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The wreckage of the plane that went missing while carrying Cardiff City's record signing, Emiliano Sala, and pilot David Ibbotson has been found on the seabed of the English Channel, the UK's Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) has confirmed to ESPN. The Piper Malibu aircraft went missing on Jan. 21 after disappearing from air traffic control's radar while flying over the English Channel on the way to Cardiff, Wales. Sala had just completed a £15 million transfer to Cardiff City from French Ligue 1 side Nantes and had been due to train with his new teammates the next day.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer is calling on the National Transportation Safety Board to launch a study into a spate of small plane crashes around New York City. “We’re only a few months into 2017 and already we’ve seen two small plane crashes here in the New York metro area,” Schumer (D-N.Y.) said at a news conference in Manhattan on Sunday, referring to two accidents involving airplanes from Long Island last month. In a letter to NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart, Schumer, the Senate minority leader, requested that the agency study New York’s small plane accidents over the past year...

Federal authorities have seized a private airplane full of illegal immigrants. The aircraft was being used in an attempt to smuggle seven illegal immigrants from the Texas border into the interior U.S. to avoid immigration checkpoints. The arrests of the seven illegal immigrants and seizure of the airplane took place on Sunday morning following a routine inspection at the McAllen Miller International airport, information released by the Air and Marine branch of U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed.It was during that inspection that authorities found the illegal immigrants hiding inside a Beech King Air E90 aircraft. The airplane’s pilot, a...

A small airplane heading back to South Dakota after a Texas cattle sale crashed into a wind farm in foggy weather, killing the pilot and three passengers. ... Similar conditions contributed to a 2008 crash in southeast Minnesota. Federal investigators concluded the pilot of a 1948 Cessna 140 lacked proper instrument training for the day's foul weather. The National Transportation Safety Board's probable cause report also noted the pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane while maneuvering around a wind farm.

Cessna CEO Scott Ernest told aviation media at NBAA 2013 in Las Vegas the company's made-in-China S-LSA Skycatcher has "no future" but he didn't have much to say about it other than that.

The White House on April 10 released a budget proposal that includes a $100-per-flight user fee—a charge AOPA warns could be disastrous for general aviation. “We are disappointed to see this misguided idea resurfacing after it has been repeatedly and overwhelmingly rejected in the past. This is the wrong way to fund our aviation system,” said AOPA President Craig Fuller. “Congress has said it will not tolerate user fees, and neither will the general aviation community.” Two previous budgets from the Obama administration have included similar user fee proposals, but in each case Congress has rejected the idea. And opposition...

Governor Announces Move In Monday News Conference ANN has learned that the deal between the State of Wisconsin and Kestrel Aircraft is done, and that Alan Klapmeier's turboprop airplane will be built in the upper Midwestern state rather than in Brunswick, ME. Wisconsin will also reportedly be the new home of Kestrel's headquarters.

"Both general aviation and commercial aircraft use the public airspace and air traffic control facilities, and the public has a right to information about their activities." Oh, please. We all use public streets and sidewalks, which doesn't mean the police have a right to monitor our movements and let the world know where we go.

Mention has been made about President Obama’s casting of corporate jet owners as villains in yesterday’s press conference. Clearly, he feels strongly about it, as he called them out specifically half a dozen times. This vilification is especially rich, coming as it does from the man who regularly rides what is likely considered to be the most expensive “corporate jet” in the world. And of course we shouldn’t forget that the “tax breaks” for those dastardly corporate jet owners came right from his own Stimulus plan which failed so spectacularly… But let’s take a look at the “corporate jet” part...

I'm considering taking up recreational flying. I've done it before - about 4 years ago, I took a couple hours' worth of training before the snow fell, but at the time, I was working a traveling job where I could only take lessons on weekends, and winter approached. I believe there are many pilots here on FR, both commercial and recreational. What experiences did you have in becoming what you are today? Was it harder than you expected? Did it take longer than you expected? Did it cost more than you wished it did, or was it affordable? What do...

