Business & Military

Some of the Air Force’s most expensive and strategically sensitive aircraft have been evacuated from Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, after it was flooded by the Missouri River over the weekend. At least nine aircraft were flown to other bases and crews were working around the clock to try to protect facilities that […]

The future of package delivery has arrived in Reno, Nevada with the FAA’s approval of beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone operations by Flirtey. The company’s drones will first be able to deliver automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to medical emergencies. The drones will be operated by pilots using onboard cameras to maneuver the aircraft. The medical deliveries are a […]

Ethiopia’s transport minister told reporters on Sunday that preliminary data from Ethiopian Flight 302’s flight data recorder showed “clear similarities” to data pulled from a similar Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 that crashed off Indonesia last October. Dagmawit Moges said the FDR, which appeared significantly damaged from the Ethiopian crash, is actually relatively intact. […]

The Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation (MCAS) system at the center of investigations into two fatal crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 was misunderstood and mischaracterized in a flawed certification process as Boeing and the FAA rushed to bring the new jet to market, a Seattle Times investigation published Sunday alleges. Citing named and unnamed sources, […]

Perhaps it’s my imagination, but I think long-term relationships in the workplace aren’t as common as they once were. Because of the work we do at AVweb and the predilection of our management, we tend to attract and retain marathoners rather than sprinters. One of those was our dear colleague Mary Grady, who died this […]

Flight 1549 Capt. Chesley Sullenberger has weighed in on the MAX 8 discussion but from a crew training and experience perspective. The pilot who deadsticked an A320 into the Hudson River after a dual engine failure 10 years ago with the help of First Officer Jeff Skiles said in a Facebook post on Saturday that […]

This week, AVweb’s news roundup found reports on new aircraft batteries from True Blue Power, a website supporting congressional action to allow flight operations at airports closed by presidential visits and good news for several military airfields in the U.K. True Blue Power introduced its new, fifth-generation main ship batteries at the Helicopter Association International […]

Boeing 737 MAX Grounding I strongly suspect that many (if not a majority) of airlines do not include enough aircraft handling simulator training on their conversion courses, especially on difference courses. For example, converting from the B737-800 to the 737 MAX should include simulator training specifically aimed at how to deal with a malfunctioning MCAS, […]

With a 1735-page PDF document, EASA has published its complete set of “Easy Access Rules for Flight Crews” in accordance with regulation (EU) No 1178/2011. EASA eRules will be a comprehensive access system for the drafting, sharing and storing of rules. It will also act as the agency’s single source for all aviation safety rules […]

The Swiss Civil Aviation Authority (BAZL) has revoked operator JU-Air’s authorization to conduct commercial flights with its historic Junkers JU-52 aircraft. The decision comes about half a year after the tragic accident of the company’s JU-52 HB-HOT, which left three crewmembers and 17 passengers dead after the aircraft spiraled into terrain on a flight between […]