News

The FAA normally releases annual summaries of aircraft/wildlife collisions (in 2007 there were 7,439), but following the Hudson River ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 and a subsequent Associated Press request for access to the FAA’s wildlife hazard database, the agency has sought changes. The FAA on March 19 published a notice of proposed rulemaking […]

A pilot, a labor relations consultant, and the former president of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), ATP-rated Randy Babbitt is now officially President Barack Obama’s choice to serve as FAA administrator. Babbitt’s nomination must now pass the Senate before he can set to the present priorities of (and problems posed by) air traffic control […]

Liberty Aerospace has “no intent to shut down,” but has laid off another 14 workers, bringing the once 180-strong workforce down to about 32, president Keith Markley told Florida Today. The company laid off 30 workers in January. The Brevard, Fla., company is maintaining offices in Melbourne and a contract facility in Romania and intends […]

Six new buyers can purchase a 145-knot, 1,000-pound useful load kit-built Glasair Aviation Sportsman 2+2 that takes off (and lands) in less than 400 feet and costs less than $125,000 — finished and flying, complete with a 180-hp Lycoming IO-360, a constant-speed prop and a VFR panel. The promotion, announced Thursday, offers a 25% discount […]

The pilots every other pilot wants to talk to will be at EAA AirVenture to retell the most celebrated ditching in history. US Airways Capt. Chesley Sullenberger and FO Jeff Skiles will be featured guests at Theatre in the Woods on the evening of July 31 and they’ll also show up at other venues during […]

A Pennsylvania airport will be the first GA field to get money from the federal government’s stimulus package, AOPA reported this week. Allegheny County Airport, near Pittsburgh, will get $2 million to renovate a taxiway and relocate a ramp. “The money will definitely be put to good use,” airport manager Dave Shaw told AOPA. “Not […]

Click for larger image The NTSB on Wednesday released factual findings from its investigation into the Feb. 12 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 in Buffalo, N.Y, in which all 49 on board and one person on the ground were killed. A preliminary examination of the airplane systems has revealed no indication of pre-impact system […]

photo by Jerry Search At a press briefing on Tuesday afternoon in Montana, members of the NTSB said that so far nothing points to a likely cause for Sunday’s fatal crash of a Pilatus PC-12, in which 14 people died. One of many mysteries is why the pilot chose to divert to Butte, when Bozeman […]

Cessna said in a news release on Wednesday that it is fully committed to the Model 162 SkyCatcher despite two accidents during the flight test program, in which two airplanes were destroyed. “The need for a modern, cost-effective two-seat trainer aircraft has never been greater, and we believe we are well positioned to meet that […]

As was the case with the first Skycatcher prototype crash, an unrecoverable spin led to the loss of the second and last flying Cessna 162 last week. The second airplane had been fitted with a larger tail as a result of the first crash. And, as in the first crash, there were complications with the […]