News

When the light sport aircraft industry launched, less than five years ago, with an FAA mandate that would allow manufacturers to essentially self-certify their airplanes, there was some concern about whether buyers or even insurers would consider such a process adequate. But now, the FAA has completed 23 of a planned 29 assessments of LSA […]

As has long been expected, EAA confirmed this week that the Virgin Mothership Eve, also known as WhiteKnightTwo, will make its public debut at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, on opening day, Monday, July 27. The space launch vehicle, which is the largest carbon-fiber aircraft ever built, will be on view all week, departing during the Saturday […]

The Transportation Security Administration’s proposed Large Aircraft Security Program is causing quite a high level of concern among the GA alphabet groups, and this Friday marks the end of the comment period on the proposal. The advocacy groups are asking their members to submit comments and protest this plan, which they say would impose crushing […]

A Boeing 737-800 operated by Turkish Airlines crashed into a farmer’s plowed field in Amsterdam on Wednesday morning while on approach to Schiphol airport. The airplane, which took off from Istanbul, hit the ground about 2,000 feet short of the runway. The engines sheared off and the fuselage split into three pieces. There was no […]

Eclipse Aviation sent an email to staff late Tuesday that signals the end of a 10 year odyssey that started with the promise of a made-in-America everyman’s jet that would revolutionize aviation and ended with a messy bankruptcy that involved the likes of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The email says the board of directors […]

The FAA has extended by 30 days the comment period for a proposal to consolidate its in-house meteorological staff in to centers in Kansas City, Mo. and College Park, Md. The 84 weather folks are now spread across 21 facilities coast to coast and they’re hoping the 30-day extension will lead to a change of […]

A group representing the people who buy and sell used turbine aircraft is meeting this week in Dallas and there’s bound to be some lively discussion. “These are extraordinary times for the industry,” said Susan Sheets, president of the National Aircraft Resale Association. “We have met economic downturns in the past and prevailed, but we […]

Helicopter Association International says its annual Heli-Expo trade show will almost certainly set an attendance record despite the economic downturn. With one day still to go in the three-day event, held this year in Anaheim, this year’s attendance total was just 52 people short of last year’s record of 17,373. “Exhibitors reported high activity at […]

A group of creditors involved in the Eclipse Aviation bankruptcy have asked the courts (read the motion in this PDF file) to liquidate the company as quickly as possible. The Ad Hoc Committee of Secured Noteholders has applied to the Delaware Court that approved the Chapter 11 filing and subsequent sale of Eclipse to a […]

On Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Patrick Harten, the air traffic controller who was on duty the day US Airways Flight 1549 ditched in the Hudson, spoke about the event publicly for the first time. He told members of the House Subcommittee on Aviation that when he heard Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger tell him, “We’re gonna […]