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WASHINGTON—A 23-year-old Nigerian man was charged in a federal criminal complaint today with attempting to destroy a Northwest Airlines aircraft on its final approach to Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Christmas Day and with placing a destructive device on the aircraft. According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, a Nigerian national, boarded Northwest Flight 253 in Amsterdam, Netherlands on December 24, 2009 and had a device attached to his body. As the flight was approaching Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Abdulmutallab set off the device, which resulted in a fire and what appears to have...

An al Qaeda terrorist tried to blow up a plane packed with Christmas travelers yesterday as it was about to land in Detroit -- but was thwarted by heroic passengers who tackled the madman, authorities said. The 23-year-old Nigerian suffered serious burns, and at least two other passengers were injured in the terrifying violence aboard the Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam. "This could have been catastrophic," Rep. Peter King (R-LI) told Fox News. "We were lucky." President Obama, on vacation in Hawaii, ordered his national security team to ensure that "all appropriate measures be taken to increase security for air...

Find out why bees never crash land, and how their technique could help engineers to design new aircraft.Whether landing on a picnic table, underneath a flower petal, or on a wall of a hive, bees always manage to touch down without crashing or tumbling. Now, for the first time, scientists have figured out how these insects maneuver themselves onto all sorts of surfaces, from right side up to upside-down. The bees' technique, which depends mostly on eyesight, may help engineers design a new generation of automated aircraft that would be undetectable to radar or sonar systems and would make...

Pentagon officials are keeping an eye on a delivery by the Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association in Russia of three new Su-34 “Fullback”, two-seat, fighter bombers last week. It is part of an effort to create an operational force of 24 aircraft by the end of 2010. Future goals are a complete air regiment of 44 aircraft by 2010 and a total force of 200 Su-34s by 2020. Borts 04 and 05 went to Lipetsk AB combat training center – Russia’s “Top Gun” school – which is 270 mi. southeast of Moscow. Their arrival was the subject of a Russian television...

Hawker Beechcraft announced Monday that fractional ownership company NetJets has canceled a "significant" number of aircraft it had on order. The cancellations will reduce Hawker Beechcraft's backlog by $2.6 billion and represent 90 percent of the aircraft that NetJets has on order with Hawker Beechcraft. The planes were to have been delivered over several years beginning in 2011. So far this year, NetJets has canceled 12 aircraft it had on order and deferred delivery of all jets it was scheduled to receive this year and next until the end of 2010. Hawker Beechcraft has said that NetJets wasn't expected to...

New Missions for Pilotless Aircraft by W. Thomas Smith Jr. (more by this author) Posted 12/09/2009 ET Two-and-a-half years ago when I was in Iraq, I remember -- among the sound of mortars, crackling gunfire, thundering helicopters, roaring jets, and the occasional (thankfully distant) IED explosions -- the somewhat-comforting sound of the remotely piloted little reconnaissance airplanes we’ve come to know as UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). Comforting, I say, because I knew that as long as those UAVs were up there, bad guys on the ground (who I and others could not see) were either being watched, having their freedom-of-movement...

<p>WAUKGAN -- A historic World War II F6F-3 Hellcat fighter plane was raised from Lake Michigan on Monday and was greeted by the CEO who financed the operation, the grandson of the pilot and the son of the man who built the airplane to challenge Japanese Zeros.</p>

For the inspiration behind the next generation of avionics, just look around you; it is to be found in the consumer electronics we use every day. The touchscreen interactivity and broadband connectivity of today’s smart phones and laptops is poised to enter the flight deck. The signs are already here. Garmin International has introduced touchscreens with its G3000 integrated flight deck, selected for the HondaJet and PiperJet light business jets. In addition to wide-screen liquid crystal displays, the G3000 has a pair of vehicle management system controllers with touch-sensitive screens and desktop-like menu icons. Garmin says the user interface draws...

One of the few concrete signs of cooperation to emerge from this week's U.S.-China summit could boost Beijing's drive to become a global aircraft maker. President Barack Obama pledged Tuesday to push for closer technical collaboration and eventual U.S. safety approval for China's ARJ21 commuter jet. That amounts to both a symbolic and practical step to counter Beijing's growing frustration with U.S. aviation policy and U.S. restrictions on the purchase of certain technologies. The high-profile U.S. initiative is especially significant because China's own safety regulators are still a year or more away from approving the 70-to-100-passenger aircraft being developed by...

