News

Congress recently passed legislation increasing the 2005 funding for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Congress appropriated $2 million above the requested budget for the NTSB and directed the agency to use the extra funds to hire additional accident investigators for its regional offices.

One man’s development is another man’s grounds for objection. A $30 million redevelopment project at McClellan-Palomar Airport (CRQ) in San Diego is under way, but the dozens of pilots displaced by the project have not dropped their complaint alleging that the development is designed to push general aviation interests off the field. Last September, pilots […]

Is there a link between flying at night and flying drunk? Researchers at Johns Hopkins University say a recently completed study seems to point to one. According to their findings, 52% of alcohol-related aircraft accidents happen between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. Continued flight into deteriorating weather, something that leads to accidents even when the […]

The FAA has called the City of Santa Monica on the carpet for applying landing fees to business jets utilizing the Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO). The fees, which have been controversial since they went into effect in August 2003, apply only to aircraft with a maximum structural landing weight of more than 10,000 pounds. […]

Mooney delivered its first G1000-equipped Ovation2 GX last month to Daryle Scott, president and CEO of Venus Swimwear of Jacksonville, Fla. Scott took delivery Dec. 15, less than a month after the glass cockpit was certified for the Ovation2 and Bravo. This is Scott’s third Mooney Ovation.

The same day Raytheon’s newest bizjet, the Hawker Horizon, was granted a provisional type certificate, the first Horizon was delivered to Wichita real estate developer Jack DeBoer. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW308A turbofan engines, the Hawker Horizon can fly six passengers and two crew 3,100 nautical miles.

The General Accounting Office (GAO) has taken the FAA to task for pop-up TFRs. In a new report, the GAO criticized the FAA for not developing a “standardized, documented way to review and revalidate security-related TFRs.” The report notes that the number of TFR violations is up since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as […]

Sport Pilot Practical Test Standards are now available online at AFS600.FAA.gov. The first Sport Pilot Designated Pilot Examiner initial qualification course will be held Jan. 17-22 in Sebring, Fla. Just eight participants will take the course. The next course is set for Feb. 28-March 5, also in Sebring.

The first of four Eclipse 500 flight certification aircraft made its maiden flight Dec. 31, “as we promised,” CEO Vern Raburn said. It made two flights on that first day of operations with production Pratt & Whitney Canada 610F turbofan engines. The flight of N503EA initiated a 15-month program that ultimately will involve seven airframes, […]