Witnesses Say Plane Broke Up Inflight

ANN REALTIME REPORTING 05.31.06 1900EDT: Investigators with the NTSB are rushing to the scene of the apparent inflight breakup of a Piper PA28 over Stafford Township, NJ Wednesday morning. Four people onboard the single-engine aircraft were killed.

AirVenture To Host Public Unveiling Of Diamond's Jet

Aero-News has learned that Diamond Aircraft Industries Inc. will debut its newest product, the single-engine D-Jet, at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2006.

Now That's A Vacation With A Difference

"The World Is Our Drop Zone!" is the boast of the International Airborne Society, a worldwide association of paratroopers that not only thinks it's perfectly normal to jump out of perfectly good airplanes, but travels the world over looking for new places to do it, and people to do it with.

Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday it has delivered the 10th upgraded P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft originally contracted by the US Navy's Naval Air Systems Command, as part of a foreign military sale to the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN).

AD NUMBER: 2006-11-15 MANUFACTURER: Empresa SUBJECT: AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE 2006-11-15 SUMMARY: The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Embraer Model ERJ 170 and Model ERJ 190 airplanes. This AD requires revising the Limitations section of the airplane flight manual to prohibit the flightcrew from having the throttle into the forward thrust range immediately after applying the thrust reverser.

Tuesday Not The Best For United Express Jets

An Embraer 175 regional jet enroute from Houston, TX to Dulles International made an emergency landing Tuesday night after the plane's nosegear would not extend.

Three Crewmembers Injured

A critically ill patient being transported onboard a medical helicopter that went down Tuesday evening in Washington, DC has died at a local hospital.

PBGC Petition Rejected, Though May Appeal

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 05.31.06 1920 EDT: After hearing a petition from the US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp asking the court to toss out a new pilot contract approved early Wednesday morning between Delta Air Lines and its pilots, US bankruptcy court judge Adlai Hardin gave his blessing to the deal -- clearing the way for Delta to save $280 million annually over the next three years in pilot pay and benefits, while also likely ending the looming threat of a pilots strike.  

Tom Turner's Aero-Craft 101: Flying Into AirVenture

ANN Daily Touch N Go: 05.31.06 (ANN's Short-Form Daily News Program) ANN Daily Aero-Briefing: 05.31.06 (ANN's Long-Form Daily News Program) ANN Special Feature -- Tom Turner's Aero-Craft 101: 05.31.06 (ANN Special Feature, with Tom Turner's tips on flying into Oshkosh, WI for AirVenture 2006.)

Plane Pitched Up At Runway End, Rolled To Right

The following is the full preliminary report issued Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board on last week's accident involving a Mooney M20E piloted by South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer.

NOTAM Number: FDC 6/8576 Issue Date: May 31, 2006 at 0:45 UTC Location: 6 Miles Southeast, Taylor, Florida near TAYLOR VORTAC (TAY) Beginning Date and Time: Effective Immediately Ending Date and Time: Until further notice Reason for NOTAM: To provide a safe environment for fire fighting Type: Hazards Replaced NOTAM(s): N/A Pilots May Contact: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) System Operations Support Center, 202-267-3333

Six Customer Aircraft On Production Line

They can see certification on the horizon. That's the word from Eclipse Aviation, as the company announced Tuesday its Eclipse 500 test fleet has exceeded 2,000 flight hours, and has completed the majority of required FAA certification testing.

Changes Would Save Time, Fuel

The Air Transport Association, the lobbying group for the major United States Part 121 airlines (passenger and cargo), has long been the authoritative voice of the airline industry. In the ATA's latest briefing on the contentious fuel issue, the organization mentions several potential ATC changes that might lead to time and fuel savings.

Autopilot Would Be In Control During Emergency Situation

European jetmaker Airbus has been at the forefront of integrating onboard computers into the cockpits of commercial airliners... and the company is reportedly ready to take another big step towards expanding cockpit automation: onboard computers that will automatically maneuver jetliners to avoid midair collisions, without any input from pilots.

EVS, IFIS, CESPLAN In The Spotlight

An enhanced vision system (EVS) for Citation Excel/XLS operators and an Integrated Flight Information System (IFIS) for CJ1 and CJ2 aircraft were just two of the new product enhancements introduced to more than 400 Cessna Citation operators at the annual customer conference in Wichita, KS last week.

Adventure Author Cussler Backing Underwater Explorers

Explorers funded by adventure-novelist turned wreck-hunter Clive Cussler have returned to Lake Michigan to resume their search for Northwest Flight 2501, a DC-4 that plunged into Lake Michigan and broke up -- if it didn't do it the other way around -- 56 years ago.

Unmanned Seaplane Makes A Splash

Representatives with Oregon Iron Works, Inc. told ANN Tuesday the defense systems provider recently completed a successful flight test of the Sea Scout unmanned seaplane in southeast Texas. The flight test included two completely autonomous water landings.

No Noxious Odors Found After Plane Emptied

There were some fretful moments Tuesday morning for passengers onboard a stinky Southwest Airlines flight from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas.

Can Claim $5000 He Found Onboard Plane

A Maltese court has ordered the country's Customs Department to return $5,000 to a luggage loader who found the cash onboard an airplane in July 2000.

Aero-Tips!

It's summer, and fly-in season is well under way. A staple of local fly-in activities is the bomb-drop. Pilots fly at a prescribed altitude and try to drop a "bomb" as close as possible to a target on the ground. What makes this practice legal?

Aero-Linx!

Stop Dreaming. Start Flying. The site for would be pilots. Point a newbie here.

Aero-Terms!

The transition from descending flight to level decelerating flight just prior to the "hold off" landing finale.

"Reconsider rule limiting speeds below 10,000 feet to 250 knots; some aircraft may operate more efficiently at higher speeds (especially on climb-out) but are prevented from doing so (note: also allows controllers greater flexibility to manage air traffic)"

Source: One of seven proposals from the Air Transport Association's briefing to the FAA on the contentious fuel issue.

NOTAM Number: FDC 6/8565 Issue Date: May 30, 2006 at 21:07 UTC Location: McLean, Virginia near WASHINGTON VOR/DME (DCA) Beginning Date and Time: May 31, 2006 at 17:30 UTC Ending Date and Time: May 31, 2006 at 18:30 UTC Reason for NOTAM: Temporary flight restrictions for VIP (Very Important Person) Movement Type: VIP Replaced NOTAM(s): N/A