Recent Updates

For years in the late 1950s a billboard featuring a TWA Lockheed Constellation was a prominent feature in Times Square in New York and another one was front and center over the weekend. The refurbished fuselage of a former TWA Connie was trucked through downtown New York for a two-day residency at a pedestrian plaza […]

One of the largest civilian helicopter rescue operations ever undertaken ended Sunday when the crew of a foundering cruise ship managed to restore power and sail to a nearby port. Before the ship was able to move again, a total of 476 of 1,300 passengers and crew on the Viking Sky were winched to one […]

The NTSB says a United Express Embraer 145 that ended up off the runway at Presque Isle, Maine, in early March also started there. In its preliminary report, the board said the regional jet, with 31 people onboard, lined up between the runway and taxiway on its first aborted landing attempt. On the second try, […]

A journalist on a familiarization flight gained an intimate understanding of a system even the most seasoned military pilots almost never touch when he was accidentally ejected from a two-seat Rafale fighter in France this week. The unidentified 64-year-old man suffered a serious back injury in his abrupt return to the runway at Saint-Dizier 113 […]

James Baker famously called it “the worst ^%$&ing job in government.” He was referring to the job of White House chief of staff but he may as well have been talking about being FAA administrator. If it’s not the second-worst job in government, it’s surely in the top five. Now comes Steve Dickson, late of […]

Boeing 737 MAX Seeing the rapidity of Boeing’s claim to have a fix indicates that someone already knew of the potential of the problem but somewhere in the certification process got “voted off the island” when saying it needed to be fixed and tested. This is the classic development story of unclear requirements, time and […]

AVweb’s weekly news roundup found reports on a new partnership for Transcend Air Corporation, Air Astana’s adoption of a flight safety tool, an agreement between SKYTRAC and Vmo Solutions, and an upcoming documentary series on the history and future of the world’s fastest vehicles. Whole aircraft rescue parachute system manufacturer BRS Aerospace and Transcend Air […]

In the wake of the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 on March 10, Indonesia’s Garuda Airlines has sent a letter to Boeing saying that it intends to cancel its order for 49 MAX 8s. According to the airline, the decision was made due to lack of customer confidence in the model. […]

The Sikorsky-Boeing SB>1 Defiant helicopter successfully completed its first flight on Thursday. The aircraft was developed by Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky in partnership with Boeing to be part of the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift program. It was designed using technology developed from Sikorsky’s X2 Technology Demonstrator, which won the Collier Trophy in 2010. Features […]

Ethiopian Airlines Thursday disputed a New York Times report that claimed the captain of the 737 MAX that crashed on March 10 with the loss of all aboard hadn’t received simulator training on the aircraft. The airline said all of its pilots had completed differences training from the 737 NG to the newer MAX. However, […]