Aviation News

Viking Air of Sidney, British Columbia, said it has received Transport Canada final production approval for the Series 400 Twin Otter, a new-production airplane based on the original DHC-6 Twin Otter that features more powerful Pratt & Whitney Canada engines and advanced Honeywell Primus Apex avionics. With the first five new aircraft already completed and […]

Gulfstream has resumed flight testing of its G650 business jet nearly two months after the crash of a test aircraft during takeoff at Roswell, New Mexico, that killed all four Gulfstream employees on board. “We have conducted all the necessary reviews to assure ourselves that we can safely resume the flight-test program at this point,” […]

Dassault Aviation has grounded its entire fleet of 112 Falcon 7Xs after one airplane experienced a pitch trim issue during a descent. The crew was able to control the airplane and landed successfully. However, as a safety precaution, Dassault requested directives from EASA and the FAA for a temporary suspension all 7X operations until the […]

Melbourne, Florida-based Liberty Aerospace has selected the 100-horsepower Rotax 912S air- and liquid-cooled engine as an alternative to the Teledyne Continental IOF-240-B. Liberty president and CEO Keith Markley says the new engine option is a response to international demands from customers in Southeast Asia, where aviation fuel can reach prices as high as $20 per […]

Scott Ernest, a veteran of GE Aviation, has been named president and CEO of Cessna Aircraft by parent company Textron. Ernest replaces former Cessna Chairman and CEO Jack Pelton, who retired only weeks ago. Ernest faces an extremely tough bizjet market that, despite recent hopeful signs, remains mired in a three-year slump. Single-engine business, likewise, […]

An official investigative report confirms speculation that Air France 447, the flight that crashed into the Atlantic two years ago under then-mysterious circumstances, suffered a high-altitude stall before descending 38,000 feet in 3.5 minutes and crashing into the ocean According to the preliminary accident report issued by the BEA, the captain had just relinquished control […]

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is embracing general aviation as part of its disaster planning preparations after conducting a successful large-scale disaster drill that included private aircraft dealing with a simulated national emergency. “Our GA ‘ready fleet’ performed superbly,” said Marianne Stevenson, president of AERObridge, a group that coordinates use of private aircraft […]

House Representative Bill Shuster (R – PA) has withdrawn an amendment that some say would have further stalled a bill attempting to increase the amount of rest required for airline pilots.**** Shuster’s legislation would have required the FAA to investigate the economic effects of new rules, as well as any possible alternatives, before they could […]

Cessna announced last week that the Citation Ten is on schedule to make its first flight by the end of 2011. Deliveries of the midsize jet are expected to begin in the latter half of 2013.** ** According to Cessna, the Citation Ten has a new design and performance capabilities that allow it “to fly […]

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is looking into an incident in which two regional jets came within just a few hundred feet of each other while crossing paths at Chicago O’Hare International Airport last week.** ** The event occurred around 9:30 a.m. on Monday, May 16, when an Embraer ERJ-145 operated by ExpressJet Airlines […]