A Cessna Citation VI owned by a prominent Irish businessman was caught up in a major drug bust on September 26, when Belgian police impounded the aircraft at Kortrijk-Wevelgem Airport and arrested its crew. More than 110 pounds of heroin (valued at $13 million) was seized as an undisclosed passenger tried to board the jet at Kortrijk, which is close to the border with France. The aircraft had just more

When New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, 34, and his flight instructor, Tyler Stranger, 26, crashed their Cirrus SR20 into an east side Manhattan high-rise on October 11, the resultant outcry predictably called for more restrictions against general aviation.

Fearing the worst, the North American Aerospace Defense Command had fighter aircraft flying combat air patrols over at least half more

NetJets Europe’s order for 24 Dassault Falcon 7Xs reflects a powerful declaration of intent for both companies. For Dassault, the deal–valued at $1 billion–is its largest single business jet sale ever and a vital fillip for the 7X program, which now has an order book for 116 copies of the fly-by-wire trijet. For NetJets’ European subsidiary, the order appears to be a riposte to doubters wh more

Grob, the German company that is developing the versatile, all-composite SPn light jet, has created a U.S. support network for the airplane and is about to establish a U.S. subsidiary to handle direct sales. Two prototypes are now in flight-test and construction of a third started last month. That airplane will join the final push for certification early next year. 

The eight-pass more

A U.S. congressman is raising a fundamental question about the Mitsubishi MU-2. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) is convinced that the airplane has a “shockingly high accident rate” and appears to be concerned that no one in the government took his advice last year that the airplane be grounded.

In a September 8 press release he publicized a letter he sent to President Bush calling for r more

Following its safety evaluation of the Mitsubishi MU-2 last year, the FAA has issued a proposed Special FAR that will force all current and future MU-2 pilots to obtain formal training to fly the high-performance turboprop twin. Current FARs do not require that multiengine pilots obtain any training when transitioning from one type of twin-engine (non-jet) airplane to another, or when moving from more

Traditionally, the term “safety standdown” refers to a temporary halt to military operations following a string of accidents. It is an opportunity to stop the frenetic pace of normal operations, take stock of what is and isn’t being done correctly and approach renewed operations with a greater degree of care and preparedness.

Bombardier has run its own Safety Standdown since 1996, more

Mark Rosenker was sworn in as the 11th chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board on August 11 after serving as acting chairman since March 2005. A major general in the Air Force Reserve, he was deputy assistant to the President and director of the White House Military Office before becoming a member of the NTSB in March 2003.

Before his White House appointment, Rosenker was m more

Over the last month-and-a-half Honeywell has been giving the trade and general press firsthand demos of the most recent version of its developmental synthetic-vision system (SVS) about to start serious flight trials with Gulfstream in the G550. AIN was among the first group of journalists offered the chance to try out the technology, on a night flight in mid-September in the avionics maker’s Cit more

The FAA ran the first trial of its new airspace flow program (AFP) during this summer’s severe weather season. The AFP imposes ground delays on traffic inbound to the Northeast U.S. when severe weather crops up and affects air traffic flow. During severe weather action plan (swap) events, pilots flying to destinations in the Northeast must check the AFP Web site to obtain expect departure cleara more