Well, after spending most all of my adult life flying other peoples toys, I'm officially in the market to buy myself a plane. I have spent the better part of the past year narrowing my search for the perfect steed and have settled upon the Piper Malibu Series. This seems to have the best combo of speed, range, economy and cabin size for my personal travel needs. Plus I like the idea of the pressurized cabin over the supplemental oxygen system especially for passengers mostly the younger ones. I have found a sweet deal on one nicely appointed, modern avionics,...

TCM Announces Temporary Closures Sun, 04 Oct '09 More 'Signs Of The Times' The economic malaise continues... During a recent chat with TCM's Rhett Ross, ANN has learned that Teledyne Continental Motors 'will close its factory for one week in response to reduced demand from new aircraft manufacturers for engines and related parts. The closure will start this Monday, 05 October 2009. The plant will reopen for normal business on Monday, 12 October 2009.'

After CBS News aired its “Follow the Money” story about federal stimulus money being spent on general aviation airports, AOPA weighed its response options and decided to take its concerns to the highest levels at CBS News. In a letter to the most senior managers at CBS News and the CBS Evening News, AOPA Executive Vice President of Communications Karen Gebhart pointed out several of the inaccuracies in the CBS story. In the letter, Gebhart pointed out factual errors and errors of omission. Regarding, for instance, a taxiway safety lighting system at Los Angeles International Airport for which the report...

General aviation is fighting back against Obama's clear plan to shut it down (except for the private jets of his Hollywood and business buddies). Hit link to see first two TV ads.

One Pilot's On-Scene Report Signals New and Draconian TSA Efforts To Severely Limit GA Freedoms ANN E-I-C Note: The following email is real and has been verified as being the work-product/personal report of a pilot (who has asked for anonymity) that attended a recent TSA meeting in Montrose, CO, in which new and mostly unreported TSA controls were discussed that spell incredible trouble for the aviation world... no matter who they may be. Outside of some minor grammar/presentation issues, the email has NOT been edited and has been republished below so that the thoughts and observations of one alarmed citizen...

Freepers I have a dilly for you. Today I attended the Great Lakes International Aviation Conference at the Rock Financial Center in Michigan. Many vendors with a couple of planes on display, parts, schools etc etc. I approached one booth at a distance and the Gent reeled me in. Asked if I knew about how to reduce the cost of purchase around or below $800,000.00. Signs denoted lower tax rates etc. I asked is this accelerated depreciation he said no. Then he says With the new stimulus package getting done by the end of the week the amounts have gone...

Latest Company To Feel Effects Of Economic Slump The latest stop by The Recession Fairy is Kerrville, TX. Mooney Aircraft announced Wednesday it will cut production as it tries to sell excess inventory into a slumping marketplace... and fewer planes in production means fewer workers will be needed to build them.

(CBS/AP) A small plane trying to make an emergency landing crashed into two houses Tuesday, killing five people and starting fires that seriously burned three others in one of the homes, authorities said.

This Flying FReeper (Catchy - should have used that as a sign-up name!), and other pilots here, need your help! While congressional and grassroot wars have been raging around Illegal immigration, border security, and conduct of the War On Terror, another quieter, but important, battle is being waged which pits supporters of General Aviation (GA) against the airlines. In a nutshell, the airlines want to take over the FAA function and funding. They want to do this by creating an Airline Transport Association-sponsored program named "Smart Skies". The resulting "panel of experts", comprised of airline executives, would result in...

Berlin-Tempelhof, Hitler’s favourite airport, could yet be rescued by one of the world’s most influential Jewish philanthropists. Cosmetics billionaire, New York socialite and art collector Ronald Lauder – son of the celebrated Estée Lauder - is behind a €350m (£235m) project to turn the Third Reich architectural relic into a luxury fly-in health clinic for Europe’s super rich. Berlin's cash-strapped city fathers earlier this year finally cleared the way to develop the proposed new Berlin Brandenburg International (BBI) on the site of the present Schönefeld airport to the south east of the city, handling an annual 22 million passengers. Inner...