On The Fly…

The air show that kicks off the Blue Angels’ season each year has been cancelled this year for security reasons. Officials at Naval Air Facility El Centro said the decision to cancel the March 15 spectacle wasn’t taken lightly. There was no specific threat against the base or the show; the cancellation was due to the general increased security posture of all armed forces…

Now the pilots that use Killeen, Texas, Municipal Airport can welcome the president home. The FAA and Secret Service have relented on the strict enforcement of the Crawford P-49 restricted airspace, which expands to within 700 feet of the north end of Killeen’s only runway when the president is at his ranch. The two agencies have agreed to a four-mile cutout of P-49 allowing full use of the airport at all times…

Students from Honolulu Community College and the University of North Dakota swept many of the top awards in the Great Hawaiian Air Race. The students beat many seasoned airline and military pilots in the race, which crisscrosses the islands in a 600-mile route that tests pilot proficiency as well as speed. Overall speed winner was the father-daughter team of Mike and Emily Singer, while the husband-wife team of Steve and Joanna Bobko-Hillenaar won the overall proficiency prize…

Ecuadoran officials and the families of 59 people missing since 1976 now have the answers they’ve craved. Climbers on the Chimborazo volcano, about 90 miles south of Quito, found the wreckage of a Saeta Airlines Viscount. Locals had speculated for years the plane had been taken by drug dealers or abducted by aliens…

Pilots can now open an online account on the FAA’s Civil Aviation Registry Web site. That means you can change your address and access other services without leaving your deskto walk to the mail box…

The EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In has changed venues and dates. The popular event has switched to New Braunfels Municipal Airport (BAZ) between San Antonio and Austin, Texas, May 16-17. Organizers say the new dates should promise good weather and the community is welcoming the event…

One of the world’s top aviation law experts, Lee Kreindler, died last Tuesday at 78. Kreindler was the lead plaintiffs’ counsel in most of the major domestic and international aviation litigation cases over accidents and bombings since 1950. The case file included Pan Am 103, TWA Flight 800 and the Swissair MD-11 crash off Nova Scotia…

About 400 Australians have launched suits claiming they’ve developed deep vein thrombosis from long-haul flights in airliners. Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority and various airlines are named in the suits, which allege passengers weren’t adequately warned of the risk of developing blood clots from sitting for long periods on planes.