aviation safety News

Drone Flies Within 20 Feet of Air France Jet Above Paris; Investigation Under Way

A drone came within 5 meters (20 feet) of a potentially catastrophic collision with an Air France plane coming in to land at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, marking one of the closest encounters so far between one of the …

Toy Drones Are Serious Risk to Aircraft: Aerospace Firm

Troy drones can be dangerous and costly to the aerospace industry and consumers, according to a new report from a Texas aerospace and defense firm. The study by Aero Kinetics, a Texas-based aerospace and defense company, examined what might happen …

Russian Air Crash Bomb Theories Highlight Insider Threat to Aviation Security

The possibility that Islamic terrorists smuggled a bomb onto a Russian jet flying home from Egypt highlights a new area of worry for aviation security: the insider threat. Instead of focusing on a small cadre of al-Qaeda forces trying to …

Update: Investigators Expected to Quickly Unravel Mystery of Russian Plane Crash

Investigators probing the crash of an Airbus Group SE jetliner in Egypt will focus on how a plane built to withstand extreme turbulence and equipped with devices meant to prevent flight maneuvers that might break it apart could have been …

Malaysia Says Maintenance Records Prove Wing Part Is from Flight MH370

Malaysia said on Thursday that paint color and maintenance-record matches prove that a piece of wing found on the shore of the French Island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean was part of the wreckage of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, …

Drone Industry Development Backed by Plentiful Insurance Capacity: Marsh Report

The rapid development of the unmanned aerial systems (UAS/drone) industry is underpinned by the insurance market’s willingness to provide cover for the deployment of the fledging technology, said a report published by Marsh. Insurance capacity for UAS operations is plentiful …

Report on Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Says Locator Battery Expired

The Malaysia Airlines flight that went missing one year ago Sunday had an underwater locator beacon whose battery had expired in December 2012, according to an interim report on the incident. Flight 370 was also carrying 221 kilograms (487 pounds) …

Crowded Skies in Southeast Asia Put Stress on Pilots, Air Traffic Controllers

The sheer volume of flights in the skies over Southeast Asia is putting pressure on outdated air traffic control and on pilots to take risky unilateral action in crises such as that possibly faced by AirAsia Flight QZ8501. Pilots who …

Cyber Attacks, Drones Pose Threat to Plane Safety: Allianz

Cyber attacks and commercial drones pose a growing risk of commercial airplane crashes, a major insurer said, running counter to a long-term decline in fatal accidents and insurance premiums. Technical advances in aircraft design and navigation systems have reduced the …

More Pilots in Crashes Testing Positive for Prescription, Other Drugs

Four times as many pilots killed in airplane crashes tested positive for drugs over the past two decades, tracking a broader societal trend in the use of antihistamines, painkillers and marijuana. While most of the substances wouldn’t affect the ability …