NTSB: Air Canada close-call at SFO was even worse than first reported

Federal investigators on Monday revealed startling new information about the July 7 close-call at SFO, saying that the Air Canada pilot that mistook a crowded taxiway for his approved runway actually flew over at least one plane on the ground before aborting his landing. National Transportation Safety Board investigators said in an initial report that Air Canada flight 759 from Toronto descended below 100 feet and aborted the landing “after overflying the first airplane on the taxiway.” (www.mercurynews.com) More...

Air Force picks Boeing 747-8 to replace Air Force One

The U.S. Air Force plans to announce on Wednesday that it has decided to use Boeing Co's (BA.N) commercial 747-8 airliner to replace its current fleet of Air Force One presidential aircraft... (www.reuters.com) More...

Ohio pilot disappeared without a trace

Neil Huntzinger was an expert pilot. For decades, he traveled North America, Central America and South America for profit and adventure. Then one morning, he pointed the nose of his airplane toward the horizon and vanished into thin air, leaving a mystery that has never been solved. (www.ohio.com) More...

FlightAware moves HQ higher into the sky

FlightAware, a global flight tracking data company, will double the size of its headquarters and gain a modern space with panoramic views of Houston when it relocates to a full floor near the top of Eleven Greenway Plaza in November. (m.chron.com) More...

NTSB says Notams are "just a pile of garbage" [video]

NTSB Board Chairman, at the Air Canada 759 hearing into the SFO attempted taxiway landing explains that NOTAMs are "just a pile of garbage that no one pays any attention to" "written in some kind of language that only a computer programmer would really understand. Just pages and pages and pages of irrelevant material, the important stuff gets buried." (www.youtube.com) More...

Decades-Old Mystery Put To Rest: Why Are There X's In The Desert?

Pez Owen was flying over the desert in her single-engine Cessna airplane when she spotted a huge "X" etched in the desert below. She says it was the strangest thing. "It's not on the [flight] chart," Owen says. "There just wasn't any indication of this huge cross." Then she spotted another one. (www.npr.org) More...

You Must Register Your Drone With the FAA Starting December 21

If you’re the proud owner of a drone—or are one of the thousands of shoppers who’ll purchase one this holiday season—the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wants to know about it. And the agency has finally set a deadline. (gizmodo.com) More...

Man who ignited midair brawl on Seattle-to-Beijing flight sentenced to 2 years in prison

A Florida man who went berserk last July on a Seattle-to-Beijing flight, beating passengers and crew members with a wine bottle before being subdued, was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison. (www.seattletimes.com) More...

Doug Parker Flies Southwest Airlines And Gets Into A Conversation About Race

Parker was reading White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism. During the trip the flight attendant sat down next to him, he was in an empty row, and she asked him how the book is. He told her he’s “half way through it’s really good” and that it “points out how important these conversations on race are.” (viewfromthewing.com) More...

South Pole medical evacuation flight launched

After comprehensive consultation with outside medical professionals, agency officials decided that a medical situation at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station warrants returning a member of the station's winter crew to a hospital that can provide a level of medical care that is unavailable at the station. (phys.org) More...