fixed-wing operators take for granted with their Garmin glass panels are now available to the helicopter market. Garmin announced today that its G500H has received a supplementary type certificate from the FAA for Bell 206 and 407 models. The dual screen PFD/MFD was specifically designed to fit the limited panel space […]

Sadler Vampire, which produces a mid-wing, twin-boom pusher that’s been in development in various incarnations since the 1980s and had been gearing up for LSA certification, is now up for sale — including a prototype and parts — for $50,000. As a light sport aircraft, the two-seat Vampire would have folding wings and fly with […]

The Air Line Pilots Association says it has “a substantial number of questions” about how the FAA will implement its new policy to allow pilots to continue to fly while taking certain antidepressants, so the FAA has reopened its comment period to give ALPA another 30 days to file its comments. The original 30-day comment […]

Whatever the time of year, thunderstorms can be a real showstopper for flight. Test your knowledge of CBs and TCUs before your passengers can scream, “OMG!” Take the quiz. More Brainteasers

Two individuals who operated a San Diego-area flight school entered guilty pleas last week to charges that they issued false visa documents that allowed at least 53 foreign students to enter the country illegally for flight training. Andrew Burr and Christopher Watson faced misdemeanor charges stemming from a two-year U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) […]

As U.S. pilots slowly begin to phase out old 121.5 MHz emergency locator transmitters and upgrade to 406 MHz units, NASA already is starting to bring the next generation of distress-signal technology online. The Search and Rescue Mission Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., has developed a satellite-based system that will […]

A Turkish newspaper says Italian aviation giant Alenia is in talks with Russia’s Sukhoi to bring a new supersonic business jet to market by 2015. Hurriyet, an English daily, says the aircraft will fly at more than Mach 1.6, carry eight passengers and be designed to mitigate sonic booms. It sounds like an update on […]