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WASHINGTON —The U.S. Air Force has selected Boeing to replace the service's aging fleet of UH-1N Iroquois helicopters, which are currently tasked with security missions as well as protecting America's nuclear missile arsenal. The long-awaited Pentagon contract is worth $2.4 billion for up to 84 aircraft. The service awarded Boeing approximately $375 million for the first four helicopters on Monday.

Ten people were tested for a battery of respiratory viruses and bacteria in hopes of ruling out serious pathogens that could present a public health threat. Two of them tested positive for an especially virulent type of influenza A virus, and one of the two, who was gravely ill with pneumonia, was co-infected with another respiratory virus, Cetron said. A third person tested positive for a cold virus. All three had taken part in the Haj, which this year drew 2 million people to Mecca, Cetron said. Seven crew members, who boarded the flight in Dubai and were not at...

ATCs must necessarily be among the most skilled and competent federal government employees. In accordance with an Obama administration plan to “transform” the Federal Aviation Administration into a “more diverse workplace” however, the FAA has abandoned its merit-based hiring program for ATCs, as it implements a plan to hire 1,000 ATCs a year to replace a generation of retiring controllers. Congress can and should intervene in this unfortunate plan to restore sanity and safety to the skies, because it endangers people’s lives. ... It is expensive and time-consuming to train ATCs, and many candidates who believe they have what it...

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected an offer by the US defence chief and other top American officials to buy F-16 fighter jets, saying such an acquisition would be “utterly useless” because his country needs lighter combat aircraft to fight insurgents. Duterte scoffed at the offer on Thursday, saying it had been floated in a letter by Defence Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The offer came after he was slammed by the US for his deadly crackdown on illegal drugs, he said.

A “disruptive” man dressed up as Peter Pan’s fairy sidekick, Tinker Bell, was escorted off of a Ryanair flight Friday morning. The man dressed as Tinker Bell boarded the Poland-bound flight at London’s Stansted Airport with a friend dressed as Bob the Builder. Once the men were on the plane, Ryanair says they became “unruly” and “disruptive," a spokeperson told Fox News. Essex police were called to the scene. An armed officer led the man dressed a Tinker Bell off the plane. One of the officers “adjusted the man’s wings” while leading him off the plane, BBC reported. A...

An old Air Force friend of mine was doing some research and found himself leafing through the papers of retired Brig. Gen. Terryl Schwalier. Those attuned to USAF history will recall that Schwalier was the commander at the center of controversy surrounding the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, a terrorist attack which killed 19 and injured 498 at a remote airbase in Saudi Arabia. Schwalier was scapegoated by the Clinton Administration, which triggered the resignation of Gen. Ronald Fogleman, whose integrity prevented him from continuing as the Air ForceÂ’s Chief of Staff in the face of what he viewed as an...

Hypersonic technology -- weapons and interceptors able to travel at least five times the speed of sound -- are a top Pentagon priority and an area where China and Russia are perceived to be ahead of U.S. military efforts. The Defense Department has committed to spend aggressively to catch up. Based on initial contract awards, it's becoming clear that Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) is outpacing the competition in the battle to win the lion's share of those awards. Lockheed Martin earlier this month was awarded a $480 million contract to develop a hypersonic air-launched, rapid response weapon (ARRW). The award could...

Photos by Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy SchumakerBoeing has received a $17 million contract for convert nine F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft for Blue Angels flight demonstration team, said in the statement of the U.S. Department of Defense on 13 August. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has contracted Boeing for the retrofit documentation and kits to convert nine F/A-18E (single-seat) and two F/A-18F (tandem-seat) aircraft into a Blue Angel configuration in accordance with engineering change proposal 6480. According to the DoD, work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed in December 2021. The Blue...

