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A motion filed by the Federal Aviation Administration in Federal Court admits the agency is unable to recover missing and “corrupted” emails at the center of a cheating scandal exposed by FOX Business Network’s “Trouble in the Skies” last May. The FBN report led to the resignation of Joseph Teixeira, Vice President of the FAA’s Safety and Technical Training Air Traffic Organization. Several members of Congress, including the chairman of the aviation subcommittee Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), demanded an investigation after rejected applicants who tried to become Air Traffic Control Specialists (ATCS) sued the FAA. They also filed a freedom...

Mid-sized and regional airlines in the US are suffering from a pilot shortage that could threaten the health of the broader US aviation industry. The labor shortfall has led to canceled flights at carriers like Mesa Airlines and Silver Airways. That has hit smaller airports, such as in Redding, California, or Erie, Pennsylvania, according to figures from the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). The staffing crunch could also constrain traffic for larger companies like United Airlines and Delta Air Lines that depend on the mid-sized companies to serve rural consumers and feed customers into their networks. "It's becoming a...

RINASI AIR BASE, Albania — If you want to buy a secondhand fighter jet, Albania's the place to go right now. The 40 obsolete Soviet and Chinese-made aircraft up for sale once roared over what was Europe's most exclusive airspace. The Albanian pilots were members of an exalted military elite that had its own food-tasters and was tasked by Communist Albania's paranoid regime with deterring countless enemies who never did come to this country on the Adriatic Sea. Now a NATO member, Albania is auctioning off the rusting jets to pay for modernizing its military and to save space in...

AFS's concept would employ the same 4,000 HP engine used by the V-22 to generate 3 MW of electrical power that will drive the 24 ductless fans spread across its rear wings and front canards. These fans will rotate, as you can see in the image above, enabling the X-Plane to seamlessly transition from a hover to forward flight. "This VTOL X-plane won't be in volume production in the next few years but is important for the future capabilities it could enable," DARPA program manager, Ashish Bagai, said. "Imagine electric aircraft that are more quiet, fuel-efficient and adaptable and are...

Thinkstock Eighty years ago the first Spitfire prototype flew from Eastleigh aerodrome in Hampshire. One man reveals the impact piloting this aircraft had on his life. It was always an exclusive club, and now there are only a handful of people left who can claim membership. To fly a Spitfire, especially in combat, is as close to holding a place in mythology as modern times allow. But Sqn Ldr Geoffrey Wellum DFC, still passionate and engaging at 94, cautions against hyperbole. "I didn't think of myself as glamorous but certainly I was aware it was a privilege," he says. "Everybody...

Flight Student Facing Deportation Over Trump Post Russ Niles A commercial flight school student from Egypt is in jail in California after he posted what immigration officials perceive as a threat to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. It appears the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department is intent on deporting Emadeldin Elsayed for the Facebook post even though there was not enough evidence to charge him criminally. In the post, Elsayed said he would be willing to go to prison for life for killing Trump and the world would thank him for it. Elsayed and his lawyer Hani Bushra both have...

As the Museum of Flight prepares the final flight of the first ever built Boeing 727 from its Restoration Center down to the actual museum this week, we look back at the history of the Boeing 727 program. This specific aircraft, N7001U, has spent the past 25 years at the Museum of Flight Restoration Center up at Paine Field in Everett. This prototype 727 was the first of 1,832 made when production ended in 1984 with a final delivery to FedEx. Until the 737 broke its record in the early 1990s, the 727 held the sales record for the most...

Incredible strength and stiffness, chemical and temperature resistance, electrical conductivity, and low weight on par with plastic parts: carbon fiber 3D printing has it all, and its poised to be the next major trend in industrial additive manufacturing. While metal 3D printing has been skyrocketing in terms of popularity, market share, and high-demand applications for the past year, and will certainly continue to do so, 3D printing with carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) offers unique properties that are increasingly sought out in the aerospace, military, motorsports, robotics, automobile, and energy sectors. Namely, carbon fiber composites, which are made of extremely...

