In the wake of recent airline crashes, major news networks have aired concerns about pilots' ability to accurately fly "by hand" when the airplane's cockpit automation systems fail. Although many of these concerns have centered on manual skills such as operating the airplane's controls, new human factors/ergonomics research...

    Airline pilots are being warned not to become "overreliant" on autopilot technology by aviation regulators, who say that pilots' lack of high-level flying skills could play a role in major airline accidents.   The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said overreliance on autopilot systems could be dangerous as airp...

  A flight that left Tampa International Airport had to be rerouted to Fort Lauderdale after it was hit by lightning. Spirit Airlines Flight 348 had been headed to Atlantic City after taking off at 6:10 p.m. Tuesday night when it was hit by lightning during heavy storms that blanketed the Bay area, FOX 13 said. The plane had to land du...

  Lufthansa pilots preparing for takeoff Steve Jurvetson likes big ideas. The venture capital investor placed early, bold bets on electric cars (Tesla Motors) and space exploration (SpaceX). He speaks publicly every chance he gets on how the world will be transformed sooner than we think by advances like robotics and driverless vehicle...

    [Avionics Today 11-05-2014] The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched an initiative to improve potential situations where human error may cause air transportation accidents. The training initiative, named Crew Resource Management (CRM), began with the release of open-access training videos aimed at tackling human fact...

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - The Boeing 737 narrow-body jet has been certified in Europe and Israel for airport towing by the TaxiBot system developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and its partners, the state-owned Israeli company said on Monday. The annual global cost of towing passenger aircraft is estimated to reach $8.4 billion by 2020, but TaxiBot h...

FAA loosens safety regs for air ambulances Ambulance helicopter pilots will be given more discretion to fly in bad weather conditions under new rules from the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA is moving forward with new approach and departure regulations that will allow pilots of helicopter air ambulances to make judgment calls when deciding wheth...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's national civil aviation authority says the country will need to train about half a million civilian pilots by 2035, up from just a few thousand now, as wannabe flyers chase dreams of landing lucrative jobs at new air service operators. The aviation boom comes as China allows private planes to fly below 1,000 meters from next ye...

  Smoke billows from a building at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kan., Thursday. Oct. 30, 2014, shortly after a small plane crashed into the building killing several people including the pilot.  WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A small plane lost engine power after takeoff and crashed into a flight-training building at a Kansas airport Thursday, killin...

WASHINGTON, DC - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) launched its Aviation Cyber Security Toolkit which helps the air transport industry, including airlines, airports and air traffic management, to identify, assess and mitigate, among others, cyber risks in IT infrastructure across their operations.  "The aviation industry depends...