Rob Mark

In taking responsibility for the July 2015 midair collision between a U.S. Air Force F-16 and a Cessna 150 near Charleston SC (CHS), a government report said the FAA’s air traffic controllers were responsible for actions and omissions that led to the accident. Citing the see and avoid concept, the report said the pilots of […]

It happens every year in Oshkosh, just as the last airshow winds down and thousands of aviation aficionados begin dragging their chairs, coolers and kids toward their cars wondering how long it will take to exit the airport grounds. Almost at the same moment, a big collective smack to the forehead can be heard as […]

With only two and a half years until the FAA’s ADS-B mandate kicks in, the Aircraft Electronics Association hopes to nudge a few thousand more aircraft owners at AirVenture to install the ADS-B Out required to keep their aircraft legally flying past the December 31, 2019 deadline. AEA will randomly award five lucky aircraft owners […]

No matter how often the ATC privatization debate comes up, only a few people seem to remember that even a decade ago, the strongest supporters of the move to split air traffic off from the FAA were the major airlines. In fact, the idea of splitting ATC away from the FAA first began with the […]

No one aboard a HondaJet was hurt Wednesday when the landing aircraft departed the hard surface of Runway 31 Center at Chicago’s Midway Airport. The aircraft skidded and came to stop in the grass just a few feet from the airport’s west field boundary fence. Ironically, the aircraft just missed capturing the Engineered Materials Arrestor […]

The U.S. Marine Corps reported yesterday that a KC-130 tanker/transport aircraft attached to the Marine Aerial Refueling and Transport Squadron, crashed into a soybean field about 85 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi, killing all 16 people aboard. The flight originated from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point with personnel from the Marine Forces Reserve headquartered […]

Hartzell Propeller plans to celebrate 100 years of hard work at this year’s AirVenture in Oshkosh. The company has manufactured and currently supports more than 500,000 props, and began with a neighborly back porch conversation between Orville Wright and Robert Hartzell a century ago for the wooden blades used on the Wright flyer. TRW bought […]

When Sen. John Thune (R-SD) suggested an amendment to the Airline Safety Enhancement Act, he thought creating a better qualifier for new airline pilots rather than “checking the box” because that aviator had reached 1,500 hours of logged flying time was a good idea. Critics, however, want Thune’s proposal to die a quick death, all […]

It happens even less frequently than leap year, but yesterday the FAA announced the opening of a hiring window to begin recruiting 1,400 new air traffic controllers for tower, Tracon and enroute center positions all around the United States. The window officially opens today, July 7, and will remain open only until next Friday, July […]

Dassault Aviation’s Falcon 5X made its first flight Wednesday, opening the door to a limited number of preliminary flight tests before the commencement of the full fledged flight test campaign, scheduled for next year. Four years of delays due to power plant issues were overcome using a preliminary version of the Safran Silvercrest engines. The […]