On The Fly…

There’s a “new” cub flying. And it could be that all you need is a driver’s license and a dream…

In case you needed another reason to avoid flying near nuclear power plants, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has signed a memorandum of understanding with the North American Aerospace Defense Command laying out the protocols for NORAD to shoot down potentially threatening aircraft. NORAD has actually had the authority since shortly after 9/11 but now the paperwork is done…

Continental Airlines has been given the rights to fly to China. The Department of Transportation recently granted the authority and the airline plans nonstop flights from Newark using Boeing 777s…

British flight crew members are now keeping tabs on the effects of cabin air on their health. As AVweb reported last month, Australian pilots and flight attendants have been complaining about cabin-air related ailments and the Brits are planning a conference on the topic…

Talks between the U.S. and the European Union over commercial airliner subsidies have broken down. The two had hoped to have an agreement in place by April 11 over how Airbus and Boeing receive government support. Both sides now say that’s unlikely…

A drunk Australian who broke into the cockpit of a Russian airliner could have three years in a Russian prison in which to dry out. The unidentified 29-year-old Aussie allegedly threatened to blow up the plane after storming the cockpit and demanding that it be flown to Chechnya. He’s been charged with making a false report about a terrorist attack…

The NTSB has confirmed metal fatigue as the cause of the wing failure that led to the crash of a Texas Air Aces T-34 near Lake Conroe, Texas, in 2003. The crash killed the company’s owner, Don Wylie, and William J. Eisenhauer Jr., of Centerville, Ohio. Another Texas Air Aces T-34 crashed after a wing failure last Dec. 7, killing pilot Richard Gillwaters and passenger Pietro Migliori, of Venezuela.