Free Republic

Warning alarms can be heard "screaming" on the cockpit voice recorder of AirAsia Flight 8501 before it crashed, an investigator was quoted as saying Wednesday. Among the audible alerts is one that indicated the plane is stalling, the investigator told Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the Wall Street Journal. NBC News was immediately unable to confirm the accounts. The reports come a day after Indonesia's transport minister said the Airbus A320, which crashed last month with 162 people on board, was climbing at an abnormally high rate before it plunged and disappeared from radar. "The warning [alarms] kept on screaming, and...

The travel company Expedia conducted a poll asking fliers to name the most annoying types of airplane passengers. Jimmy was going to just read the list, but he thought it would be more interesting if the great Sir Patrick Stewart acted it out.

Shocking enough are the allegations that a long-perceived unassuming state senator tried brokering an international arms deal with military-style rifles and rocket launchers, but Leland Yee may have narrowly escaped an even more ominous label: supporter of terrorism. Yee, whose arrest after an FBI undercover sting shook the California political world last week, would likely have been charged with aiding terrorists if not for a bureaucratic label missing from the militant Filipino group that he is accused of sourcing for an international arms deal, counterterrorism experts told this newspaper. His ties to the group, whose leader has said he personally...

Over the objections of reputed gang figure Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow's lawyers, a federal judge has ordered that the government's evidence in a sweeping criminal case that includes political corruption charges against state Sen. Leland Yee must be kept secret for now. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer imposed the restrictions Monday on every lawyer and defendant in the case, finding the material should be kept under wraps while both sides prepare for trial. Breyer rejected the free speech arguments of Chow's lawyer, J. Tony Serra, who insisted he should be able to reveal evidence to combat the government's public charges.

killed Friday when his small plane went down in Van Nuys are discussing his contributions to JPL and NASA. Alberto Enrique Behar, 47, crashed into the busy intersection of Hayvenhurst Avenue and Vanowen Street in Lake Balboa. He was the sole occupant of the experimental single-engine Lancair plane, which he used to commute from his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., to this job in Pasadena, according to a friend. The friend described Behar as a husband, father of three, and renowned scientist.

Saudi Arabia's national airline is allegedly planning to separate male and female passengers on its flights, in accordance to strict rules enforced by the Gulf kingdom. Gulf media report that Saudia will keep men and women segregated onboard, unless they are close relatives. The move follows a spate of complaints from male fliers unwilling to allow other males to sit next to their wives and other female family members.

Boeing (NYSE: BA ) extended its sales lead over archrival Airbus (NASDAQOTH: EADSY ) in December. In its latest update on airplane orders, released last week, Boeing confirmed that 2014 "gross" orders for commercial aircraft reached 1,423 by mid-December, versus 1,328 planes for Airbus (at last report). After cancellations -- 106 at Boeing, but nearly three times as many at Airbus -- the U.S. aircraft maker's lead over its European rival only got bigger. This is good news for Boeing -- but, as we'll see in a moment, it might be bad news for one of Boeing's favorite customers: the...

Why does this pilot award passengers a bottle of wine after a long flight?

If the engine quits in a small plane, it's not the end of the world -- just glide to the nearest airport and make a dead-stick landing. Simple, right? Sure, if the pilot makes perfect, lightning-quick decisions. Since we're only human, there's now an iPad app called Xavion that can connect with a small-plane's autopilot, find the nearest airport and, if possible, fly you to the runway's threshold by itself. It'll even tell you if you can't make it, so that you can find a nearby farmer's field instead. According to Popular Science, the autopilot update will arrive in a...

It is equipped with side stick controls like an F-16 Fighting Falcon. It uses an advanced, “mission adaptive” wing that has no seams at the control surfaces. The wing is so unique its design is protected under U.S. patent 821,393. The entire wing changes shape to control the roll axis of the aircraft ... And it is the first successful powered aircraft ever, the Wright Flyer. 111 years ago today Orville Wright became the first man to achieve powered flight. His first 12-second flight, covering only 120 feet, changed the course of mankind. 10:35 Local, Thursday, 17 December, 1903; Kill...

'Tis the season to see the family, which means you're probably about to spend some quality time -- maybe too much time -- in an airport. The following are the worst airports for holiday flight problems on arrivals, according to a Bankrate analysis. Bankrate determined the frequency of holiday flight problems -- delays, cancellations and diversions -- at the United States' 100 most active airports, using Bureau of Transportation Statistics data for the months of November to January over the past 10 years. The rankings for busiest airports are based on total arrivals over the same time period.

Uploaded on Dec 13, 2011 Country music recording artist Dwayne O'Brien performed his song "We Remember" (available on the CD "Song Pilot" at www.flightsongrecords.mybigcommerce.com) at the annual convention of the International Council of Air Shows last December in Las Vegas, Nevada. And he produced this video to be projected on the screens behind him while he sang. We hope that you'll share this link widely with friends and family who appreciate America's aviation legacy and all that our country's airborne warriors have done to defend our country. Many thanks to Dwayne O'Brien for both performing his wonderful song and producing...

It's been more than ten years since Concorde made its final transatlantic flight. But there's a new generation of supersonic passenger aircraft beginning to emerge, boasting speeds at least twice as fast as current commercial planes. While these planes will first appear in the private and business jet market, catering only to the super rich with gargantuan price tags and first class service, supersonic may eventually reach regular holidaymakers.

Sat rusting away in a field 555 miles east of Moscow, these relics are all that's left of a bygone era of Soviet innovation in military and civilian aircraft. Among them are some of the former Communist regime's greatest achievements in air travel, that have since been superseded many times and rendered redundant. Nine thousand of the hulking Cold War wrecks can be seen at the vast plane and helicopter graveyard at Russia's largest aviation museum in Ulyanovsk, in the Middle Volga region. Each off the exhibits had to make their last flight here, touching down at the Ulyanovsk-Central airport,...

Remember that record flyover of 49 Van's RVs at last season's Chiefs-Raiders game in Kansas City? The FAA remembers too. In the wake of that sanctioned overflight, some pilots of Experimental-category airplanes are now receiving letters of investigation from the agency for other flights that may have run afoul of regulations.

A no fly zone has been instituted above and around Ferguson, Missouri while reports are emerging that area airports are being shut down. The Federal Aviation Administration announced the no fly zone after the grand jury decision came through on Monday night in the Michael Brown shooting. Listed under the reason for the no fly zone, the agency put: “To provide a safe environment for law enforcement activities.” It later said that the decision stemmed partially from reports of gunshots being fired into the sky. The prohibited airspace is designated as three nautical miles around Ferguson. “On the ST LOUIS...

CHICAGO (CBS) – The pilot of a small cargo plane was killed when the plane crashed into a home a few blocks away from Midway International Airport early Tuesday morning. The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot reported engine problems shortly after taking off from Midway, and was trying to get back to the airport, but never made it. The plane nose-dived into the front of a two-story home in the 6500 block of South Knox Avenue, around 2:45 a.m., and ended up partially in the living room, and partially outside on the front lawn, its tail still up in...

"Let our virtual B-17 airplane sound lull you to sleep with a low frequency engine drone in stereo. This is an 8 hour long version designed to run all night." .....

Philip Rushton has been selling private jets to the global rich for more than three decades. In just about every economic cycle, sales of small jets and big jets tended to move together — rising and falling with financial markets and fortunes of the wealthy. Now, however, the jet market is splitting in two. Sales of the largest, most expensive private jets — including private jumbo jets — are soaring, with higher prices and long waiting lists. Smaller, cheaper jets, however, are piling up on the nation’s private-jet tarmacs with big discounts and few buyers. “The real demand is at...