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Aviation Week & Space Technology on AviationWeek.com
Aviation Week & Space Technology is the world's leading weekly magazine for aviation and aerospace professionals. Every issue provides an authoritative, in-depth source of industry news and analysis in the three major sectors: military, commercial and space. Each issue contains the technology, business and operations information that industry leaders require to stay informed on the market trends, new products and applications. AW&ST also publishes an annual Aerospace Source Book that contains specifications on 3,100 aircraft and systems and outlook articles about major commercial and military programs.
Person of the Year: Robert M. Gates
Brought in to salve wounds, Gates is achieving so much more
Air New Zealand Flight Leads Drive to Biofuels
First of three biofuel test flights in one month yields valuable data for alternative jet fuel push
Airbus A350 Completes Milestone 5 Review
Airbus graduates the A350 to the next development phase
Crosby Secures EADS North America a Seat at Pentagon's Table
With Crosby at the helm, EADS gained in 2008 in its rivalry with Boeing
Offshoring Fuels the Aerospace Jobs Debate
Aerospace may be a global industry, but local issues continue to drive the agenda
Planenews Aviation News Portal
Your aviation news and services.
Airlines Sue FAA Over Crew Rest Rules.
Several of the nation’s largest airlines have joined in a lawsuit to block stronger federal rules on crew rest during the longest international flights. The airlines say that the Federal Aviation Administration bypassed usual rule-making procedures and denied them the right to comment before it notified American Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc. of the new rules in late October...
Indian Airline Sacks Overweight Stewardesses.
NEW DELHI (AFP): India’s state-run carrier Air India has dismissed 10 women flight attendants who were grounded last year for being overweight, a report said Monday. The sackings came after the cabin crew were warned about meeting minimum physical fitness standards and given sufficient time to lose weight, the Press Trust of India news agency reported quoting airline sources...
8 Die in U.S. Oilfield Services Helicopter Crash.
HOUSTON (Reuters): Eight people died and one was injured in Sunday’s crash in Louisiana of a helicopter carrying oilfield workers, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The crash about 75 miles (121 km) southwest of New Orleans, involved an aircraft operated by Petroleum Helicopters Inc (PHII.O) of Lafayette, Louisiana, a news release said...
Klaus Savier has altered his Vari-EZ and its Continental 0-200 engine by adding computerized fuel injection and ignition systems of his own design. He typically flies at 190 KTAS while getting a Prius-like 50 miles per gallon. If he slows to extend range, Savier’s mileage approaches 100 miles per gallon...
Tell TSA What Large Aircraft Security Program Means to You.
The Transportation Security Administration wants to impose new security regulations that would treat larger general aviation aircraft just like the airlines, and AOPA members are urged to file comments telling the TSA how the rules would affect them...
Future of Commercial Spaceflight Uncertain, But Promising.
This year closed with a volley of seemingly hopeful signs for what’s termed by some as "NewSpace," an entrepreneurial spaceflight trajectory markedly different than NASA and its cabal of mainstream aerospace contractors...
Serial Production of JF-17 Aircraft to Start Soon.
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) would soon start serial production of JF-17 Thunder in collaboration with China, Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Defence Production was informed on Thursday...
Carrying Gunpowder Through Airport Security.
by Rhona Mahony. December 5, I brought five ounces (140 grams) of old-fashioned black gunpowder to San Francisco airport. I also brought along a boarding pass for United flight 720 to Denver that I had created at home, in an computer art program. TSA agents accepted the boarding pass. They also took no notice at all of the gunpowder...
Lockheed Martin Rolls Out F-35 CTOL.
FORT WORTH, Texas (UPI): U.S. company Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) announced the first of a new F-35 Lightning II aircraft redesigned under a weight-saving program will begin testing. Lockheed Martin says its first weight-optimized conventional takeoff and landing variant of the F-35 aircraft, an exact copy of what is expected to be delivered to the U.S. Air Force, has been rolled out to undergo testing...
FATALITIES from light plane crashes were 50 per cent higher this year than last, and 12 people died in the past three months alone, figures from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau show. A NSW farmer became the 36th person to die this year in a light plane accident when his cropduster crashed about midday yesterday at a property near Nyngan. Last year 23 people died in light plane incidents...
Japan Likely to Drop Plan to Buy F-22 Fighters.