A Russian Tu-142M3 reconnaissance aircraft recently crashed twenty kilometers off the Pacific coast, during a training mission. The Tu-142 is an unarmed maritime patrol aircraft that, in the last few years, have resumed long range patrols. Such activity had been halted in the early 1990s. The Tu-142, which was introduced in the 1970s, is the patrol version of the Tu-95 heavy bomber. This aircraft entered service 51 years ago, and is expected to remain in service, along with the Tu-142 variant, for another three decades. But these elderly aircraft are increasingly expensive to maintain, and prone to developing unexpected problems....

One of the last regular users of JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) rockets is dropping the practice. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels acrobatic team will no longer feature their C-130 (called "Fat Albert", and used to haul around the maintenance personnel and their equipment) doing a quick and fiery takeoff using JATO rockets. This was always a crowd pleaser, partly because you hardly see it anymore. JATO was first developed in the 1920s, to get gliders into the air. Later, especially during World War II, and a few decades after, JATO was used for getting aircraft off the ground quickly,...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - A Malaysian woman who gave premature birth to a boy on board an airplane minutes before it landed will get free flights for life along with her child, an airline official said Friday. Liew Siaw Hsia, 31, gave birth on budget carrier AirAsia's flight from Penang to Kuching on Wednesday.

Be sure to scroll all the way down and see the 3 carriers and the new fighter jet. The specs are awesome. Talk about whip lash. Credit should be given to the female pilot. Boeing does it again... 3 Carrier Groups and Boeing 797 - A New Way To Fly

RENO, NV - This is the 46th year of the air races, drawing fans from all over the world, and bringing millions of dollars to the local economy. The Air Races have been run since 1964 and are held at Reno Stead Airport just north of Reno. The US Navy "Blue Angels" return to Reno this year, their first visit since 2000. Race aircraft in the Unlimited Class reach speeds of over 500 mph - by far the fastest-moving machines in motorsports. The event also includes a world-class air show featuring the US Navy "Blue Angels" flying the F-18 Hornet....

September 7, 2009 Mass murder at 30,000 feet: Islamic extremists guilty of airline bomb plot Philippe Naughton Three British Muslims were found guilty today of conspiracy to murder thousands of passengers and crew in an unprecedented airline bomb plot that could have proved as deadly as the 9/11 attacks. After a retrial at Woolwich Crown Court, jurors found the ringleader, Abdulla Ahmed, and two other men, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain, guilty of plotting to use liquid bombs to blow up airliners en route from Heathrow to the United States. Another defendant, Umar Islam, was found guilty of a more...

I was in the yard with my sons yesterday and heard this plane fly by several times. It continued to take off and land repeatedly. I figure that someone was practicing their landing an take offs. I live very close to the airport and drove over to snap some pictures. Any guess of the make of this fine aircraft. You tube link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F--oNoIK5aQ

Iran Bans Domestic Airlines From Flying Russian Aircraft 19 August 2009 Reuters TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has banned its airlines from leasing more Russian-made aircraft or buying such planes secondhand after two fatal incidents last month, a senior transport official said in remarks published Tuesday. On July 15, a Russian-built Tupolev operated by Iran’s Caspian Airlines flying to Armenia crashed in northwestern Iran, killing all 168 people aboard. Nine days later, 17 people were killed when an Ilyushin Il-62, also made in Russia and leased by Iran’s Aria Tour from Kazakhstan, veered off the runway and hit a wall in...

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Andrea Walton, 721st Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron, helps an Iraqi Air Force maintenance student use specialized tools to find microscopic cracks and flaws in aircraft parts during a training visit to the Army's NDI backshop at Camp Taji, July 13. Photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Keller, U.S. Air Forces Central Public Affairs. TAJI — Whether it's on the flightline or in a hangar, Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) Airmen are learning to fix their own helicopters, thanks to American Airmen who have shown them how. The Airmen, assigned to the 721st Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron, take...

To be strategically independent, a country needs a viable air force. The Iraqi Air Force has a long ways to go before it can effectively protect Iraq and support Iraq's ground forces. It will be a decade, probably longer before the aviation components of Iraq are fully built and operational. This timetable is not new information. The Iraqi Minister of Defense has talked about a plan to achieve "strategic independence" by 2020 for over two years now. "Strategic Independence" means a capable air force. In May 2009, the Iraqi Minister of Defense was quoted as saying that the 2015 (Operational...

