Aero-News Network: The aviation and aerospace world's daily/real-time news and information service

DOT: Sequestration Will Take A Toll On Air Travel

Department Facing A Cut Of Nearly A Billion Dollars

Officials at the Department of Transportation are warning that if automatic budget cuts go into effect March 1st it will have a "serious impact on transportation services that are critical to the traveling public and the nation’s economy."

Asia-Pacific To Drive Demand For Bigger And More Efficient Aircraft

Airbus Forecasts Demand For Nearly 10,000 New Aircraft, Including Over 3,800 Widebodies

Asia-Pacific airlines will lead global demand for larger and more eco-efficient aircraft types over the next 20 years, according to the latest market forecast for the region by Airbus. The forecast was presented Monday in Singapore by John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer, Customers, Airbus.

Quicksilver Pilot Honored By FAA

George Karamitis Given Wright Brothers Award For 50 Years Of Safe Flight

Flying without accident, incident, or citation for 50 years is a major accomplishment, one significant enough for FAA to issue the agency’s prized Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award in a ceremony at Sebring U.S. Sport Aviation Expo 2013. The honor was given to George Karamitis. And for half of those 50 years, George has flown a Quicksilver ... several of them, in fact.

Gulfstream G650 Sets Four City-Pair Records In Five Days

Connecting Cities In The U.S., Middle East, Russia

Gulfstream's new flagship aircraft, the G650, recently established four city-pair speed records in five days, connecting cities in the U.S., the Middle East and Russia. The G650’s most recent city-pair record came on Jan. 28. The aircraft departed Moscow Vnukovo Airport and landed at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport 9 hours, 33 minutes later.

NASA Seeks Big Ideas For Small In-Space Propulsion Systems

Accepting Proposals For Electrospray Thrusters For Use On Satellites

NASA's Space Technology Program is calling for proposals to develop miniaturized electrospray propulsion technologies that could revolutionize small satellite propulsion systems. Electrospray thrusters use electricity to energize material and then disperse a resulting liquid or aerosol through an emitter to create thrust. The development of low-mass, lightweight micro thruster technologies has the potential to radically change propulsion capabilities of small satellites by allowing variable thrust propulsion, stabilization and precision pinpointing.

Three Survive Sub-Freezing Conditions After RV-10 Accident

Friends Had Been Flying To A Ski Location When Their Plane Went Down

Three friends heading out for a weekend of skiing in upstate New York wound up spending most of a night fighting off cold weather and snow after the RV-10 they were flying went down in a rugged, wooded area near Lake Placid, NY.

Airbus Facilitates Humanitarian Aid Shipment Syrian Refugees In Turkey

The Airbus Corporate Foundation Partners With Luftfahrt Ohne Grenzen For The Effort

The Airbus Corporate Foundation and its partners Luftfahrt ohne Grenzen / Wings of Help (LOG), Turkish Airlines and Fraport AG have transported 38.5 tons of relief supplies from Frankfurt Airport in Germany to Adana, Turkey, today, on a Turkish Airlines A310-F freighter aircraft. These supplies are destined to the Turkish Red Crescent and will be distributed to people in desperate need in Syrian refugee camps near Adana, among which are many children.

Balloon Pilot In New Zealand Fatal Accident Had Expired Medical

Aviation Authorities Said He Should Not Have Been Flying On The Day Of The Accident

The pilot of a balloon that went down in Carterton, New Zealand in January, 2012 had an expired medical certificate and should not have been flying, according to civil aviation authorities in New Zealand. Pilot Lance Hopping and 10 others were fatally injured in the accident.

Helicopter Crew Uses Aircraft To Chase Mountain Lion Away From Hiker

Big Cat Was Seen Stalking The Hiker On A Trail Near Colfax, CA

A hiker who was being stalked by a mountain lion and made a "frantic" 911 call got help from a California Highway Patrol helicopter crew who managed to chase the animal away by making a low pass over the area.

New Aviation Training Center Coming To Fairhope, AL

Public-Private Partnership Will Make The Facility A Reality

A partnership between H.L. "Sonny" Callahan Airport (KCQF), the city of Fairhope, the state of Alabama, two community colleges, the Baldwin County Board of Education, and others will result in the establishment of a $2.5 million aviation training center at the airport. Officials from the interested parties gathered Friday at the Continental Motors hangar at the airport to announce the project.

Elbit Delivers Hermes 900 UAS To A Customer In The Americas

Follows A Recent Contract Award To Israeli Ministry of Defense

Elbit Systems (ESL) has delivered a Hermes 900 unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to a customer in the Americas. The program includes delivery of ESL's Hermes 900 unmanned air vehicles, Universal Ground Control Stations (UGCS) including installation in a mission control center, advanced electro-optic systems and additional unique systems.

