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China has completed production of the world's largest amphibious aircraft, state media has said, the latest effort in the country's program to wean itself off dependence on foreign aviation firms. The state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) unveiled the first of the new planes, dubbed the AG600, Saturday in the southern port city of Zhuhai, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The aircraft, which has a maximum range of 4,500 km (2,800 miles), is intended for fighting forest fires and performing marine rescues, it said. At around the size of a Boeing 737, it is far larger than any...

The first AG600 amphibious aircraft rolls off a production line in Zhuhai, in south China's Guangdong Province. The aircraft will be used to fight forest fires and perform marine rescue missions. (Xinhua photo) GUANGZHOU, Xinhua --- China has completed production of a massive amphibious aircraft that it plans to use to fight forest fires and perform marine rescue missions. The AG600 rolled off a production line in the southern city of Zhuhai on Saturday, in what aviation observers see as a milestone for the country. The aircraft has a maximum take-off weight of 53.5 tonnes, a maximum cruising speed of...

In April 2014 the Japanese government finally lifted its postwar ban on the export of defense products. Tokyo approved its first arms export this summer — the supply of PAC-2 missile parts to the U.S., which will then sell the completed Patriot missiles to Qatar. It’s only a matter of time before Tokyo sells a major military platform rather than just parts. With a wealth of experience in manufacturing armor, ships, submarines and helicopters, there’s a lot for potential buyers to choose from. But Japan’s first sale will probably be a search-and-rescue amphibious aircraft — a seaplane — called the...

HONOLULU (AP) — The pilot of the plane that crashed off Molokai said he broadcast a mayday call once he realized he wouldn't be able to sustain a glide long enough to reach land after his engine lost power. [....] However, NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss has said the agency is not preventing the county from releasing findings from Fuddy's autopsy, which was conducted Friday.

New video of Hawaii sea plane crash

India to get US-2 seaplanes, but for civilian use Kyodo Mar 27, 2013 Japan is arranging to approve the export of amphibious search and rescue aircraft for civilian use to India, a move aimed at skirting the nation’s arms-export ban, government sources said. The move represents Japan’s efforts to promote exchanges with India — one of the region’s emerging powers — while putting pressure on China, another Asian power, as Beijing seeks to boost its military clout in regional waters. It would be the first export of the US-2, which is manufactured by ShinMaywa Industries Ltd. and used by the...

A seaplane has engine trouble and has to settle down on a lake in Alaska during winter, that's just the beginning....

SANFORD, Fla. -- A seaplane attempting to take off in an alligator-infested lake crashed when it clipped an alligator floating on top of the water, the pilot said. Officials said the seaplane was one of two trying to take off from Lake Jesup in Seminole County on Thursday when it crashed. The pilot, identified by officials as William Furr, suffered head injuries and a broken ankle and had to be rescued from the sinking plane by a boater. After being pulled from the wreckage, Furr told emergency crews that his aircraft clipped an alligator. "The pilot did say he thought...

A 1940s-era seaplane that lost a wing during takeoff and crashed within sight of the beach, killing all 20 people aboard, had undetected cracks in its airframe that apparently caused the aircraft to break up, federal investigators said Wednesday. After the discovery was disclosed, Chalk's Ocean Airways voluntarily grounded its fleet of four planes for inspection. All four planes are the same model as the one that crashed. The cracks were found in the main support beam of a wing that fell off the seaplane shortly after it took off for the Bahamas on Monday. As salvage crews and divers...

Small Plane Crashes Off Miami Beach LIVE Webcast: WFOR-TV Coverage Save It Email this Article Email It Print this Article Print It (AP) MIAMI BEACH, Fla. Firefighters say a plane with 17 on board has crashed off Miami Beach.

NOAA and Partners Survey "Flying Boat" Crash Sites Dec. 14, 2004 — A watery grave off the Hawaiian coast is yielding answers about World War II-era aircraft and ships. Explorer-researchers from NOAA and the University of Hawaii joined with colleagues from the National Park Service on an ocean mission off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, to document sites where historic seaplanes, or flying boats, rest on the ocean floor. The joint-agency team surveyed an area around the site of a Japanese mini-submarine that was discovered by NOAA and the University of Hawaii in 2002. NOAA marine archaeologists conducted two...