News

The Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, which has jurisdiction over the TSA, thinks the TSA’s Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP) should not go forward without industry input. The Chairman, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (Mississippi), submitted a letter to the TSA stating his opinion that LASP, as proposed appears “unfeasible, or overly burdensome […]

The DOT may not be able to fund aviation programs at levels previously assumed because of declines in actual revenues generated by the excise taxes that fund the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). In the report released last week the GAO says that going forward, the forecasts of […]

Sometimes it’s hard to be a hero, especially when the person being rescued has other ideas. That didn’t stop Ruedi Hafen, owner of Niagara Helicopters, from saving the life of an unidentified 30-year-old Ontario man who went over Niagara Falls without a barrel. He became only the third person known to have survive the plunge […]

If you own a glass cockpit aircraft, Aviation Consumer wants to hear from you. We want to know about the real costs of maintaining and upgrading these aircraft for an upcoming article. Please take a moment to fill out a short survey so others can benefit from your experiences. Click here to participate. (The results […]

Did the U.S. Department of Justice nix Lycoming’s bid to buy the assets of bankrupt Superior Air Parts? Sources in the engine business tell us this may be the case. Several have been contacted by Department of Justice investigators looking into the details of Lycoming’s bid to buy Superior, which filed for bankruptcy in early […]

Many passengers ignore the safety briefing when flying commercial, convinced that the only useful action to take in the event of an emergency is to call your loved ones (flagrantly disobeying the no-cellphone rule) and say goodbye. But a series of recent crashes — the ditching in the Hudson and the Turkish Airlines accident in […]

United Technologies, the parent company of Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky, said this week it will eliminate 11,600 jobs worldwide, or about 5 percent of its workforce. “The outlook for commercial aerospace and global construction markets has continued to deteriorate since UTC’s December investor meeting and the economic recovery previously anticipated in the second half […]

“A calm voice on the radio keeps a scared pilot from becoming further rattled.” So noted Mark Harris, an air traffic controller with the Anchorage TRACON, as he recalled a day last October when he helped a pilot cope with a cockpit full of smoke. Harris was one of 11 controllers honored last week with […]

An ultralight aircraft might not seem the ideal transport for a drug smuggler trying to move contraband across the U.S.-Mexico border — they can’t carry much weight, and flying an overloaded little trike low and slow above dark terrain at night seems like a recipe for disaster. But officials in Arizona know of three such […]

A rare F-82 Twin Mustang that has long been operated by the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) is now being dismantled in Midland, Texas, for shipping to the National Museum of the Air Force (USAFM) in Dayton, Ohio. CAF has operated the airplane since the 1960s, but its right to do so has been in dispute […]