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Speaking for the Allied Pilots Association, spokesman Scott Shankland told WFAA TV in Dallas/Forth Worth, Thursday, that incidents like the Thursday death of a pilot aboard Continental Flight 61 will be more likely, and he knows why. Shankland told the TV station, “this is the reality of what we’re going to be dealing with on […]

Legislation honoring the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) who flew more than 60,000,000 miles from 1942 to 1944 on every type of assignment but air combat has passed both houses of Congress. The Hutchison-Mikulski Bill on June 16 passed the House, sponsored by 334 representatives. It had passed the Senate in May, co-sponsored by 75 […]

With at least four biofuel test flights flown by leading airlines over the past 12 months, reports say they perform as well or better than traditional jet fuel and that some of the next generation fuels could cut emissions by 84 percent, so what’s the hold up? Some hope to see commercial-scale production within the […]

After decades of safe operation, last summer Angel Flight organizations had by August seen three fatal crashes; this summer some of their volunteer pilot requirements will change. A recent letter co-signed by Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic Chairman (AFMA), Steve Craven; president of Mercy Medical Airlift, Ed Boyer; and Executive Director for Airlift Hope America, Jim Smith […]

Earlier this month, Matt Hansen (23) and Jessica Scharle (24) flew From Jacksonville, Fla., to El Cajon, Calif., in an LSA within a single day and believe they set a record in the process, with a couple of twists. The June 8, transcontinental flight in a Light Sport Plane logged five stops along the way. […]

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Homeland Security says general aviation poses a “limited and mostly hypothetical” tool for terrorists. In a report released last month, but first reported by GovernmentExecutive.com this week, the OIG says GA airplanes are too small and the terrorists know that. “Although [TSA’s Office of Intelligence] […]

A relief pilot aboard a Continental Boeing 777 took the left seat of a flight from Brussels to Newark after the 60-year-old captain died during the flight. In a twist of modern communications, all the networks were waiting in breathless anticipation as a fully qualified crew landed without incident at Newark at 11.49 a.m. but […]

While the civilian aviation market is depressed at the moment, military representatives from all over the world are at Le Bourget kicking the tires of hardware they might be able to use. Companies whose market is traditionally civilian are obliging by reworking their passenger and cargo planes. As we reported 18 months ago, Viking Air […]

Veterans Retreat, a Miami Beach-based charity that helps enrich the lives of veterans wounded in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, recently brought retired Army Capt. Mark Brogan and his wife, Sunny, to Florida for a free weekend of flying. “Mark has wanted to fly since he was a kid,” Sunny told a local reporter. Capt. […]

Speaking before a House appropriations committee on Tuesday, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt asked for a 24-percent boost in funding for NextGen projects, a total of $865 million. Babbitt also said that negotiations with the air traffic controllers union, which were stalled and contentious for several years, now are making progress. “I’m optimistic,” he said. “The […]