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California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill, which passed unanimously in both houses of the state legislature, that will hold skydiving companies liable for injuries or deaths if they use ‘uncertified’ instructors to lead tandem jumps. The legislation was proposed by Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman after an accident at the Lodi Skydiving Center in August of last year in which an 18-year-old student and a 25-year-old instructor were both fatally injured after a parachute malfunction. The instructor, Yong Kwon, was not certified by the USPA, according to a review of the accident. The bill allows those injured, or their families or estates if they are fatally injured, to sue skydiving companies if their instructors or employees who pack parachutes do not meet federal standards. The City of Santa Monica has officially notified residents, businesses near Santa Monica Airport (KSMO) as well as airport users of plans to start shortening the airport's only runway from 4,973 feet to 3,500 feet in accordance with a controversial agreement struck between the FAA and the city late last year. A U.S. Army UH60 Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a drone flying at an altitude of about 500 feet on Friday over a residential neighborhood on Staten Island, according to the US Army. The incident occurred over Midland Beach at about 8:15 p.m. The aircraft is attached to the 82nd Airborne in Fort Bragg. It and other aircraft were in New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting last week. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!

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