Aviation News

The pilot of a tour helicopter reports he tried to restrain his passenger after the man opened the door of the Robinson R44 over the ocean near Newport Beach, California. But the man, later identified as Gregory McFadden of West Covina, California, succeeded in breaking free and fell approximately 500 feet to the water’s surface. […]

Lightspeed, one of the producers of high-end active noise reduction (ANR) headsets, announced this week that the release of its latest and greatest product, the Zulu PFX, has been delayed. The company’s president, Alan Schrader, issued a statement in a newsletter explaining the reason for the delay. “From the start, our goal with Zulu PFX […]

The long-awaited response to training shortcomings that surfaced after** the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407** in Buffalo, New York, in February 2009 became official with the FAA’s adoption of new training requirements for all U.S. airline pilots on Tuesday. The new rules put a greater emphasis on recovery from stalls and upsets during recurrent […]

The FAA today issued its first ever “roadmap” outlining the steps it says will be necessary to safely integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the nation’s complex airspace. The 72-page document outlines the FAA’s approach to mixing drones into civilian airspace safely and securely while addressing privacy concerns. This will involve establishing specific certification requirements […]

Yves Rossy, widely known as Jetman, recently visited Asia for the first time, donning his black Carbon-kevlar wing equipped with four mini-jets. A video produced by Rossy’s sponsor Breitling provides multiple perspectives of the flight and gives a pretty good idea of what Jetman’s unique experience, likely the closest replication of flying like a bird […]

It looks like something out of a movie as dramatic video captures the moment when two airplanes packed with skydivers collide in a fireball over Superior, Wisconsin. It happened this past weekend as a Cessna 185 and 182 prepared for a synchronized parachute jump. Immediately after the collision, the 182’s wing ripped away and it […]

On the YouTube video, you hear the distinctive whine of a turboprop engine spooling up. But the sight picture doesn’t match up. Isn’t that a 1948 Luscombe 8E? The extended nose is the tipoff that this is no piston-slapping flivver of an airplane. And then, it backs up on the ramp. This turboprop-powered Luscombe is […]

Halloween was particularly scary this year for airport advocates in Southern California. In a major blow against the Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO), which for decades has been fighting a tough battle to stay in operation long term, the City of Santa Monica filed a lawsuit against the FAA on October 31 in an attempt […]

The odds of Cessna reclaiming its spot as the maker of the fastest civilian airplane just grew stronger. While Gulfstream one-upped the Wichita-based company when its Mach 0.925 G650 business jet was brought to market last year, Cessna announced last week that it has proven the promised performance capabilities of the Citation X speedster to […]

Lockheed Martin’s famed Skunk Works has revealed plans for a new hypersonic spy plane that would be capable of flying at Mach 6, making it the fastest airplane ever and obviating the need for stealth technology because nothing on the planet would be capable of catching it. Designed as a replacement for the super-speedy SR-71 […]