STEVENS CRASH: A CHALLENGING RESCUE MISSION
The same crash that took the life of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens proved a challenging search and rescue mission for the Coast Guard and Air Force, according to new reports early Wednesday. The crash occurred Monday night in high terrain 17 miles north of Dillingham, southwest of Anchorage. The weather was reported to be foggy and rainy, with low ceilings and visibilities. Air Force rescue personnel told ABC News Wednesday morning that two EMTs who hiked into the crash site and stabilized the survivors made their job much easier. In addition to Stevens, four others were killed in the crash, but three survived, including former NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe, 54, and his son, Kevin. More...

FORMER SEN. TED STEVENS KILLED IN CRASH
Former NASA head Sean O'Keefe and his son survived an aircraft crash in Alaska Monday night that killed former Republican Senator Ted Stevens. The turboprop-powered de Havilland Otter (a DHC-3 single Otter) that went down about 20 miles from Dillingham in southwest Alaska. Five of nine people aboard the aircraft died. Bad weather hampered rescue efforts but local residents, including a doctor, were on the scene helping the survivors shortly after the crash. The survivors waited about 12 hours in rain and wind to be rescued from the rugged crash site. The accident happened about 8 p.m. local time as the aircraft, N455A, owned by Alaska communications company GCI, headed toward a private resort also owned by the company. More...

SECOND ALASKA RESCUE CLAIMS BLACK HAWK
As rescuers were struggling to transport survivors of the Stevens crash near Dillingham, a second SAR case cost the U.S. Army one of its Black Hawk helicopters on Tuesday afternoon. The crew was attempting to remove victims stranded on the Knik Glacier since Sunday, when a PA-32 with five aboard encountered weather and crashed into a snow bank, injuring two. Some 21 hours later, Air National Guard pararescuemen arrived by ski with supplies and shelter and on Tuesday, three of the five victims were flown out by a Black Hawk. But because of payload restrictions, two were left behind. A second Black Hawk was landing to retrieve the remaining survivors when it apparently slid and rolled over on the glacier. More...

RED BULL WRAPS AIR-RACE SEASON
Austria's Hannes Arch placed first in the final event of the 2010 Red Bull Air Race in Lausitz, Germany, on Sunday, but Britain's Paul Bonhomme, who came in second, took the overall title for the season. Bonhomme, who also placed first in 2009, is the first pilot to win back-to-back titles and joins Mike Mangold of the U.S. as the only two-time champion in the eight-year history of the race series. The final race drew an overflow crowd of 118,000 spectators to the EuroSpeedway racetrack. Bonhomme said he hopes the competition will return to the site after the one-year hiatus that was recently announced. "It's a superb venue," Bonhomme said. "We're a motor-racing sport and we worked beautifully together. I hope that when the Air Race season fires up again, we have a lot more venues like this and that we indeed come back here again as well." But while the air race series winds down, another Red Bull project -- to fly in a balloon to the edge of space and parachute back to earth -- is moving forward. More...

LSA UPDATE: MIDWEST EXPO, BAHAMAS FLY-OUT, LYCOMING FALCON
The Midwest LSA Expo is coming up for its second year, Sept. 23 to 25, at Mount Vernon Outland Airport (MVN) in Illinois. Like the flagship LSA event in Sebring, this show aims to bring shoppers together with an assortment of airplanes in a casual setting where they can easily arrange demo flights. Those who want to know more about the LSA segment will have plenty of opportunities to learn about how to become a pilot and an aircraft owner. In other LSA news, EAA recently announced that the Bahamas is the first country outside the U.S.A. to allow sport pilots to fly there in light sport aircraft, even if they don't have an FAA medical certificate. To celebrate the change, EAA said it will organize a sport-pilot fly-out to the Bahamas in the near future. More...

AIR FORCE TWO DAMAGES CUB
The Vice President's C-32 transport, a modified Boeing 757 dubbed Air Force Two, was involved in an incident Wednesday at Gabreski Airport, N.Y., that had an unfortunate outcome for a parked and tethered Piper Cub. As the jet taxied, its jet wash lifted the Cub a few feet into the air. That (or the subsequent un-piloted landing) damaged the Cub's left wing and the 757 took off with its occupants perhaps unaware. The damaged aircraft belongs to "an aerial media company," according to the Associated Press. An investigation will be launched to determine the cost of the damage to the Piper and who will pay. More...

FED-UP FLIGHT ATTENDANT STRIKES A CHORD
The Internet is trying to come to the rescue of Stephen Slater, the most famous (possibly ex-) flight attendant in the world after his dramatic departure from a JetBlue flight on Monday. JetBlue has now publicly acknowledged the incident, has given everyone aboard the Embraer E190 a $100 voucher and is only saying Slater is suspended (even though he said he was quitting). The story has lit up every form of media for the past couple of days and the "I'm not going to take it anymore" groundswell could mean Slater won't have to risk suitcases to the head anymore. Stephen Colbert has already lionized Slater as an Alpha Dog of the Week. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: CESSNA — CALIFORNIA LAW NEEDS A GO-AROUND
Julie Filucci from Cessna Pilot Centers agrees with our blog that flight students need protection — but she argues that California's new law will unnecessarily burden small flight schools with paperwork and added cost that might force them to close. Read her counterpoint in a special guest installment of the AVweb Insider blog. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: WHEN FLIGHT ATTENDANTS LOSE IT
The pax may not be far behind. Although normally the soul of propriety and a stickler for discipline and procedure, Paul Bertorelli suggests that he may very well have followed Jet Blue flight attendant Steven Slater down the emergency slide. As for the beer, he'll take a Sam Adams. Click here to read Paul's latest post at the AVweb Insider blog. More...

