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Owning a private jet is one of those far-fetched luxuries the average person can only dream about during a five-hour domestic flight cramped up in economy class. For the uber-wealthy, a private jet is not just a luxury, but it can also be a pretty lucrative business. Celebrities can enjoy traveling anywhere on a moment’s notice, and when they themselves aren’t in the air, they can rent the jet out for others to use. Experts estimate that an hour of flight time aboard a private jet introduces about two tonnes (also known as metric tons) of carbon dioxide into the...

Rick Breitenfeldt, an FAA spokesperson, confirmed the aircraft was a Learjet 35 business jet that had departed John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana and was headed to Gillespie Field Airport in San Diego County with four people on the plane. “The FAA and NTSB will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide all updates. Neither agency identifies people involved in aircraft accidents,” Breitenfeldt said. NTSB had few details to share on the crash early Tuesday. “The first NTSB investigator is expected to arrive on scene this morning,” agency spokesperson Peter Knudson said. “Two more...

The Learjet, which became synonymous with lifestyles of the rich and famous, is about to fade into aviation history. Canada’s Bombardier announced Thursday that it will stop production of the Learjet later this year to focus on more profitable planes. That means the elimination of 1,600 jobs in Canada and the United States, another blow to aircraft manufacturing, which has withered in the pandemic. The iconic jet was among the first private luxury planes. William Lear based his design in part on military jets. The first Learjet flew in 1963, and more than 3,000 had been built since. Most of...

A private plane carrying U2 lead singer Bono experienced an in-air incident Wednesday, with a rear door falling off the Learjet 60, an official with the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation said. “The Learjet lost a door where the luggage was put in,” the official, Germout Freitag, told ABC News. Freitag said authorities don't understand why the door flew off.

Under-inflated tyres caused a learjet to crash killing four people and ... The National Transportation Safety Board also said a design flaw in the Learjet 60 and a decision by the flight's captain to abort takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina, were also at fault in the accident. Investigators told the board they found that operators of air charters often are not aware how rapidly the tires of some business jets can lose pressure and are not checking tire pressure frequently enough. "This accident didn't have to happen," ... The board also said the Federal Aviation Administration and Learjet Inc., a...

LIMOUSINE liberals, move over. You've been out-glammed by Lear Jet liberals who burn beaucoup fossil fuels in the sky as they soar around the planet fighting global warming. Last week, they flew to their Mecca, the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York City. For the left-leaning and loaded, this is the meeting that has it all -- the mega-rich paying to be seen caring about poor people and the environment, while posing for photos with former President Bill Clinton. The big news of the CGI was an announcement by Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, that he...

An Oklahoma space-travel company says it is aiming to win the race to put paying passengers on suborbital trips, with commercial flights scheduled to begin by early 2007. "We intend to make it a five-star experience," said David Urie, vice president of Rocketplane Ltd.

ORLANDO, Fla. - A jury in a $200 million lawsuit cleared Learjet of responsibility Wednesday for the 1999 death of pro golfer Payne Stewart in a charter plane crash. The twin-engine jet went down in a cow pasture in South Dakota after flying halfway across the country on autopilot, as Stewart and the four others aboard apparently lay unconscious for lack of oxygen. Everyone was killed.Stewart's widow, Tracey, and their two children sued the aircraft manufacturer, claiming a cracked piece of equipment caused cabin air to escape as plane climbed.Learjet argued that the plane lost pressure in another way, and...

TIA now verifies flight of Saudis The government has long denied that two days after the 9/11 attacks, the three were allowed to fly. By JEAN HELLER, Times Staff Writer Published June 9, 2004 The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, better known as the 9/11 Commission, sent a list of questions to Tampa International Airport. It appears concerned with the handling of the Tampa flight. TAMPA - Two days after the Sept. 11 attacks, with most of the nation's air traffic still grounded, a small jet landed at Tampa International Airport, picked up three young Saudi men and left. The...

FAA Grounds All Learjet Model 45 Business Jets By Don Phillips Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, August 12, 2003; 4:50 PM The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the immediate grounding of all 222 Learjet Model 45 business jets after discovering that a part in the tail section can fail abruptly, possibly leading to a loss of control of the airplane. The grounding is a blow to Learjet owner Bombardier of Montreal, whose stock was already undergoing a pounding in recent months. It was also a blow to Bombardier subsidiary Flexjets, one of three major competitors to Warren Buffett's business jet fractional...