Tokyo: Japan is likely to drop its attempts to buy state-of-the-art US F-22 Raptor stealth fighter planes since it expects the United States to stop producing them, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The Japanese government had been trying to persuade the United States to sell it F-22 Raptors to replace its own aging F-15 fleet, despite Washington’s reluctance...
The Quest for the 300-m.p.h. Helicopter.
This year marked the passing of Frank Piasecki, one of the pioneers of rotary aircraft. Piasecki was perhaps best known as the man who successfully developed the first tandem-rotor helicopter, paving the way for long-serving military aircraft like the CH-47 Chinook and the CH-46 Sea Knight...
Russia to Start Production of Ka-52 Combat Helicopters.
CHKALOVSKY (Moscow Region)(RIA Novosti): The Russian government has approved the production of Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters at a plant in the Far East, the Air Force chief said on Friday. The Ka-52 is a twin-seat derivative of the Ka-50 Hokum-A attack helicopter, and is designed primarily for reconnaissance and target designation purposes. It is similar to the U.S. AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. Video -..
World Flight Raises Money for Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Eighteen months of planning paid off for CarolAnn Garratt Dec. 11 after she and copilot Carol Foy completed their seven-day, 160-hour round-the-world flight in a Mooney to raise money and awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Garratt’s mother died of ALS in 2002...
Triumphs and Tragedies: A look Back at 2008.
The ups and downs of 2008 proved a challenge to general aviation, with some incidents dividing pilots and others uniting them. The year saw the first U.S. pilot to be jailed for a fatal accident, general aviation saved the life of another, and pilots prevented a TV crew from flying GA into a major airport for a so-called story. Here are the Top 10 stories, ranked by read..
O'Hare Has 3 Jetliner Incidents.
CHICAGO (UPI): Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport had three minor jetliner incidents Christmas Eve, including one aircraft that slid off a taxiway officials said. The Chicago Tribune reported American Airlines Flight 1544 hit some ice and slid off the taxiway after leaving the gate at 6:42 p.m. None of the 54 passengers or crew of five aboard were hurt, American Airlines spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan said...
Air New Zealand Says Boeing 787-9 Delayed to 2013.
(Bloomberg): Air New Zealand Ltd., the nation’s largest airline, said it doesn’t expect delivery of the first of eight Boeing Co. 787-9 aircraft until the first quarter of 2013, more than a two-year delay from the original due date...
Denver Crash Baffles Aviation Experts.
The co-pilot of the Continental Airlines jet that veered off a Denver runway Saturday has told investigators that the takeoff acceleration was normal until the plane made "a sudden left turn," investigators said Monday. The unnamed pilot said that he noticed that the Boeing 737-500 jet began to turn away from the center of the runway as it reached about 100 mph, according to Robert Sumwalt, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)...
Cyprus Charges Five Over 2005 Air Crash.
NICOSIA (Xinhua): Cyprus filed criminal charges on Tuesday against five persons deemed responsible for an deadly air crash which killed 121 people on board three years ago. A Boeing 737-300 plane of Cyprus’ budget company Helios Airways was flying from Larnaca to Czech capital Prague on Aug. 14, 2005 when it crashed into a hillside just north of Athens, capital of Greece. All passengers and crew members were killed in the air tragedy...
NTSB Warns of Icing Danger, Urges Immediate Action.
A new safety alert issued by the National Transportation Safety Board points out the many hazards of icing and urges pilots to take counter measures immediately. As little as one-quarter inch of ice on the leading edge of the wing can be deadly and can increase stall speeds by as much as 40 knots, the safety alert warns...
Buffett, Munich Re Face Claims on Denver Plane Wreck
An insurer backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Germany's Munich Re faces claims on the Dec. 20 accident that destroyed a Continental Airlines Inc. passenger aircraft in Denver.
The Ultimate Flying Machine: Sexy as a Sports Car, Portable as a Jet Ski.
On the shore of Lake Isabella, about 150 miles north of Los Angeles, a crowd of flight techs, most of them either pierced or tattooed, swarms around a small white airplane. It’s called an Icon A5. It’s a collaboration between an F-16 pilot and a skateboard designer, and it looks like an odd, rakish sea monster...
NASA Dryden Marked Major Milestones in 2008.
Edwards, Calif.: NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., supported projects and efforts across NASA’s four mission areas during 2008, furthering the agency’s overall mission of leading the nation in aerospace technology.
Weight-Optimized F-35 Test Fleet Adds Conventional Takeoff and Landing Variant.