With the U.S. Air Force revealing concept art and a designation for its shadowy Northrop Grumman B-21 Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B) last week, there are many details that we can now glean about the new warplane. First and foremost, the new B-21 looks very similar to its B-2 Spirit predecessor. In fact, the new aircraft look startlingly similar to the original Advanced Strategic Penetration Aircraft (ASPA) and the later Advanced Technology Bomber concept from the 1980s that ultimately resulted in the B-2. But the Spirit was redesigned late in the game to operate at low altitudes after Dr. Paul Kaminski's-current...

Australia bought its Tiger ARH attack helicopters only eight years ago, and now it wants to scrap all 22 of them. Even more embarrassing, the Tiger has still not yet achieved “final operational capability” — meaning the helicopter never fully became ready for combat. The decision to ditch the Tiger — to occur in the 2020s — landed with a thud with the release of Australia’s 2016 defense white paper, which laid out the country’s military strategy over the coming decades. The plan includes U.S. $21.5 billion in new spending, which would pay for new submarines, frigates, patrol vessels, aircraft...

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer wants to require the Federal Aviation Administration to establish seat-size standards for commercial airlines, which he says now force passengers to sit on planes "like sardines." The New York Democrat told The Associated Press the airlines have been slowly cutting down legroom and seat width. "One of the most vexing things when you travel on an airplane is there's almost no legroom on your standard flight," Schumer said. "There's been constant shrinkage by the airlines." He said he will add an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill that is pending before Congress...

The U.S. Air Force has unveiled the first concept image of its futuristic B-21 long range bomber, which will be built by Northrop Grumman. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James revealed the artist's rendering at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., Friday. There are no existing prototypes of the aircraft, so the artist's rendering is based on its initial design concept. ... James said the B-21 will let the Air Force launch from the continental U.S. and deliver airstrikes on any location in the world. The Air Force Secretary also acknowledged the B-21's resemblance to the...

I have had this kit for almost 8 years now. I started out working on it every other weekend at my house at the River in AZ. I brought it to California 2 years ago, I still only work on it Part Time, because well I have a JOB!!! ANyway I finally finished the outside completely and sprayed primer on it last Friday. I only have a few brackets and mounts left to install on the Inside, putting 1 in today, waiting for some parts from Velocity, should be at mu house in AZ by this weekend. and then Spray...

The Marine Corps faces serious challenges with its aging CH-53E Super Stallion fleet. The huge and complex aircraft are decades old and tired from 15 years of war. A replacement is on the way, the CH-53K King Stallion, although it is behind schedule and still years away from becoming operational. Yet according to a recent report, the Suprr Stallion fleet is in shockingly poor shape. The Virginian-Pilot newspaper describes an internal report with a damning assessment of just how far the heavy-hauling CH-53E fleet has sunk into disrepair, and how little training their crews are receiving. The confidential independent study...

A small airplane landed safely at Van Nuys airport on Saturday night without the use of its frontmost landing gear.

Airbus has created a new seating plan that could help airlines deal with the growing number of obese passengers. A patent for a “Re-Configurable Passenger Bench Seat” has been submitted by the aircraft manufacturer that would see planes able to accommodate all shapes and sizes with adjustable chairs and seatbelts, writes the Daily Record . Worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980, and, according to the National Obesity Forum, one in four Brits can now be considered obese. The obesity crisis has been a hot topic in the flight industry, with some smaller airlines charging passengers by their weight and...

This is what you'd have to do if both pilots fell in and you had to step up and bring the aircraft down safely. video 10:33

John Shannon, who lives in Homestead, Florida, was leaving his house on February 11th to go to work. At 5:55AM, the morning sky was still black, and when he looked up he saw an amazing sight. As you can see in the video, it starts out like a beautiful falling meteor shower and then becomes something completely different. Very, very different.

Flightradar24 indicates that on the evening of February 15, 2016, the Hmeimim airbase in Syria which is used by the Russian air group has seen the arrival of the Tu-214R remote reconnaissance aircraft belonging to the Russian Aerospace Forces (RF-64514). Judging by the flight path, it arrived from the Kazan Aviation Factory, which is associated with the Tupolev Aircraft Corporation. This is the second series-produced Tu-214R to come out of the Kazan plant in 2014. It was delivered to the VKS in late 2015. The two Tu-214R were manufactured under a 2002 contract with Tupolev. Their onboard equipment was...