Tamar Braxton Responds to Delta Airlines’ Statement Rebuking Her ‘Unusual Behavior’ Wednesday, August 1, 2018 Tamar Braxton has responded to a Delta Airlines statement blaming her “unusual behavior” and her refusal to follow a flight attendant’s instructions during a recent flight. Tamar’s sister Towanda accused a Delta pilot of ridiculing Tamar after the pilot left the safety of the reinforced cockpit to deal with the part-time singer’s unruly behavior. “@tamarbraxton got ridiculed by a pilot for flying while black on Delta,” Towanda wrote in an Instagram post dated July 28. “Wow! I guess being a diamond and double million miler...

A "suicidal" airline employee stole an empty Horizon Air turboprop plane, took off from Sea-Tac International Airport and was chased by military jets before crashing into a small island in the Puget Sound on Friday night, officials said. Preliminary information suggests the crash occurred because the 29-year-old man was "doing stunts in air or lack of flying skills," the Pierce County Sheriff's Department said. Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, said on Twitter the man was suicidal and there was no connection to terrorism. Video showed the Horizon Air Q400 doing large loops and other dangerous...

PPlanes were reportedly grounded at the SeaTac International Airport as reports flew from passengers on Twitter that someone might have stolen an airplane and taken it on an unauthorized flight. Nothing was confirmed yet from authorities, but live aviation audio from the tower said authorities were urging a man to try “to land that airplane safely and not hurt anybody.” Other audio reported a ground stop was underway at SeaTac, the airport that services Seattle and Tacoma.

And now a few gems from Air Traffic Control: ========================= Tower: "Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o'clock, 6 miles ." Delta 351: "Give us another hint! We have digital watches!" ========================= "TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 degrees." "Centre, we are at 35,000 feet . How much noise can we make up here?" "Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?" ========================= O'Hare Approach Control to a 747: "United 329 heavy, your traffic is a Fokker, one o'clock , three miles, Eastbound." United 239: "Approach, I've always wanted to...

NEW DELHI: An abandoned stillborn baby was found an Imphal-New Delhi AirAsia flight on Wednesday. The airline in a statement confirmed that the body of the baby was found 'abandoned and lifeless' in one of the plane's toilets when the aircraft was being prepared for landing. According to sources, the infant was found with its mouth stuffed with toilet paper. AirAsia said that a medical examination was conducted on the woman suspected to be the mother by a doctor at the New Delhi airport and also confirmed that the baby had been delivered onboard. Sources said that the woman, who...

United is packing in more passengers than ever United Airlines will be fitting its Boeing 757-300 fleet with slimline seats by the middle of 2018, increasing the number of economy seats on the aircraft to more than 200. The Chicago-based carrier will add 21 seats to the main cabin on the aircraft for a total of 210 seats. First class will continue to have 24 seats.

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Many people are perplexed about the severity of Saudi Arabia’s response after Justin from Canada and Foreign Minister Crystina Freeland began denouncing KSA’s action in jailing a Saudi national, Samar Badawi (pictured below with Obama and Clinton), likely a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, for action against the government. It certainly appears there is a bigger backstory here than generally visible. Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it is ordering Canada’s ambassador to leave the country and freezing all new trade and investment transactions with Canada. “We consider the Canadian ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia persona non grata...

All 20 people on board World War II plane die after Swiss Alps crash Nearly 5,000 of the World War II Ju-52 planes were manufactured between 1932 and 1952. Nearly 5,000 of the World War II Ju-52 planes were manufactured between 1932 and 1952. Photo: AP All 20 people on board an old World War II propeller plane have died after crashing in the Swiss Alps during a sightseeing flight. The Junker Ju-52 struck the Piz Segnas mountain's western flank about 2,540 meters (8,330 feet) above sea level, killing 17 passengers and three crew members, police revealed in a press...

Think of aerobatics and it's fighter jets and light aircraft that spring to mind. But the crowds at the recent Farnborough Airshow were treated to the sight of a new Rolls-Royce-powered LM100-J Hercules transport plane pulling outrageously nimble manoeuvres – including a loop. The man at the controls was chief test pilot Wayne Roberts – and his stunt was caught on camera.

An Aeromexico jet crashed after takeoff in the northern state of Durango, Mexico, on Tuesday. No one was killed in the accident, Gov. José R. Aispuro announced on Twitter. It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured.