News

Screenshot courtesy of FlightRadar.com Click for larger image Blue X = AirportYellow Airplane = Flight en route Visit FlightRadar24.com for live flight radar maps It appears to have been a surreal weekend for recreational pilots across Europe as those who resisted the stern warnings from their aviation authorities relished skies clear of weather and working […]

Authorities in England are investigating whether volcanic ash had anything to do with the crash of a light plane in Hampshire. Two people died when the aircraft crashed and burned in a field, well away from buildings or other people. Although thousands of airline flights have been cancelled by the ash cloud from a volcano […]

Adilson Kindlemann’s crash during a Red Bull Air Race practice session in Perth, Thursday, was the first in the race’s history, but not the first time Kindlemann (or other racers) had found himself upside down strapped to a chair under water. Red Bull Air Race pilots train for emergencies like what Kindlemann experienced in the […]

A review of the cockpit voice recorder of the Polish government aircraft that crashed in Russia last week revealed no evidence of pressure from any of the passengers on the crew to proceed with a landing they’d been warned not to attempt by air traffic controllers. “The flight recorder, whose tapes are being deciphered, did […]

U.K. Authorities took the unprecedented action of closing its airspace as a plume of volcanic ash from Iceland blew over the country. All flights, except certain emergency operations, were banned starting at noon and weren’t expected to resume until 7 a.m. Friday. By then, the plume is expected to be over northern Europe, where similar […]

The first crash in the Red Bull Air Race’s seven-year history was suffered Thursday, April 15, 2010, in Perth, Australia, when Adilson Kindlemann, 36, lost control of his aircraft after rounding a pylon during practice. Kindlemann managed a near wings-level impact. but as the aircraft’s fixed landing gear dug into the water the aircraft flipped, […]

The Washington state legislature has passed a tax bill that dropped a proposed tax increase on aircraft, AOPA said in a news release on Wednesday. The proposed tax would have made the state’s registration rates the highest in the nation, AOPA said. Existing fees would have gone up by as much as 1,400 percent, according […]

Thomas Salme, 41, who acted as captain of a Boeing 737 without proper certification, has been banned from flying for 12 months by a Dutch court and charged with a fine of about $2700. Prosecutors had sought a fine of roughly $18,000 more, plus a 90-day jail term, but the judge rejected the higher penalties […]

An Airbus A330-300 with roughly 322 aboard operated by Cathay Pacific Airways as Flight CX780 out of Indonesia for Hong Kong touched down safely, but at about 230 knots, after experiencing malfunctions with both engines, Wednesday. In dealing with the problem, the crew intentionally idled the first engine, but the other became fixed at 70 […]

Pilots as well as maintenance workers need to know that the tires on transport-category aircraft require careful monitoring, the NTSB said this week. The board released a list of safety recommendations (PDF) on Wednesday stemming from its investigation of a fatal Learjet 60 crash in 2008. Tires can lose pressure so quickly that within a […]