March 26, 2015
The suspected intentional destruction of a Germanwings jet by a pilot shows the need for new protections against suicidal crew members, a threat emerging as one of the worst in modern aviation, accident investigators say. With French prosecutors saying the …
March 24, 2015
Commercial drone operators will have an easier time using and testing their devices in the U.S. after the Federal Aviation Administration said it has loosened some requirements for obtaining government permission to fly. The FAA has awarded 48 waivers for …
February 6, 2015
Fatalities at train crossings are starting to creep back up after years of decline, possibly due to an improving economy that has increased traffic on both roads and rails. The number of people killed where rail lines and roads intersect …
February 5, 2015
Federal investigators are trying to determine why a woman driving a Mercedes-Benz sport-utility vehicle stopped in the middle of railroad tracks, leading to the fiery crash of a New York commuter train in Westchester County that killed six people. The …
January 30, 2015
The pilots of AirAsia Bhd. Flight 8501 cut power to a critical computer system that normally prevents planes from going out of control shortly before it plunged into the Java Sea, two people with knowledge of the investigation said. The …
January 26, 2015
The discovery of a radio-controlled copter on the White House lawn injects a new complication into the debate over the growing popularity of drones used by civilians. The unintentional security breach Monday at the U.S. presidential mansion in Washington gives …
January 23, 2015
The drone pilot who challenged the U.S. government’s authority over unmanned aircraft agreed to pay a reduced fine of $1,100 to settle his case. Raphael Pirker, a Swiss citizen who flew a small unmanned plane without government permission over the …
January 14, 2015
Listening to a recording of ValuJet Flight 592’s last moments, investigator J.F. Joseph kept hearing sounds the pilots hadn’t talked about. “You could hear this noise clicking on and off like a pinball machine,” he said by phone from San …
January 14, 2015
Highway regulators have failed to act on more than 100 recommendations to improve truck safety at a time when fatalities have risen for four straight years, according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. Priorities must change in 2015, with …
November 18, 2014
The U.S. government’s ability to regulate drones was upheld today by a federal safety board, which overturned a judge’s decision that aviation regulations don’t apply to small unmanned aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board, which decides appeals of aviation enforcement …