Aviation News

GE Honda Aero Engines has earned Part 33 certification process for the HF120 turbofan engines, receiving the sign-off from the FAA last week. The news puts the much-anticipated HondaJet on a clear path to certification. A spokesman for HondaJet said now that the engines are certified, an update on the progress of the certification of […]

On Thursday, GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce and NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen both testified at a House of Representatives aviation subcommittee hearing on the state of American aviation. Bunce cited six bullet-point recommendations for the lawmakers to consider when moving forward on aviation issues. He also called for “clear and consistent leadership […]

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, a 760,000-square-foot facility that houses airplanes belonging to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s vast collection of aviation artifacts, celebrated its 10th anniversary over the weekend. Named after Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, a Hungarian entrepreneur who donated millions to the National Air and Space Museum, the facility is home to […]

The British company that operates helicopters for the Scottish police has grounded its worldwide fleet of 38 Eurocopter EC135s following a technical fault in a helicopter identical to the one that crashed through the roof of a Glasgow pub late last month. A Bond Aviation EC135 leased to the police crashed at around 10:20 p.m. […]

FAA Federal Air Surgeon Dr. Fred Tilton drew broad condemnation from aviation leaders a day after he proclaimed that the agency will move forward swiftly with a policy requiring sleep apnea screening for overweight pilots in spite of action being taken by Congress to slow the process. During a December 12 webinar, Tilton insisted he […]

This morning, Textron AirLand successfully completed the first flight of the Scorpion, the company’s new tactical twinjet, which was announced earlier this year. The Scorpion took off from McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, and flew for 1.4 hours. “The flight was completed according to plan,” said test pilot Dan Hinson. “Having flown many […]

The fight against the third class medical requirement has taken a new turn. Republican Congressmen Todd Rokita and Sam Graves introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow private pilots who meet certain requirements to legally fly with a valid driver’s license instead of a third class medical certificate. While pilots […]

Fresh on the heels of reports that partner Brad Pitt has bought himself a Spitfire, actress-pilot Angelina Jolie’s name splashed across page 6 of the New York Post with an aviation-related story. “Angelina’s Plane Grounded by the FAA” was the headline. Lurid as that sounds, it appears to be no more than a complex paperwork […]

The Asiana Airlines training captain who crashed a Boeing 777 at San Francisco International Airport in July was anxious about the visual approach, which he described as “very stressful,” according to investigators. Capt. Lee Kang Kuk, an eight-year employee of Asiana on his first extended trip flying the 777, also told investigators he was confused […]

The FAA is telling Aviation Medical Examiners to disregard, for now, the controversial obstructive sleep apnea policy introduced last month in a medical bulletin. In a memo to AMEs, the agency instructs physicians not to include body mass index calculations as part of airman medical examinations, at least not yet. The about-face comes after Congress […]