Business & Military

Boeing has told 15 airlines operating certain versions of its 787 and all its 747-8 aircraft not to fly within 50 nautical miles of high-level thunderstorms after six incidents in which their GEnx lost thrust due to ice crystal buildups. Boeing and GE say they are changing engine control software to address the problems. All […]

In 1844, Samuel F.B. Morse famously tapped out the first telegraph message, what hath God wrought? Were he an airline passenger today ruminating on the FCCs likely decision to lift the ban on cell phone use in airliners, he would text something along the lines of what fresh hell is this? None of this is […]

The Federal Communications Commission will reportedly propose lifting a ban on passenger use of cellular phone use – both for voice and data connections – above 10,000 feet. Doing so would shift the approval decision to airlines, which would still be restricted from offering that utility while their aircraft operate below 10,000 feet. The FCC […]

There are lots of ways for pilots to earn 30 seconds on the evening news, some good, but most not. The descriptors that begin or end with phrases like he was a good, careful pilot are the unfortunate ones, since the airman in question isnt likely to be breathing so he cant see himself on […]

Three of the four surviving members of the 80 crew members whose 1942 attack on Japan made them Doolittles Raiders met for the last time publicly at the National Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, last Veterans Day weekend. The men held a pact that the last survivor among them would open a 1896 vintage […]

That faint humming sound you hear is the media-industrial complex gearing up for the first commercial space tourism flights, which Virgin Galactic seems likely to pull off next year, if not sooner. On NBC news Friday, I saw an advance story on Virgin Galactic with an interview with Richard Branson. Its pre-promo; NBC has signed […]

A handy app for those in the market for a helicopter has been released by a Russian publisher. Upcast has released Helibook, which is the third of its publications and provides interactive comparison data on 35 private, corporate and VIP helicopters, “starting from the tiny Robinson R22 and going up to the massive Mil Mi-38.” […]

Gulfstream has taken extraordinary measures to prevent speculation in the market for its flagship G650 long-range big cabin business jet. As we reported in October, an early position holder of the $65 million aircraft, Formula One luminary Bernie Ecclestone, sold his almost-new G650 at a $7 million premium to the owner of a soccer team. […]

A Reaper attack and surveillance drone has gone down in Lake Ontario during a training mission about 1 p.m. local time. The Reaper belonged to the Syracuse, New York-based 174th Attack Wing of the Air National Guard, which trains Air Force pilots to fly them all over the world. The flight originated at Fort Drum […]

AMR Corp. — the parent company of American and American Eagle airlines — and US Airways Group reached a settlement on Tuesday with the U.S. Department of Justice, which will enable them to merge and create the world’s largest airline. The proposed deal, which still must be OK’d by a federal court before it can […]