Recent Updates

Nearly two weeks after the event, SpaceX has confirmed that its Crew Dragon capsule was destroyed during ground testing on April 20 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. As previously reported by AVweb, the incident occurred during tests of the capsule’s abort thrusters. According to SpaceX Vice President of Build and Flight Reliability Hans Koenigsmann, the problem […]

Bombardier has announced that it will consolidate its aerospace assets into a single business unit under the heading Bombardier Aviation. As part of the consolidation, Bombardier will be looking to sell its Belfast and Morocco aerostructures businesses. The company says the move will allow it to better focus on its Global, Challenger, Learjet and CRJ […]

The Unmanned Safety Institute (USI) will be collaborating with Textron Systems to bring Aerosonde Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS/drone) operator training into university curriculums. According to the companies, the agreement will create an employment pipeline for college students, secondary students, exiting military personnel and adult learners “interested in pursuing an unmanned career pathway.” The new […]

When Boeing finally digs itself out of the self-inflicted PR disaster of the 737 MAX story—if it ever does—I wonder how it will be graded on handling the crisis. I wonder, but I’m kinda disposed to think it will become a textbook case of how not to behave in the searing glare of catastrophic bad […]

Blackhawk Modifications has announced that it will be celebrating its twentieth year in business with a facility expansion and by pulling together four of its aviation-based companies under the new brand name of Blackhawk Aerospace. Blackhawk Aerospace will include Blackhawk Modifications, Blackhawk Composites, Blackhawk Aerospace Solutions (formerly Vector-Hawk Aerospace) and Blackhawk Aircraft Sales. “Blackhawk Aerospace […]

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) are forming a Blue Ribbon Task Force on the mitigation of unauthorized unmanned aircraft system (UAS/drone) operation at airports. According to AUVSI, the task force will be looking at ways to “refine procedural practices and provide a policy framework” to address […]

Our concept of drones is that they land—sometimes with grace, sometimes not—on a more or less flat surface when their mission is over. But researchers at Yale are working on a drone that can land and “perch” like a bat to save energy during portions of its mission. Where some studies have tested drones that […]

Southwest Airlines, Boeing’s biggest customer for the troubled 737 MAX, said this week that the airplane maker’s documentation incorrectly claimed that its aircraft had operable angle-of-attack disagree warning lights. But Boeing informed Southwest that the AoA function was actually inoperative only after the Lion Air crash in Indonesia last October. Even as Boeing finishes software […]

Addressing shareholders in Chicago Monday, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg spoke to reporters about the 737 MAX’s troubled MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System). “The MCAS system as originally designed met our design and safety analysis criteria,” he said. When asked if the MCAS was the cause of both Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines accidents, Muilenburg sidestepped […]

Airbus has been flying the ACJ (Airbus Corporate Jets) 319neo for only a couple of days, but has already set an endurance record. Thanks to additional fuel tanks compared to the airline version of the A319, the ACJ-neo was able to make a 16-hour, 10-minute test flight. As previously reported, the 319neo completed a short […]