Aviation News
Think single-pilot, passenger-carrying airline travel is a thing of the past? You might want to think again, because Airbus has announced it will collaborate with Cathay Pacific to develop a system that could enable single-pilot long-haul flights in wide-body Airbus aircraft. The airline isn’t committing to actually doing this just yet, but it plans to seriously consider reducing the number of pilots on board to just two for such flights, though not in the immediate future.
Tuesday marked the 100th anniversary of aviation pioneer Bessie Coleman receiving her pilot’s license. This young, but highly determined Black/Indigenous woman, who was living in Chicago at the time, had to travel to France to receive her training, as few American flight schools were open to teaching women or people of color.
Garmin has added new features to its popular GI 275 electronic flight instrument. These include serving as the control for compatible transponders, allowing for remote switching between flight control modes on third-party autopilots, and acting as a standby attitude indicator when paired with the company’s G500 autopilot. All of these new features are software-based, and dealers are already carrying out the updates.
Former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning will serve as the Honorary Chair of the 2022 Citation Special Olympics Airlift. This airlift, which was started by Cessna (now owned by Textron Aviation) in 1987, has over the years transported more than 10,000 athletes from their home states to the event site and back again upon its conclusion. The Orlando, Florida event next year will take place from June 4 to June 12.
To the surprise of no one, NBAA is moving ahead with its plans to hold an in-person event in Las Vegas, Nevada, in October of this year. While the United States is gradually reopening from restrictions on in-person events that would have prevented such an event just a few months ago, other nations are facing increasing Covid-19 case numbers and the reinstatement of travel restrictions.
AOPA is reminding pilots who received a FAA survey in the mail to complete it and return it as soon as possible. The survey on general aviation and charter flying takes less than 20 minutes to complete. The FAA uses this information to make crucial funding and program decisions.
The NTSB released its factual report on the May 17th crash of a Sikorsky Blackhawk modified for firefighting duties. The helicopter was on its seventh water pickup from a nearby lake when the suction hose swung up into the main rotors, causing catastrophic structural failure. All four people on board died in the subsequent crash and fire.
A crew conducting tests on a new sonar rig in central California’s Folsom Lake discovered the wreckage of a small plane on the lakebed. Initially, it was believed to be a Comanche that crashed in 1965, killing four. However, based on a second sonar scan, the local sheriff’s department concluded that it was instead an aircraft that crashed two decades later, with no fatalities in that incident.
President Joe Biden has chosen Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger to be the ambassador to ICAO, the international aviation rulemaking body that helps to regulate international air travel.
Another Delta flight, this time from Los Angeles to Atlanta, was diverted to Oklahoma City after a passenger, an off-duty flight attendant, began to act erratically and made an announcement over the in-cabin PA system. He had to be subdued by the flight crew and passengers and was arrested when the flight landed in Oklahoma City. The man could face federal charges and significant fines for this incident.
