Recent Updates

The FAA said on Tuesday 45,000 drones were registered in the first day of the online registry, and the site will be taken down overnight tonight for site maintenance, in anticipation of an expected rush of registrants on Christmas Day. “While an overwhelming number of people have successfully registered, we have received reports from a […]

The FAA said today it has reached a settlement with Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) regarding 13 complaints that the company had failed to meet various compliance standards. Under the agreement, BCA must pay the government $12 million and also must implement changes to several certification processes, “to further enhance the airworthiness and continued compliance of […]

The FAA is working on ways for private aviators to protect their flight data from being made public, according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal. NBAA and GAMA have been pressing the FAA, the Journal reported, to ensure that as new air traffic control systems such as ADS-B are developed, they will […]

Transport Canada has issued type certification for Bombardier’s CSeries airliner. Transport Minister Marc Garneau made the announcement last week at Bombardier’s Montreal-area facility. The CSeries is the first clean-sheet single-aisle airliner to be certified in at least 20 years and Bombardier is pinning its future on the fuel-efficient, fly-by-wire jet. The aircraft certified last week […]

SpaceX successfully landed its reusable booster rocket after launching a payload of 11 small satellites into orbit Monday evening.It was SpaceX’s first launch since a rocket boosting a re-supply capsule to the International Space Station was destroyed shortly after launch in late June. Monday’s launch was the fourth attempt at reusing the 15-story booster after […]

So Amazon is starting an airline and it’s because of me. Or people like me, evidently. As you read in this week’s news columns, Amazon hasn’t confirmed it yet, but sources say they’re trying to make a deal to lease a fleet of 20 or more 767s to fly their own packages around the country. […]

Last Thursday, December 17, marked the 80th anniversary of the first flight of the Douglas DC-3, probably the most remarkable and successful transport created in the first half-century of powered flight. A buddy of mine kindly texted some photos to me that day—he was in a DC-3 in southern California on a commemorative flight. Of […]

Amazon is said to be in talks to move into the air freight business after a trial involving five leased Boeing 767s flying out of a former air cargo terminal in Wilmington, Ohio. The Seattle Times, quoting mostly unnamed sources, said the company is in the market for 20 more 767s and will likely base […]

Congress approved $16.3 billion for the FAA’s current fiscal year on Friday, along with tax breaks including another extension of bonus depreciation for capital investments including aircraft. The bonus depreciation measure allows businesses to write off as much as 50 percent of the value of equipment depending on when it was bought and put into […]

It’s always amusing when the hardworking daily press gets wind of an aviation-related story that’s trending out there where the busses don’t run. Such was the case Thursday when several outlets picked up the announcement from Terrafugia that its flying car had been approved for test flights in the U.S. “The FAA Just Approved Test […]