Ripon Police officers took to the air early Wednesday morning in the powered parachute they received this week from the U.S. Justice Department – one of only three in the nation. It was 6 a.m. when Sergeant Steve Merchant and Lt. Ed Ormonde trailered the new craft to the lush green Mistlin Sports Park on River Road. Justice Department contract instructor pilot Jim Macleay from Tracy was there to check them outonin their first flight of the observation craft. Sgt. Merchant practiced taxiing the powered parachute around the grass before he and Macleay took off for the first time circling...

Many watchdog groups fear that such reversals in Gates’s budget plan – especially on the F-22 – will jeopardize the integrity of the entire Pentagon reform plan in the years to come, including the recommendations of a defense strategy review to be completed by the end of the year… “Obama either has to veto the whole bill or accept a significant legislative defeat,’’ he said. “He raised the symbolic value; if he loses, he loses big.’’ Mr. McCain said the rationale for keeping a weapon system should never be about job creation, but about defending the nation. Mr. McCain had...

A News 8 investigation found that hundreds of aircraft mechanics have been brought into the United States to work at aircraft repair facilities. Insiders say the companies that are importing the mechanics are so eager to save money, they’re overstating their qualifications. The result may be a threat to safety, abetted by lax enforcement of immigration law. At daybreak any morning at San Antonio Aerospace, hundreds of workers amble through the gates for the day shift. They repair big jets like Airbuses, Boeing 757s and MD-11s. But, despite the fact that it's a huge facility in the middle of the...

Greetings. I had been a loyal Alaska Airlines customer for years. It was my dubious privilege to fly a new 737-800's maiden flight from Seattle to Phoenix in February of 2009. Indeed, few people can say they have flown the maiden flight in a new airliner. Sadly, because I know this likely replaced a MD-80, I will not be flying Alaska again, and will actively seek out airlines that still fly MD-80s, Boeing 727s, and other aircraft that still sound like jets. Some lower-budget airlines, while lacking Alaska's service, still flies such aircraft, and I will gladly sacrifice said service...

10. F-14A TomcatSpeed: Mach 2.34 Altitude: 58,000+ feet Primary Function: Carrier-based multi-role strike fighter Contractor: Grumman Crew: Two (pilot and radar intercept officer) Unit Cost: $38 million Powerplant: F-14A: Twin Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-41A turbofan engines (20,900 pounds of thrust w/ afterburner)F-14B/D: Twin General Electric F110-GE-400 turbofan engines (29,080-high/27,948 average pounds each w/ maximum afterburner) Length: 61 feet 9 inches (18.6 meters) Wingspan: 64 feet (19 meters) unswept, 38 feet (11.4 meters) swept Height: 16 feet (4.8 meters) Empty: 41,780 lb (18951 kg) -- F-14D Maximum Takeoff: 72,900 pounds (32,805 kg) Range: Deck launched intercept F-14A - 915 nautical miles...

France and Germany have decided to delay for six months a decision on the future of the problem-plagued Airbus A400M military transport plane, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday. Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the fate of the plane being built by Airbus, a subsidiary of European aerospace giant EADS, during a meeting at the Elysee presidential palace. "We talked about the A400M and decided that it would be good to give ourselves a small delay of six months to continue discussions and to find the best possible solution," said Sarkozy at a joint news conference.

I’m beginning to have my doubts if we will ever recover any significant portions of the Airbus 330 much less the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) or better known as “black boxes”... ...Many readers have questioned if it was possible for passengers on Flight 447 to have actually send text messages to their loves ones before they crash into the ocean. Apparently, Air France has been offering this service since 2007... ... Either phones and other gadgets can crash airplanes or they can’t. If they can, then we’ve got a serious problem on our hands, and...

Looks like the US military has a new secret aircraft. Either that or the Nazis are taking over the world again, because according to other photos this looks like the Luftwaffe's Go229 Flying Wing:

MEXICO CITY, May 8 (RIA Novosti) - Nicaragua intends to buy Russian aircraft and helicopters for its armed forces, regional media quoted the country's top military official as saying on Friday. "We are holding talks with Russia on the purchase of 4 to 8 helicopters and two aircraft for Nicaragua's Armed Forces," said Gen. Omar Halleslevens, the chief of the Nicaraguan army. Halleslevens did not specify the type of the aircraft, but said the purchases would be used in the fight against drug-trafficking in the country and would not undermine the military balance in Central America. According to open sources,...

Well, someone in the Obama White House had a nifty idea: wouldn’t Air Force One (well, technically, one of the planes that serves as Air Force One; that name is reserved for the specific aircraft that is carrying the president at the moment) flying around and over New York City, near landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, be a sensational bit of imagery? Wouldn’t video of such flyovers be pure visual splendor?