EMBRAER UNVEILS 650 AT LABACE
Embraer Aircraft will take the home field advantage Thursday and unveil the first Legacy 650 business jet at the seventh Latin America Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Sao Paulo. The reveal will happen at 1 p.m. on the first day of LABACE. The event, which has grown steadily in importance over its brief history as South America becomes a mainstay market for aviation, runs until Aug. 14 at Congonhas Airport. A media briefing will be held the day before outlining the progress of the program. The 650 is an updated and beefed-up version of the Embraer 600 and offers a 500-nautical mile increase in range over the 600. Most other business aircraft manufacturers will be at the show. More...

AVWEBBIZ: AVWEB'S BUSINESS AVIATION NEWSLETTER

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Delivered every Wednesday morning, AVwebBiz focuses on the companies, the products and the industry leaders that make headlines in the business aviation industry, making it a must-read.

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK: WHAT PROTECTION DO FLIGHT STUDENTS NEED?
Our blog about protecting flight students from financial loss has earned a lot of response, and now Cessna, whose chain of affiliated Cessna Pilot Centers train many of the world's new pilots, has something to say in this guest blog by Cessna's Julie Filucci.

Plus: Last week, we asked AVweb readers what new EAA president Rod Hightower might have in store for the organization; click through to see how they answered. More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 200,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. What have you heard? More...

X-AIR'S $60,000 LIGHT SPORT AIRCRAFT
X-Air is trying to deliver on the promise of a low-cost LSA for affordable, fun flying. Just before he left Oshkosh at the end of EAA Airventure 2010, AVweb's Jeff Van West took the X-Air LS up for a flight. More...

AVIATION CONSUMER SHOWS YOU HOW TO UPGRADE YOUR HEADSET TO ANR
How hard is it to upgrade your old headset to become noise-canceling? Aviation Consumer's Jeff Van West tried it out. And he only burned himself with the soldering iron once. More...

IFR MAGAZINE'S TIPS FOR GPS VNAV
Going vertical? Get more from your GPS. VNAV is a great feature that goes unused or underutilized on many a GPS. See how a GNS 430's VNAV can do more than just tell you when to start down for the airport. More...

FBO OF THE WEEK: LAKESHORE AVIATION (KMTW, MANITOWOC, WISCONSIN)

Last week, we told you how many of the FBOs nominated in our weekly contest were those pilots discovered when the weather forced them to divert from Wittman Regional Airport on the first day of Oshkosh. This week, we have another FBO that stepped up for those displaced pilots — Lakeshore Aviation at Manitowoc County Airport (KMTW) in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

AVweb reader Al Mathews was the first to tell us about the terrific service he and others received at Lakeshore on their way to OSH:

Curt Drumm and his Lakeshore Aviation team welcomed us and went out of their way to accomdate our needs. They quickly arranged for restrooms and showers, brought picnic tables to us, arranged for a bus to take us to AirVenture, and held a Wisconsin brats and beer barbecue for us! No request was ignored.

Keep those nominations coming. For complete contest rules, click here.

AVweb is actively seeking out the best FBOs in the country and another one, submitted by you, will be spotlighted here next Monday!

15 YEARS AND NOW 15 GRAND GIVEAWAYS ... WE'RE GIVING YOU ANOTHER CHANCE TO WIN A BOSE AVIATION HEADSET X

Our 15th anniversary celebration continues, with a second chance to win a Bose Aviation Headset X! All you have to do is click here to enter your name and email address. (You only have to enter once, and you'll be entered in our prize drawings for the entire year — so if you've already entered, you're all set.)

And no, we're not going to rent or sell your name, ever. Tell your friends, and invite them to sign up for AVweb so they can qualify for our 15 Grand Giveaways prize drawings, too. (We won't spam them, either — but we hope they will sign up for our newsletters.)

Deadline for entries is 11:59pm Zulu time Friday, September 3, 2010.

Click here to read the contest rules and enter.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK WILL RETURN ON MONDAY
Readers have provided us a great batch of photos this week, but we won't have them ready by press time. We've spent a bit more time hunting down and clubbing a gremlin than expected, so we'll have this week's "POTW" ready for you sometime Thursday and in the AVwebFlash on Monday. More...

MEET THE AVWEBFLASH TEAM

AVwebFlash is a weekly summary of the latest news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the internet's aviation magazine and news service.

The AVwebFlash team is:

Publisher
Timothy Cole

Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli

Editor-in-Chief
Russ Niles

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew

Features Editor
Kevin Lane-Cummings

Webmaster
Scott Simmons

Contributors
Jeff van West
Mariano Rosales

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