News

FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said in a news conference Friday that the FAA had not contacted NORAD soon enough regarding wayward Northwest Flight 188 — he also said things would change. Flight 188 last month went silent and overshot MSP by 150 miles, but the FAA did not notify other agencies about the loss of […]

Those drawn to flight at least in part because of the unique visual perspective it provides lost an advocate Tuesday in the passing of aerial photographer Robert Cameron, who died at the age of 98. Famous for his “Above” series of 15 coffee table books, Cameron’s view of the world was immortalized in overhead images […]

Thursday, the FAA froze the issuance of new airworthiness certificates for Zodiac CH-601XL series aircraft; Friday the NTSB released news of another Zodiac in-flight break-up and made an example of its earlier recommendations to the FAA. The FAA’s most recent action forces operators seeking airworthiness certificates for the model to prove they’ve made specific modifications […]

The DOE intends to develop biofuels that can act as drop in replacements for diesel and gasoline and believes that domestic sources — including both cellulosic ethanol and algae-based fuels — can match almost 100 percent of the U.S. demand. Biomass Magazine has reported that the agency has solicited $50 million for algal biofuel development […]

Boeing announced Thursday that it has corrected the structural flaw located at the wing/fuselage joint that was discovered during testing, and applied the fix to the first of its 787 jetliners, but that doesn’t mean the jet is ready for prime time. The fix applies 34 reinforced fittings that will this month (November) be tested […]

The arrest of a United pilot Monday, for allegedly drinking prior to his flight, has helped unearth statistics that, according to the Associated Press, show him to be “the third U.S. pilot arrested in 13 months” on similar charges, but FAA records may suggest the number should be higher. USA Today reported federal statistics showing […]

NextGen will move parts of the air traffic control system from the ground to the cockpit — so who should pay for the acquisition and installation of that part of the system? The government is expected to invest some $20 billion in creating the infrastructure that will be NextGen air traffic control, but the airlines […]

The ongoing saga of the Zodiac series took a new turn Thursday, November 12, as the FAA advised Designated Airworthiness Representatives that they could not issue new airworthiness certificates until the applicants could prove the aircraft had undergone modification. An extensive set of modifications designed by Zenith has been announced, and the materials kits for […]

A well-known Georgia pilot was arrested and jailed Wednesday after an incident at Griffin Spalding Airport near Atlanta. Griffin Police say Dan Gryder, whose DC-3 is a frequent performer at aviation events, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one of obstruction. Gryder did not immediately respond to AVweb’s request for comment […]

Cirrus Aircraft laid off another 10 percent of its production employees Wednesday but CEO Brent Wouters said the reduction was anticipated and is not indicative of deeper trouble for the company. Wouters said the 58 workers who were “adjusted out” were retained in an earlier round of layoffs in anticipation of production increases resulting from […]