Not Much To Say, NTSB Ignores The Many Questionable Actions Undertaken by Pilots

Last April's ill-advised TV stunt, under the PR guise of a Red Bull event, embarrassed the GA world to the extreme... and now the NTSB has had a few things to say about it... a very few things to say. Mind you, the characters who put this stunt together broke a number of regs and were less than honest about the authorizations they claimed to have... but the NTSB has simply stuck to the facts and looked only into the aerodynamic issues involved in this aero-embarrassment. However; the FAA has had more (and will still, we understand) to say about the issue.

Aviator Awarded $188,000

A federal whistleblower investigation has vindicated an aviator wrongfully fired for refusing to fly under circumstances he deemed dangerous and contrary to federal aviation regulation. The pilot filed a grievance with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after his employer, Metro Aviation LLC of Shreveport, Louisiana, forced him to choose between resigning, retiring, or being involuntarily terminated after he twice refused to operate a helicopter in low-visibility conditions.

"Bill Gives Aviation Fuel More Favorable Treatment Without Having To Demonstrate Improved Environmental Benefits"

Not everyone is enamored of recent lawmaking pushing the SAF agenda for the aviation community... though the aviation world seemed to have embraced it all while ignoring the potential damage the rest of the bill may inflict on US Taxpayers and citizens. NATSO, representing America's truckstops and travel plazas, and SIGMA: America's Leading Fuel Marketers, issued the following statement regarding passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Schiebel CAMCOPTER S-100 Again Proves Capable SAR Platform

Bristow Helicopters Limited—the British civil helicopter operator and subsidiary of the U.S.-based Bristow Group—has been awarded a ten-year contract by the UK Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) to support the Second-Generation Search and Rescue (UKSAR2G) program. Subject program tasks Her Majesty’s Coast Guard, and civilian contractors with the establishment and maintenance of a 24-hour maritime and coastal search and rescue (SAR) emergency response service throughout the UK. The new contract expands upon Bristow’s extant search and rescue partnership with Her Majesty’s Coast Guard, and includes the operational de

Multi-Orbit Connectivity to Benefit Airlines and Air Travelers

OneWeb—the London-based, Airbus affiliated provider of satellite Internet and communications services—has signed a global distribution partnership agreement with Intelsat—the Luxembourg-based satellite services concern. The deal enables Intelsat to distribute both its own geo-stationary (GEO), and OneWeb’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite services to airlines worldwide. The resultant multi-orbit satellite constellation promises to eliminate the oceanic and polar gaps, and major-terminal/hub capacity limitations by which extant Inflight Connectivity (IFC) services are afflicted.

From 2021 (YouTube Version): Entry-Level, Base Model Glacier Starts At $127,000

Aero News Editor-in-Chief, Jim Campbell, takes a moment with Vashon Aircraft’s Kurt Robertson to talk about what’s new and upcoming with their Ranger aircraft. Their rugged, American Ranger R7 is a 2-place, all-metal aircraft with spacious, modern cockpit and affordable running costs. Vashon shares the same DNA as Dynon Avionics, and includes the company’s full glass panel suite, autopilot, engine monitoring, ADS-B, Wi-Fi, and accouterment

Lieutenant-General Kenny Takes Command As The 21st Commander Of The RCAF

Lieutenant-General Eric Kenny assumed command of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) from Lieutenant-General Al Meinzinger. The ceremony was presided over by General Wayne Eyre, Chief of the Defence Staff, at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, Ontario. Lieutenant-General Kenny takes command as the 21st Commander of the RCAF. He has served in a myriad of roles throughout his career, on the flight line, in staff and command roles, and while deployed on operations.

Modifications to Super Hornets Increase Lifetime Limit From 6,000 to 10,000 Hours

The Navy has begun work on extending the lifespan of its more recent model Super Hornets, putting a number of F/A-18s, all E and F variants, into the Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW) for a Service Life Modification (SLM). The move follows the Center’s completion of similar modifications to older legacy fighters, addressing wear and tear from decades of use for A, B, C, and D models. The Service Life Modification has been integral to the continued utility of the model, allowing an airframe to extend its service life beyond the original 6,000 hour limitation.

AD 2022-15-07 Requires Revising The Existing Airplane Flight Manual (AFM)

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 747-400 series airplanes. This AD was prompted by a report that after a certain circuit breaker tripped, power to the two pitot-static (P/S) probe heaters on the right-hand side was lost, and the flightcrew discovered conflicting procedures in the flightcrew operations manual/quick reference handbook (FCOM/QRH). This AD requires revising the existing airplane flight manual (AFM) to incorporate procedures to be applied during P/S probe heater failure conditions. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products. This AD is effective September 15, 2022. <

Aero Linx: The European Safety Promotion Network Rotorcraft (ESPN-R) The European Safety Promotion Network Rotorcraft (ESPN-R) is a mixed industry-authorities team established in January 2017 by the Rotorcraft Sectorial Committee (RSC), now called the Rotorcraft Committee (R.COM).

Option Approach An approach requested and conducted by a pilot which will result in either a touch-and-go, missed approach, low approach, stop-and-go, or full stop landing. Pilots should advise ATC if they decide to remain on the runway, of any delay in their stop and go, delay clearing the runway, or are unable to comply with the  instruction(s).

(The NTSB) "determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: The unoccupied airplanes exceedance of the critical angle of attack which resulted in a stall, subsequent inverted spin, and impact with terrain." Source: The NTSB, in their Probable Cause findings, after investigating a bizarre, misguided 'Plane Swap" stunt that resulted in the destruction of one aircraft.