Stephen Pope

The aircraft owners who received free ADS-B avionics as part of the FAA’s Capstone Program in Alaska are about to get another freebie. The FAA has chosen ADS-B avionics from FreeFlight Systems for the 600 aircraft that originally took part in the Alaska Capstone Program to bring them into compliance with the Jan. 1, 2020, […]

When Congress passed legislation in late April ending air traffic controller furloughs, the message to the FAA was clear: Keep the aviation system running smoothly and safely. Yet despite providing ample money for continued operation of 149 of the nation’s contract control towers, the FAA and the Department of Transportation have stayed mum on whether […]

The FAA’s handling of a variety of prickly issues from the planned closures of scores of contract control towers to the hotly anticipated Part 23 rewrite to the up-in-the-air fate of leaded aviation gasoline will affect general aviation in important ways for years to come. Get the Part 23 rewrite right, and we could witness […]

A Learjet 60 crashed into an apartment building in Valencia, Venezuela, on Sunday, killing the two pilots on board. According to local media reports, no one was injured inside the residential building or on the ground. The crash occurred about two miles from Valencia’s main international airport. Local officials said the Learjet was flying from […]

If you fly IFR in busy parts of the country where direct routings are rare, knowing what routes ATC is likely to give you can be a big time saver. You can look up the preferred ATC routings between airport pairs online to get a good idea of what you should file. My favorite site […]

A Red Bull Bede BD-5J single-seater microjet crashed during an attempted forced landing near Innsbruck, Austria, on May 1, killing Flying Bulls pilot Guido Gehrmann. According to a team statement, Gehrmann suffered an engine failure while returning from an airshow performance in Tyrol, Italy. The Flying Bulls are based in Salzberg, Austria. In the statement […]

A 1950s-era vintage Spanish jet trainer crashed into a hangar and exploded in a fireball at an airshow in Spain on Sunday, killing its 35-year-old pilot. Around 3,000 spectators witnessed the crash at Cuatro Vientos Airport when the historic Hispano HA-200 Saeta went out of control and crashed, sending a fireball and thick black smoke […]

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Learjet brand, Flexjet partnered with Jet Art’s Princess Tarinan von Anhalt to create one-of-a-kind modern art pieces at West Palm Beach Airport yesterday using the powerful jet blast from a Learjet 45XR as an $11 million dollar “paintbrush.” Von Anhalt hurled paint into the force of the Learjet’s […]

Embraer is making good on a potential $1 billion order from fractional ownership giant NetJets with the delivery yesterday of the first of up to 125 Phenom 300 light jets. The delivery at Embraer’s new factory in Melbourne, Florida, represents the first airplane in a blockbuster deal signed in October 2010 that included 50 firm […]

Anthony Foxx, the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, has been selected to serve as the new head of the Department of Transportation, replacing Ray LaHood. The Obama Administration praised Foxx’s efforts to improve Charlotte’s transit infrastructure and bring a modern electric tram service to the city. Foxx received strong marks for his city’s handling of […]