Bethany Whitfield

Embraer has announced that Boeing will supply a new advanced weapons system for the company’s Super Tucano in a move that aims to strengthen Embraer’s bid against competitor Hawker Beechcraft for a highly contentious $355 million Air Force contract. The system, announced at the Farnborough Airshow this week, features so called laser and GPS-controlled “smart” […]

Hawker Beechcraft on Monday announced an exclusivity agreement with Superior Aviation Beijing Co. in a deal that, if completed, will allow the Chinese-based company to acquire Hawker Beechcraft for a purchase price of $1.79 billion. Hawker Beechcraft reps say Superior intends to continue present operations at the debt-plagued company while also pouring investment into the […]

A Brazilian Air Force pilot landed himself in hot water this week after flying a supersonic Mirage 2000 fighter fast and low enough to shatter approximately 100 windows of the country’s Supreme Federal Court Building. The blowout took place during a monthly flag ceremony in Brasilia that featured a scheduled aerial demonstration organized by Brazil’s […]

In the final report issued Thursday on the Air France 447 crash that killed 228 people in May 2009, investigators said the pilots were “completely surprised” by technical problems experienced at high altitude and engaged in increasingly de-structured actions until suffering “the total loss of cognitive control of the situation.” The report, issued by the […]

Members of the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) set out on Tuesday on a renewed search for Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra, almost exactly 75 years after the historic aviator disappeared somewhere in the Pacific while attempting to circumnavigate the globe. The expedition team is headed to the island of Nikumaroro, where TIGHAR members […]

After receiving a special FAA permit for rocket-powered flights at the end of May, SpaceShipTwo has emerged from its nearly nine-month hiatus and quickly begun an aggressive flight-testing regimen along with its carrier vehicle, WhiteKnightTwo. Little more than a month after gaining the permit, Virgin Galactic has since completed seven test flights and three full-blown […]

The Senate on Friday unanimously passed the Pilots’ Bill of Rights first introduced by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) last summer, granting what the senator called “a big victory for general aviation pilots all across the country.” The new legislation includes a number of provisions aimed at bolstering safeguards for pilots, including one that requires the […]

The airplane wreckage recently found on an Alaskan glacier has been identified as likely that of a U.S. Air Force C124-A Globemaster that went down nearly six decades ago, killing all 41 passengers and 11 crew members aboard the aircraft. While military officials are not ruling out potential alternatives, they say the evidence found on […]

The GE 80 turboprop engine added to its growing list of type certifications this week and further signaled its global appeal by gaining approval from both the Brazilian Civil Aviation agency and the Argentine aviation authority. The South American type certifications follow approval from the FAA in March as well as the go-ahead granted by […]

Famed Swiss pilot Yves Rossy, aka “Jetman,” once again grabbed the attention of aviation enthusiasts and daredevil admirers alike last week when he used his jet-powered wing to fly alongside a 1940’s DC-3 over the heartland of Switzerland. Passengers aboard the much-revered vintage aircraft got a front-row seat view of the feat as they watched […]