United Pilot Switches To Entertainer Mode To Soothe Stranded Passengers

Played The Piano At Lambert International Airport While Snow And Sleet Cancelled Flights

Passengers trying to make it out of St. Louis' Lambert International Airport Thursday were frustrated frustrated and tired as they sat in the terminal while a winter storm made the possibility of them getting to their destinations less and less likely. Snow and sleet were coating the runways and taxiways, and the number of flights showing "cancelled" on the board continued to grow.

More Signs Of The Times -- Diamond Restructures, Puts D-Jet On Hold

Temporary Lay-Offs Announced, Pending Restructuring

Diamond Aircraft Industries Inc. (Canada) and D-JET Corporation have confirmed to ANN the restructuring of Diamond's London Ontario based operations, citing continuing low piston aircraft sales, especially in the North American market, and the significant burden of its cost intensive D-JET development program. In a cost cutting measure, the majority of the workforce has been issued temporary lay-off notices, pending implementation of restructuring plans.

Airborne 02.26.13: Diamond Restructures, G650 Records, Trig Connects

Also: F-35s Grounded, Lear 85 Delayed, More Sequestration Woes, Pope's A Pilot, Airvans Go Aspen

Proving that life is too short to fly slow airplanes, Gulfstream's new flagship aircraft, the G650, recently established four city-pair speed records in five days, connecting cities in the U.S., the Middle East and Russia. Trig Avionics Limited has joined Aspen Avionics' Connected Panel Program. Trig joins a number of industry leading players involved in this initiative. Bombardier has some not-so-good news for those expecting the Learjet 85. In a recent news release the company said that the program is making solid progress having achieved several key mile

Republicans Criticize FAA Sequester Strategy

Say Agency Should Cut Consultants And Travel Before Furloughing ATC Personnel

House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA), Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Ranking Member John Thune (R-SD), and House Subcommittee on Aviation Chairman Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) released a statement Friday in response to the Administration’s announcement regarding sequestration’s potential impact on the FAA and U.S. aviation.

FAA Will Carefully Consider Dreamliner Battery Fix

No Cause Yet Determined, Agency Says It Won't Rush The Airplane Back To Flight

In May of 1979, an American Airlines DC-10 went down departing Chicago's O'Hare International Airport following the separation of the number one engine from the wing. The accident resulted in the fatal injury of 273 people, including two on the ground. In January of 2013, the battery of an ANA Dreamliner caught fire while sitting at the gate at Boston Logan International Airport. No one was injured, though other battery issues were soon discovered aboard other Dreamliners. The Dreamliners have now been grounded longer than the DC-10 feet was following the Chicago accident.

Rotorcraft Delivery Values Rival Business Jets

Analyst Brian Foley Says Market Is Undervalued

Business jets seem to get all the headlines. After all, they accounted for close to $18 billion of the $22 billion total value of general aviation deliveries last year. By contrast, civil rotorcraft came in a distant second contributing $3 billion. Fixed-wing turboprops and pistons made up the remaining sliver.

AgustaWestland's Bruno Spagnolini Removed From Position As Scandal Grows

Head Of Finmeccanica's Helicopter Division Replaced By Daniele Romiti

The bribery probe that cost Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi his job has now led to the ouster of AgustaWestland head Bruno Spagnolini as an investigation into a deal with the Indian government deepens. Finmeccanica has delayed the release of its financial results until April as the company continues its reorganization following the arrest of Orsi on tax evasion and fraud charges.

NASA Partner Orbital Tests Rocket, Newest U.S. Launch Pad

Twenty-Nine Second Test Fire Demonstrated First-Stage Readiness

NASA commercial partner Orbital Sciences of Dulles, VA, successfully conducted an engine test of its Antares rocket Friday at the nation's newest launch pad. The company fired dual AJ26 rocket engines for the full duration 29 seconds while the rocket was bolted down on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, VA.

Boeing, SPEEA Continue Negotiations

Next Meeting Planned For Wednesday

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) issued a statement Friday on the labor negotiations between the Boeing Company and the Society for Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA).

Medical Helicopter Accident In Oklahoma Fatally Injures Two

Third Person On Board Seriously Injured

A Eurocopter AS350 went down early Friday morning in Oklahoma City, OK, resulting in the fatal injury of two of the three people on board. Fatally injured were pilot Mark Montgomery and nurse Chris Denning. Medic Billy Wynne was reportedly hospitalized in critical condition.

Aero-News: Quote Of The Day (02.26.13)

“We are disappointed by the Administration creating alarm about sequestration’s impact on aviation." Source: Statement from Senator John Thune (R-SD) and Congressmen Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) concerning the Obama Administrations' approach to sequester cuts at the FAA.