Autonomous flight is just over the horizon, with multiple companies working on pilotless aircraft. But Daedalean is a key company in attempting to bring artificial intelligence into general aviation. As the company’s first product nears certification, we take a look at the steps in reaching full autonomy, with a few words from the company’s CEO.  The three main parts of autonomous flying To create a system capable of adequately flying a full flight, the Daedalean team identified three main challenges to overcome. The first, positioning and navigation (the system can correctly identif ..read more

A Ural Airlines A320 operating from Sochi to Omsk was attempting to divert to Novosibirsk when the aircraft ran out of fuel and was forced to land in a field about 175 kilometers west of the city. No one onboard the aircraft suffered any serious injuries. Hydraulic failure leads to diversion The pilots reported a failure of the A320’s (RA-73805, formerly VP-BMW) green hydraulic system on approach to Omsk. The crew discontinued the approach and elected to divert to Novosibirsk. The runways at Novosibirsk are 3600 meters long, compared to Omsk’s 2500 meters. With a failed green hydraulic sy ..read more

The military leaders of Niger’s coup have closed the country’s airspace, citing the possibility of military intervention from neighboring states. Flights already in the air when the airspace closed were rerouted or diverted. While the initial NOTAM is scheduled to end on 7 Aug at 23:59 UTC, there is a high likelihood of extension. Niger’s NOTAM NOTAMs or Notice to Air Missions are published official warnings for airspace and airport issues. They can range from alerts about construction at a certain airport to total airspace closures. The following text is the NOTAM issued by Niger: A0990 ..read more

A Delta 767-300ER en route from Prague to New York on 7 July 2022 experienced a loss of aileron control as it neared the Canadian coast. After descending in preparation for an emergency landing in Canada, the pilots regained full control of the aircraft and were able to continue to New York. The NTSB this week issued their final report on the incident. Pilots become plumbers Two of the lavatories aboard the Delta 767 were leaking, one from an area near the toilet and the other from an area near the sink. The 767 was being operated by two complete crews, so the two pilots not flying invest ..read more

On 4 April 2023, after more than a year stuck in Kyiv, SkyUp Airlines was able to fly 737-800 UR-SQP out of Ukraine. The aircraft departed Kyiv’s Boryspil International Airport at 16:15 UTC (19:15 local time) with its transponder off flew southwest toward the border with Romania.  The aircraft activated its ADS-B transponder just before exiting Ukrainian airspace at 16:41 UTC. PQ2023 touched down in Iaşi, Romania at 20:06 UTC. Civil aircraft still stuck in Ukraine A dozen Ukraine International Airlines and Wizz Air aircraft remain stuck in Ukraine. 11 aircraft split between two air ..read more

A passenger aboard a Bombardier Challenger 300 business jet was killed after the aircraft encountered severe turbulence shortly after departing Keene, New Hampshire. The flight was en route to Leesburg, Virginia, but diverted to Windsor Locks Bradley International Airport. The NTSB is investigating. Flight path of N300ER from Keen, NH to Windsor Locks, MA The flight departed Keen about 20:34 UTC on 3 March. The aircraft was climbing through 22,500 feet when it experienced a sudden increase in its vertical rate and concurrent loss of ground speed at approximately 20:44:10. Ground speed cont ..read more

The FAA is investigating a “close call” between a Hop-A-Jet Learjet 60 and a JetBlue E190 in Boston on 27 February. According to the FAA, the Learjet departed on Runway 9 without authorization while the E190 was landing on Runway 4R. The two runways intersect near the touchdown points for each runway. According to ADS-B data received from each aircraft, at 23:54:57.014 UTC (18:54 local time) the aircraft were 531 feet apart with the Learjet clear of runway intersection. When the Learjet was still in the runway intersection, the ADS-B data indicate the closest the two aircraft came was approx ..read more

The NTSB has opened an investigation into a loss of separation and runway incursion incident that occurred at Burbank on 22 February. An arriving Mesa Airlines CRJ-900 ASH5826 was forced to go around while SkyWest ERJ-175 SKW5326 was still departing Runway 33. Shortly after the ERJ-175 took off the aircraft were in close proximity and received a TCAS Resolution Advisory. Neither aircraft suffered any damage and no one was injured in this incident. The SkyWest flight continued normally to its destination and the Mesa Airlines flight landed at Burbank normally a short time later. One out, one ..read more

On 26 January, two Alaska Airlines 737s suffered tail strikes on departure within just a few minutes of each other. According to reporting by The Seattle Times, that raised alarms for Bret Peyton, Alaska’s on-duty director of operations, who ordered all Alaska flights not yet airborne to remain on the ground until the cause of the incidents was known. Off by thousands of pounds The airline quickly learned both strikes were caused by faulty take off performance data, undercounting the weight of the aircraft by as much as 20,000 pounds, leading to the calculations calling for too little thru ..read more

Investigators with the Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission of Nepal released their preliminary report on the crash of Yeti Airlines flight 691 this week. The report details the sequence of events that led to the crash based on data from the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder. The full report is available for download here. Two captains flying Yeti flight 691 was the third flight of the day for the flight crew, which consisted of two captains. They had flown one round trip between Kathmandu and Pokhara before the accident flight. On Yeti 691 the pilot flying (PF) was the ..read more