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United States aviation news

Boeing 757 inappropriate crew response to unreliable airspeed causes injuries and damage

Turbulence and an inappropriate response to an unreliable airspeed caused 17 minor injuries and the loss of  the centre hydraulic system on a Boeing 757 over Ireland, according to the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU). The aircraft, a Boeing 757-224, was on a scheduled passenger service from Newark Airport, USA to Dublin Airport, Ireland, with 8 crew and 131 passengers...

With FAA Papers in Hand, R44 Cadet Now Ready for Duty

Robinson Helicopter’s new R44 Cadet trainer received FAA certification on Friday. The Cadet has the same airframe, rotor system and Lycoming O-540-F1B5 as the R44 Raven I, but the Cadet’s rear seats are removed, maximum takeoff weight is lowered to 2,200 pounds and the engine is derated to 210 hp for takeoff and 185 hp continuous. Robinson beg...

Rockwell Collins completes CRIIS production milestone

Rockwell Collins recently completed the Production Readiness Review (PRR) for Common Range Integrated Instrumentation System (CRIIS), paving the way for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to award Production Lot 1. The PRR was done in cooperation with the Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) and CRIIS System Program Office (SPO) at Eglin Air Force Base. Rockwell Collins is the prime contrac...

University of New Mexico Hospital launches service with Agusta 119Kx Koala

The University of New Mexico Hospital has launched a new helicopter initiative as part of its Lifeguard Emergency Services division. The initiative that starts on 10 May will involve its newest emergency medical transport aircraft a specially equipped Agusta 119Kx Koala helicopter. The helicopter is owned by SevenBar Aviation and is equipped with medivac and crisis equipment including blood res...

Celebrity-backed US jet charter company BlackJet ceases trading

BlackJet the Florida-headquartered private jet charter service backed by celebrities including Jay-Z and Ashton Kutcher has closed its doors. In an email sent to members of the service that was that was also backed by Uber co-founder and chairman Garrett Camp chief executive of the company Dean Rotchin said that “bad press” had “stunted membership sales”. Rotchin said th...

Delta Air Lines Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Engine Cover Falls Off

Part of the flying experience is peering out the window to get a peek at the clouds, blue sky, and whatever city you may be traveling above. One thing you don’t want to see while gazing at the heavens? Something wrong with the engine. The Tennessean reports that a Delta flight headed from Atlanta to Chicago had to make an emergency landing in Nashville on Sunday after encountering turbule...

Flight delayed over equation suspicion

An Ivy League professor said his flight was delayed because a fellow passenger thought the math equations he was writing could point to him being a terrorist. American Airlines confirms that the woman expressed suspicions about University of Pennsylvania economics professor Guido Menzio. She said she was too ill to take the Air Wisconsin-operated flight. Menzio said he was flying from Philad...

Airbus sets sights on the stratosphere with glider flight

The flight aims to test how well an aircraft and its crew can fare in conditions similar to those on Mars, with thin atmosphere and cold temperatures. Airbus completed a test flight Saturday of a glider set to eventually travel to the edge of space, in a pioneering step into the stratosphere. The Perlan 2’s flight, from an airstrip in the western US state of Nevada, took place two hour...

Boeing reveals it got $305 million in tax breaks last year—a lot more than everyone thought

Washington state legislatures gave Boeing Co. $8.7 billion in tax incentives extensions back in 2013. This was followed by Boeing jobs continuing to decline as the company cut costs and moved jobs out of state, infuriating unions and workers. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 (IAM 751), the “touch labor” union in the Seattle area for Boei...

NASA pours $67 million into solar electric spacecraft engines

It wants super-efficient power for missions headed to asteroids and Mars. In an effort to design more efficient spacecraft engines, NASA granted rocket manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne a three-year contract to develop advanced “solar electric propulsion” engines that could assist in deep space travel. The engines have the potential to be ten times more efficient than chemical engines...

NOAA deploys Puma AE on Antarctic mission for the first time

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has completed the first deployment of the AeroVironment RQ-20A Puma AE unmanned air vehicle to the Antarctic, where it supported a US Coast Guard resupply mission. It operated onboard the US Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star in support of the annual operation Deep Freeze deployment, taking on the role of manned helicopters in providing...

Comlux America Expands Hangar, Adds Widebody Capability

Comlux America, the Comlux Group’s completion and service center in Indianapolis, christened its newly enlarged completion hangar late last week. The project expanded the hangar size to 157,000 sq ft from 128,000 sq ft, allowing the building to house one widebody and up to four single-aisle bizliners simultaneously. Comlux America’s first widebody completion, an&...