News

Military rescue aircraft were orbiting the site of a plane crash on a remote Alaska mountain ridge Sunday, unable to reach the downed sightseeing aircraft and its five occupants because of bad weather. The pilot of a de Havilland Beaver operated by K2 Aviation reported the crash Saturday about 6 p.m. on his satellite phone […]

Forget that shiny new octocopter, a Bay-area startup wants to make your Cessna 172 autonomous. XWing says it has created “plug and play” software that can make most light aircraft fly autonomously. Details on how it works have not been released but the technology will revolve around “sensing, reasoning and control,” according to aviation tech […]

Five people were killed Sunday afternoon after a Cessna 414 arriving into Santa Ana, California’s Orange County Airport crashed into the parking lot of a nearby mall. Although a car in the lot was damaged, authorities said Sunday evening there appeared to be no injuries on the ground and no fire was reported. According to […]

The Air Force is hoping to ease its pilot shortage by speeding up the training of new pilots using virtual reality simulators. The first class of 20 Pilot Training Next (PTN) candidates, 15 officers and five enlisted personnel, finished their course on Friday and 13 of the officers passed. Two officers washed out and were […]

Twenty people died Saturday when one of the seven remaining airworthy Ju-52 airliners crashed while on a sightseeing trip in the Swiss Alps. The aircraft is reported to be HB-HOT, the same aircraft that visited AirVenture in 2012. There were 17 passengers and three crew onboard when the aircraft went down on a flight from […]

The Delta Air Lines Foundation has awarded $350,000 in grant money to nine aviation maintenance training programs across the U.S., joining a growing list of major aviation companies that have recently taken steps to address predicted shortages of qualified pilots, crew and aviation maintenance personnel. According to Delta, the grant money will help with curriculum […]

Airbus announced the launch of its ab initio Pilot Cadet Training Program last week. The company says the program is designed to “help meet global demand for pilots over the next 20 years.” Airbus’ partner for the program is Escuela de Aviacion Mexico (EAM), which is located close to the Airbus Mexico Training Center in […]

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) has announced a new program to help its members develop flying clubs at their local airports. The Flying Club Initiative includes grant funding for club startup and guidance in a wide variety of club-related areas including obtaining aircraft and establishing bylaws. Clubs founded through the program will operate as nonprofit […]

Boeing has announced plans to open a research and development facility at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) new mixed-use district in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Boeing Aerospace & Autonomy Center will provide space for Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences, along with Boeing employees. According to Boeing, the work at the facility “will focus on designing, […]

For the first time, remains from one of the 27 Tuskegee Airmen declared missing during World War II have been positively identified, the Pentagon announced last week. U.S. Army Air Forces Capt. Lawrence E. Dickson served as a pilot with the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, in the European Theater. On Dec. 23, 1944, […]