A flurry of UFO sightings was troubling the spooks at the Ministry of Defence. Hundreds had been reported, by everyone from RAF pilots over Scotland to a woman walking her dog in Norfolk. But it wasn't the threat of an alien invasion that tormented defence officials during this period of overhead hyperactivity at the end of the 1980s. Their theory was that our American allies had been building and testing stealth aircraft and spy planes without telling us. In fact,in many cases they were probably right. A series of simple,almost childish drawings produced by some of the witnesses have just...

SEATAC, Wash. -- Port of Seattle police say a 24-year-old Burien resident has been arrested in connection with recent incidents in which a laser beam was aimed at planes approaching Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to land. Police say the person was arrested Friday afternoon for investigation of first-degree unlawful discharge of a laser, a Class C felony. A police news release says a laser was seized from the suspect, who was booked into the King County Jail. Further details were not released. Since Feb. 22, pilots of more than a dozen planes have reported that a laser beam was directed at...

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...

I received the following via email. "Anyone know anything about this aircraft? I am told it is German, early 30's vintage -- but some of the background suggests the pictures were taken at a later time. Is it real, or was it built for a movie? The designer appears to have not known a whole lot about parasite drag. Could it have been an amphib when the wheels were retracted into the wheel 'pants'? Note the heavy artillery in the last photo. Perhaps the rapid fire rearward pointing cannons also served a dual function: stall recovery! With twelve pullers and...

SATHER AIR BASE — Imagine trying to teach someone how to perform a very complex task when they have no formal training. Now picture accomplishing this when you don’t even speak the same language. This is the task at hand for many aircraft structural maintenance Airmen from the 321st Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron, but for them it’s not just about teaching, it’s also about learning. “When we first arrived there was a huge language barrier, but over time we have made progress in teaching the Iraqis aircraft maintenance,” said Tech. Sgt. Jim Grifasi, 321st AEAS metals technician advisor. “We have...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has assured military aircraft maker MiG that it will receive government support after the company announced a net loss of almost $500 million for last year. During a visit to the MiG design bureau, Mr Putin was shown how the company's latest fighter jet, the MiG-35, is developing. But Mr Putin also had to address the corporation's net loss of $11 billion rubles ($475 million) last year. Russian media has reported the company suffered a blow when Algeria returned an order of 15 planes. Referring to MiG as a symbol of Russian aviation, Mr Putin...

A MALFUNCTION has forced a Qantas jet to return to Perth, prompting concerns for the second time in three months that interference from a defence station in northwestern Australia may be to blame for a mid-air drama on the national carrier. Qantas flight 71 was on route to Singapore with 277 passengers about 8.30am last Saturday when it had to return to Perth after the jet's autopilot disconnected because of a problem with a unit that supplies key information to flight control computers. The Airbus A330-300 was 45 minutes into the journey and about 380 nautical miles south of the...

Pilots usually think of airplane flight performance in terms of gallons an hour—not miles per gallon. AOPA member and aeronautical innovator Klaus Savier, owner of Light Speed Engineering based at Santa Paula Airport (SZP) in Southern California, has been setting speed and efficiency records for two decades in his experimental, Rutan-designed Vari-EZ—a plane that serves as a technology demonstrator for products that hint at possibilities for improving the efficiency of the GA fleet. “Efficiency and speed go hand in hand,” said Savier, a German-born engineer, glider pilot, and composite materials expert. “They’re so closely related that it’s really a matter...

Global Air Traffic Simulation A simulation created by a Swiss School of Engineering shows global air traffic over a 24 hour period. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XBwjQsOEeg

WASHINGTON – Scrambling to meet commanders' insatiable demands for unmanned aircraft, the Air Force is launching two new training programs, including an experimental one that would churn out up to 1,100 desperately needed pilots to fly the drones over Iraq and Afghanistan. As many as 700 Air Force personnel have expressed some interest in the test program, which will create a new brand of pilot for the drones, which are flown by remote control from a base in Nevada. That new drone operator will learn the basics of flying a small manned plane, but will not go through the longer,...

Hey. I'm new here and I apologize for the vanity post, but I'd like to interview people with AC-130 experience. I'm working on a story and need an objective opinion. The deadline is 10-16-08. Thanks.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon denied on Tuesday an Iranian news report that a U.S. military aircraft had violated Iranian territory and had been forced to land in Iran, saying all American planes were accounted for. "All aircraft in the region are accounted for and we have no reports of any aircraft landing in Iran," Lt. Col. Patrick Ryder told reporters. "I haven't heard anything like that," said Pentagon Bryan Whitman. The Iran news agency reported earlier that a U.S. warplane had violated Iranian territory and had been forced to land in Iran.

