Russ Niles

1 week ago | avweb.com | Russ Niles

A California judge has ruled that GAMI’s G100UL unleaded avgas is not “commercially available” and therefore FBOs and distributors in California cannot be compelled to sell it, particularly to the exclusion of 100LL. Judge S.

1 week ago | avweb.com | Russ Niles

All the usual authorities are investigating a May 13 incident at San Francisco International Airport in which a United A320 apparently turned in front of a Skywest CRJ 200 while both were taking off from parallel runways. According to statement by one of the air traffic controllers working that afternoon that was sent to VASAviation, the United plane, which was taking off from Runway 1R, was supposed to turn right and the CRJ was supposed to turn left.

1 week ago | avweb.com | Russ Niles

SpaceX’s Starship slammed into the Indian Ocean after an uncontrolled re-entry on its ninth test flight Tuesday. The Super Heavy booster, which was refurbished after a previous flight, was also lost in an explosion. Starship soared far beyond the Caribbean corridor over which two previous flights rained debris and disrupted air traffic. The rocket reached orbit and was setting up for reentry when attitude control was lost. “Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase.

1 week ago | avweb.com | Russ Niles

Boeing has reportedly fixed a critical issue with its Boeing 777X and hopes to begin deliveries in 2026. Last year the four test aircraft were grounded after cracks were found in the thrust links that transfer the thrust from the engines to the structure of the aircraft. Boeing was able to engineer a temporary fix that allowed flight tests to resume last January and now Aviation Week is reporting a design change has been finalized.

1 week ago | avweb.com | Russ Niles

A student pilot who initially made the news for a successful freeway landing near San Diego was back in the spotlight this week for the 30 month jail sentence he received for the cocaine found on his out-of-gas Piper Cherokee. Troy Othneil Smith, 36, of Oceanside pleaded guilty to two counts of cocaine trafficking after a rescue effort turned into a drug bust on State Road 76 in Oceanside, California on Sept. 24, 2024.