Bethany Whitfield

Investigators on Wednesday blamed pilot error and improper training for the crash of a Yak-42 on Sept. 7 that killed 44 people, including the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team. According to Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee, the jet crashed on takeoff after one of the pilots accidentally activated the brakes and then jerked the yoke back […]

Sparks and small fires broke out on Tuesday when a Boeing 767 carrying 220 passengers and 11 crewmembers made an emergency gear-up landing in Warsaw after experiencing an apparent hydraulic system failure. The pilots of the 767 circled the airport for approximately one hour after receiving a central hydraulic system failure warning. After dumping fuel, […]

After combing through more than 500 applicants, Virgin Galactic has hired a pilot to take fare-paying passengers into space aboard the company’s SpaceShipTwo. That man is Keith Colmer, a former U.S. Air Force test pilot with 12 years of flight-testing experience. Colmer has logged more than 5,000 hours in 90-plus aircraft types, experience that helped […]

The restoration process of the B-17 Memphis Belle recently reached a few notable milestones, bringing the famous warbird steps closer to returning to pristine condition. In addition to mating the wings, restoration crews at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force recently extended the landing gear of the airplane, well known as the first […]

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner lifted off on Wednesday for the first time with paying passengers on board, marking a milestone many years in the making for the world’s first “plastic” airliner. The jet, owned and operated by All Nippon Airways, carried 240 passengers from Hong Kong to Tokyo, a trip that some passengers paid as […]

In a bipartisan vote on Monday, the U.S. House rejected the European Union’s plan to enact a carbon tax on commercial and general aviation aircraft flying over or landing in EU territory. The bill prevents all U.S. airlines and general aviation operators from participating in the EU tax program, scheduled to take effect at the […]

A manned version of the X-37B space plane could be in the works, according to a paper recently delivered by Arthur Grantz, chief engineer of Space and Intelligence Systems’ Experimental Systems Group at Boeing. The paper describes the proposed space plane, called X-37C, as a vehicle that would be approximately twice the size of the […]

Accident investigators looking into the deadly Reno air race crash were unable to retrieve any onboard video from memory cards found amongst the wreckage, the NTSB announced on Friday. Investigators are still working to determine whether they will be able to extract any clues from a memory card used in the onboard telemetry unit of […]

Harrison Ford was on Capital Hill Tuesday meeting with the Senate General Aviation Caucus and lending his star power to general aviation advocacy. The actor joined the bipartisan group of senators to discuss some of the most pressing issues currently facing GA, including the dismantling of the BARR (Blocked Aircraft Registration Request) program, the future […]

Cessna parent company Textron reported third quarter growth yesterday, with revenues totaling $2.8 billion. The gains constitute an increase of 13.5 percent from the same period last year and include a 15 percent increase in manufacturing revenues. According to Textron Chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly, the gains were buoyed by “good execution and cost performance” […]