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Airborne 03.16.12: Cessna's Meltdown, Fuel-Injected Rotax, Boeing v Airbus v WTO

Also: Tecnam, WingX, HBC Furloughs, Online Medicals, Collier Trophy, FAA Forecast, Vicki Cruse Scholarships... and MORE!

First of all, let's offer up an apology for being a few hours late with this edition of Airborne. As we were in the midst of producing this program, Airborne Host Ashley Hale got an early morning call with the news that she was in the processing of becoming an Aunt... and let's face it, that was important stuff, indeed, and worth a little extra time so that she could be part of that amazing event. In the meantime, though, there's lots of pretty cool news on the aviation front as well... some good and some bad. We're not sure what's going on at Cessna

Big Win For Experimental Aircraft On AD Applicability

Non-Type-Certified Aircraft Exempt From ADs In Most Circumstances

An Advisory Circular released March 12th by the FAA carried some long-awaited good news for owners of experimental category aircraft.

SpaceX Announces Launch Window For First ISS Rendezvous

COTS 2/3 Mission Announced At Annual Satellite Conference

SpaceX Company President Gwynne Shotwell used the Satellite 2012 Conference to announce that it has a thin launch window on April 30 that would get it to a scheduled May 3 berthing slot at the International Space Station. The mission, known as COTS 2/3, carries a political payload far larger than the food and clean underwear inside the spacecraft.

Sprint Elects To Terminate Spectrum Hosting Agreement with LightSquared

Startup Company Calls Move The Best Thing For Both Parties

Sprint has officially cut its ties to LightSquared. In a news release Friday, Sprint called the move "unfortunate," and said it would have no impact on its other operations.

China Welcomes General Aviation With Exuberance

Sustainable Growth Predicted In The Next 10 Years

The general aviation industry has good reason to be excited by both recent sales and future prospects for private aircraft in China. But it's important not to confuse an initial spike in orders with any market's long-term character, which may be very different. "That's particularly true in the case of China," aviation analyst Brian Foley says.

NTSB Prelim Released In Kfir F-21 Accident

Poor Weather, Low Fuel Cited In Initial Report

The accident which fatally injured blogger Neptunus Lex sent a shock through the military aviation community. In its preliminary report, the NTSB mentions poor weather and a critical fuel situation at the time of the accident, which forced Captain Carroll “Lex” Lefon, USN (ret) to attempt to divert to Reno.

Embraer's Legacy 650 Executive Jet Certified In India

Sixth Embraer Model To Be Certified In That Country

the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India has granted type certification (TC) for Embraer’s Legacy 650 executive jet, paving the way for Legacy 650 customers to register and operate the aircraft in India.

January Airline On-Time Performance, Cancellation Rates Improve Over 2011

No Tarmac Delays Longer Than Three Hours On Domestic Flights Or Longer Than Four Hours On International Flights In December

The nation’s largest airlines posted an on-time arrival rate of 83.7 percent in January, up from the 76.3 percent on-time rate of January 2011, but down slightly from December 2011’s 84.4 percent rate, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report released Thursday. On-time arrival performance during January 2012 was the highest January on-time arrival percentage in the 18 years.

Citation Down In North Carolina, Five Fatally Injured

Flight Originated In Venice, FL

A Cessna Citation I is reported to have gone down at the Macon County Airport (1A5) in Western NC Thursday afternoon. All five people on board were fatally injured.