ORT WORTH, Texas (PRNewswire-FirstCall): Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) rolled out the first weight-optimized conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant of the F-35 Lightning II fighter on Dec. 19. The new F-35A, called AF-1, joins three weight-optimized F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing variants currently undergoing testing. The aircraft are structurally identical to the F-35s that will be delivered to armed services beginning in 2010...
NASA Response to Aviation Week and Space Technology Article.
Unfortunately, Aviation Week’s recent article of Dec. 21, 2008, entitled "Bush Administration Nixed NASA’s U.S.-China Cooperation Idea," is inaccurate and misleading.
EADS Wins 1.9 Bln Eur Brazilian Helicopter Deal.
LONDON (Reuters): European aerospace group EADS (EAD.PA) said on Tuesday its Eurocopter business had won an order for 50 military helicopters from Brazil. EADS said Eurocopter and its Brazilian subsidiary Helibras would make the EC725 aircraft in Brazil and would begin delivering them to Brazil’s armed forces from 2010...
Registration Open for Online Passenger Information System.
Beginning in May, pilots who fly internationally will have to provide passenger information to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) using a new electronic reporting system. But CBP’s Electronic Advance Passenger Information System, better known as eAPIS, is available now, and pilots may begin using it on a voluntary basis to file passenger manifests before launching on any international flight...
BE Aerospace Receives FAA Certification to Convert Airbus A300-600 to Freighters
B/E Aerospace, Inc. (Nasdaq:BEAV), the world’s leading manufacturer of aircraft cabin interior products and the world’s leading distributor of aerospace fasteners and consumables, announced today that it has received a supplemental type certificate (STC) from the FAA which authorizes the company to convert Airbus A300-600 passenger aircraft to freighters. The STC was awarded to B/E Aerospace’s Flight Structures unit (FSI)...
Textron, Cessna Aircraft and Bell Helicopter Maker to Cut Workforce.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch): Textron Inc., grappling with growing financial risk in a severely weakened economy, said late Monday that it is slashing its fourth-quarter earnings estimate, cutting more than 2,000 jobs and exiting the bulk of its commercial-finance business...
Next NASA Moon Mission Completes Major Milestone.
GREENBELT, Md.: NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully completed thermal vacuum testing, which simulates the extreme hot, cold and airless conditions of space LRO will experience after launch. This milestone concludes the orbiter’s environmental test program at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Investigators Hunting Clues in Denver Jet Accident.
DENVER (AP): Investigators took photos and measurements at the charred wreckage of a Continental Airlines jet Monday, searching for clues about why the plane veered off a runway and skidded into a shallow ravine. The twin-engine Boeing 737-500 still sat in a shallow, snow-covered ravine where it came to rest after its aborted takeoff Saturday at Denver International Airport...
FAA Approves Boeing 787 Dreamliner Maintenance Program.
EVERETT, Wash.: Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved the all-new 787 Dreamliner’s scheduled maintenance program.
Turkey to Buy 32 Mi-28 Attack Helicopters from Russia.
ANKARA (RIA Novosti): Turkey plans to buy 32 used Mi-28 (Havoc) helicopters from Russia in a deal worth a total of $1 billion, a national Turkish daily reported on Monday. Vatan said the decision to buy helicopters from Russia was made after talks for purchases of Cobra and Super Cobra helicopter gunships failed with the United States...
SpaceShipTwo Carrier Craft Makes Successful First Flight.
A carrier aircraft designed to be the first stage of a commercial spaceline system made its maiden test flight today at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Designed by Scaled Composites, the huge and unique WhiteKnightTwo mothership rolled down the runway and muscled itself into the air using four Pratt and Whitney PW308A turbofan engines. The WhiteKnightTwo flew for about an hour, departing the runway at roughly 8:17 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, safely touching down at the Mojave Air and Space Port at approximately 9:17 a.m. PST...
British Airways Places $376 Million Embraer Order.
(Bloomberg): British Airways Plc, Europe’s third- largest airline, ordered 11 aircraft valued at $376 million from Brazil’s Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA for the BA CityFlyer unit to improve service at London City airport. BA CityFlyer will take delivery of six Embraer 170 jets and five 190SR planes starting next September, and has options to buy three more aircraft, London-based British Airways said today in a statement. The airliners will fly between London City Airport and Scotland, Ireland and continental Europe...
