Aviation News

A pair of Maryland State Police troopers have received Rotor & Wing magazine’s 2009 Helicopter Heroism Award. The crew of the AS365 Dauphin responded to a December 2008 emergency involving a broken water main in Bethesda. At least seven cars were stranded by the fast moving water, with frigid temperatures and depths of up to […]

The House of Representatives has passed legislation extending short-term funding for the FAA through the end of this year. The previous extension expired yesterday. Any hopes for a long-term legislation are on hold, as the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009 (passed by the House) awaits attention from the Senate Committee on Finance. That group of […]

A coalition of more than 25 associations has sent a letter to the Senate highlighting the need for prompt legislation to fund the FAA on a long-term basis. The letter reads, in part: “Investments in our national airspace infrastructure will enable the U.S. aviation system to improve its already enviable safety record as well as […]

Late last week, the FAA granted Technical Standard Order (TSO) approval for Aspen Avionics’ EFD500 and EFD1000 multifunction displays, as well as the company’s EWR50 weather radar receiver. With the approval, aircraft owners can now install all three units along with the already approved Evolution EFD1000 primary flight display. Together, the four components from Aspen […]

A Sept. 17 front-page story in USA Today has general aviation advocates up in arms. The article, with an accompanying television piece aired on NBC’s Today show, advanced the argument that thousands of airports not served by airlines are being unfairly subsidized by airline ticket taxes. According to the print and television stories, airline passengers’ […]

“Anyone conducting an aviation/aerospace research project that balances technological advancements with the preservation of our environment” is encouraged to petition the Lindbergh Foundation for up to $10,580 in grant funding. That’s the amount it cost Charles Lindbergh to build the Spirit of St. Louis in 1927. Recent grants have gone to projects such as electric […]

Last Thursday, the first production version of Cessna’s Model 162 Skycatcher flew for the first time. The Skycatcher factory is located in Shenyang, China, and that’s where the flight took place. Cessna partnered with Shenyang Aircraft Company to produce the Skycatcher. The two-place, high-wing single is Cessna’s entry in the FAA’s five-year-old light sport aircraft […]

Matt Zuccaro, president of the Helicopter Association International, told Congress on Sept. 16 that no one recommendation was a “silver bullet” in solving issues arising from the collision last month of a tour helicopter and a fixed-wing Piper Lance. Zuccaro agreed that the FAA was acting prudently with its recommendations to standardize the floor of […]

Airline passenger groups are applauding FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt’s tough talk for airlines. In clarifying the agency’s mission, he said, “When we say ‘customer,’ we’re talking about the flying public.” Passengers’ groups have protested the FAA’s use of the word when referring to the airlines, themselves. The groups are pressing for a passengers’ bill of […]

Fractional-ownership patriarch Richard Santulli resigned last month as head of the company he founded in 1986. Many within the industry have expressed it was because he refused to cut staff. Santulli sold NetJets several years ago to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, and with losses mounting, some believed Santulli was being pressured to lay off employees. […]