Mark Phelps

It’s a video that makes pilots cringe and prompts airline passengers to question the wisdom of flying coach. A Swiss BAe 146/Avro RJ four-engine jet made a rough landing at London City Airport, slamming onto the runway under what appear to be extreme crosswind conditions. The 48-second video then shows the regional jet skidding and […]

United Airlines announced yesterday it will recall all of its furloughed pilots — nearly 600. The announcement bodes well for those who predict a pilot shortage, though experts stress that this does not necessarily signal growth for the troubled airline industry. The recalls will fill expected staffing needs caused by retirements and new duty-time rules, […]

Airbus won enviro-bragging rights at last week’s GreenTec award ceremony, claiming Europe’s “most important environment and business award” for its work on fuel cells in commercial aircraft. But all eyes were also focused on the latest model from Volocopter, which was suspended from the ceiling during the presentation. Volocopter’s recently completed two-seat prototype, the VC200, […]

A British Airways poll conducted last month shows that at least British kids still aspire to fly. The independent research involved 650 U.K. youngsters from ages six to 12. Most boys chose careers as football (soccer) players, followed by pilots and then “superheroes.” (Nice to know pilots came out ahead of caped crusaders.) Girls favored […]

Despite an alert airline crew, a Nigerian teenager was nevertheless able to hop a ride in the wheel well of an airliner – and survive. According to a story in the Nigerian news publication Leadership, the Arik Air flight departed Benin Airport for Lagos, only a 30-minute hop. As the crew taxied for takeoff, they […]

The market for aircraft refurbishment is on pace to expand to $4.3 billion per year over the next five years, according to a report by MarketsandMarkets.com. That’s up from $3.04 billion spent in 2012. The report cites needs for fleet expansion among airlines and cargo carriers, but also the business aviation sector. Undoubtedly, the big […]

Last Sunday morning Scouts of Troop 150 from West Salem, Oregon, were breaking camp along the shore of Marion Lake in Oregon’s Willamette National Forest when they spotted a Cessna 172B that was clearly in trouble. Their leader, Matt Matthews, said that as the Skyhawk cleared a ridge and settled toward the surface of the […]

The FAA has decided on relatively simple procedures for aircraft operators who want to block their tail numbers on the agency’s Aircraft Situation Display (ASD). That data is available to flight tracking software, such as FlightAware. The National Business Aviation Association has led the battle to allow aircraft operators to block their aircraft identification. Several […]

The pilot of a Bradley BA100 light sport aircraft carefully checked the GoPro cameras mounted on the exterior of his airplane. With video rolling, he took off from Skylark Airport in Killeen, Texas, but shortly after passing the departure end of the 5,495-foot runway, his engine lost power. The video shows a slight right turn […]

Garmin announced today it has added sport video to its product line with the VIRB and VIRB Elite waterproof cameras. The HD 1080p units are protected by their own IPX-7 housing, requiring no cases to withstand the elements (they were tested for immersion in one meter of water for 30 minutes). An optional case is […]