A NATO base to support the airlift operations of 12 nations will be established in Hungary early next year, and about 40 U.S. military members will be calling the station 100 miles west of Budapest home, according to an alliance agreement. The Strategic Airlift Capability Partnership — which involves the joint acquisition of three C-17 Globemasters — will increase NATO’s ability to transport large numbers of troops and supplies to far-flung places, such as Afghanistan. The town of Papa will host the base to be commanded by U.S. Air Force Col. John Zazworsky. "It (airlift capability) has been a longstanding...

looks like some frenchy likes building American Aircraft carriers out of legos! (He actually did an awesome job) More pics at the link

The U.S. Department of Defense approved up to $10.7 billion in arms sales for Iraq over the past week, including a $2.16 billion sale of M1A1 Abrams tanks built by General Dynamics Corp. The proposed tank sale would also include some equipment built by Honeywell International Inc and General Motors Corp, the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign arms sales, said in a notice to Congress dated July 31 but posted on its website on Friday. Lawmakers have 30 days to block the sales from the day they are notified, but such action is rare since big weapons...

BAE to develop unmanned aircraft with British Defense Ministry14 Jul, 2008, 2127 hrs IST, AGENCIES FARNBOROUGH: BAE Systems PLC said on Monday it will develop an unmanned aircraft that can drop laser-guided bombs and fire missiles in a program jointly funded by Britain's Ministry of Defense. BAE announced the plans for the propeller-powered vehicle, known as Mantis, at the Farnborough International Airshow, outside London, and displayed a full-size model on the tarmac. The deal with the Defense Ministry, which covers the first phase of development and flight testing only, is designed to demonstrate the potential of a large unmanned aircraft...

For a town of only around 2,000 people, Tarkio, Missouri knows how to put on an air show. Saturday was the second time I attended the show, and it was a great time. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the show: The pilot of this Apache AH-64 helicopter is a native of Tarkio, Shaun Defenbaugh. He put on quite a show later, and I got some pictures below to prove it. But before Shaun flew, we had some F-15s fly by no higher than 50 feet off the runway: I know that isn't the greatest picture, but this...

A BRITISH airport has advertised for an air traffic controller - and offered those interested an application pack in braille. The website for St Mary's Airport on the Isles of Scilly, off the southwest tip of England, says controllers need to be able to keep a close eye on the changeable weather as their work "is not over-dependent upon very costly and sophisticated electronic equipment". But applicants for the job could still ask for an application pack in large type, braille or audio format, newspapers said. A spokesman for the local council said the wording was included on all job...

7/11/2008 - NEW AL MUTHANA AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- U.S. forces transferred ownership of 11 aircraft to the Iraqi air force July 9 during a ceremony at New Al Muthana Air Base. Army Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, commander of Multi-National Security Transition Command Iraq, signed over eight Cessna 172s and three Cessna Caravan 208s worth more than $9 million to Iraqi Defense Minister Abd al-Qadir al-Mufriji. Brig. Gen. Brooks Bash said the aircraft would be part of the Iraqi air force's training program at Kirkuk Regional Air Base in northern Iraq. Similar to the way the U.S. Air Force...

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday that the Pentagon will hold a new, fast-tracked competition to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers, a move that overturns the previous award of the contract to Northrop Grumman. The decision follows criticism of the selection process by the Government Accountability Office and underscores the sharp divisions over the contract. The deal to replace the Air Force's entire fleet could be worth up to $100 billion over the next two decades. Gates said he expects the Pentagon to choose a new winner by the end of the year. On...

AIRLINES are desperate. With jet fuel over $4 per gallon and still climbing, American, United and other major carriers are raising fares, cutting flights, trimming fleets and laying off pilots. They're also ordering fuel-efficient Boeing 787s and Airbus A350XWBs — the new generation of plastic planes. These new aircraft promise 20-percent-lower fuel consumption. Replacing heavier traditional aluminum alloys, 50 percent of their skins, panels and load-bearing structures are comprised of lighter, stiffer carbon-fiber-reinforced-plastic (CFRP) composites. Then add the latest, most fuel-efficient engine technology. Sounds good. But beneath these advantages danger lurks — novel maintenance challenges for which neither airlines nor...