http://news.studentpilot.com The week's top aviation news stories Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:51:51 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A federal court action has Bend, Ore.-based Epic Air moving one step closer to bankruptcy, now that a separate organization known as a receiver has been named to take charge of Epic's assets. Epic quietly laid off all of its workers in two waves earlier this year, shutting its doors ... http://news.studentpilot.com/28604-epic-air-will-enter-bankruptcy-aircraft-owners-want-to-revive-company/ As part of its ongoing process of phasing out obsolete approaches at airports with new GPS approaches, the FAA has released a new list of instrument procedures that it plans to decommission. The list includes 154 VOR and NDB approaches, including some early GPS overlay approaches, the Aircraft Owners and ... http://news.studentpilot.com/28602-faa-plans-to-eliminate-154-non-precision-vor-and-ndb-approaches/ A small nonprofit air ambulance service in Maine that has been accident-free could provide an alterative model for such operations across the nation. LifeFlight of Maine, which operates two Agusta A109E helicopters, has outfitted the aircraft with hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment to improve flight safety, and in ... http://news.studentpilot.com/28600-maine-air-ambulance-company-could-be-model-for-safer-operations/ Boeing has released a new testing and production schedule for its 787 jet program, which is now two years behind schedule. The 787's first flight will happen by the end of this year and deliveries will begin in late 2010, but investors are skeptical the company will stick to that ... http://news.studentpilot.com/28598-dreamliner-to-fly-by-end-of-year-boeing-moves-on-s-carolina-assembly-plant/ The NTSB wants the FAA to take quick action that could prevent another mid-air collision over the Hudson River like the one earlier this month that killed nine people. Establishing mandatory altitudes for airplanes and helicopters to fly at while in the congested river corridor is one move that could ... http://news.studentpilot.com/28596-ntsb-wants-planes-helicopters-at-different-altitudes-over-hudson/ Citing a weak business jet market where financing is hard to get and buyers are leery, Hawker Beechcraft last week laid off 300 more employees and has stopped matching 401(k) retirement contributions for the next year. The latest round of layoffs brings to 3,100 the number of positions Hawker Beechcraft ... http://news.studentpilot.com/28594-300-more-jobs-cut-at-hawker-beechcraft/ Former Cirrus Aircraft CEO Alan Klapmeier’s bid to buy the company’s jet program has failed after the two sides could not agree on a purchase price. Details of the negotiation have not been released, so it is not known how far apart the sides were, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots ... http://news.studentpilot.com/28591-klapmeier%e2%80%99s-bid-to-buy-vision-jet-collapses/ FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt told about 200 pilots at AirVenture that he’d heard their concerns about a government security directive that would mean background checks and paperwork for general aviation pilots who use busy airports. Babbitt said he would talk with the TSA’s chief once that person has been confirmed ... http://news.studentpilot.com/28589-airventure-babbitt-says-he%e2%80%99ll-bring-ga%e2%80%99s-security-concerns-to-tsa/ The National Transportation Safety Board is seeking stricter and more thorough regulations that would protect airframes of all sizes from bird strikes. The new recommendation comes as the board released its report into the March 2008 collision of a Cessna 500 jet with a pelican near Oklahoma City. The jet ... http://news.studentpilot.com/28587-ntsb-makes-more-bird-strike-recommendations-after-2008-oklahoma-crash/ The NTSB’s newest chairwoman, five-year board member Deborah Hersman, was sworn in last week, replacing Mark Rosenker at the top post. Hersman’s background includes five years working as a staffer on a U.S. Senate committee that dealt with transportation issues. In the aviation field, she chaired the NTSB’s recent ... http://news.studentpilot.com/28585-hersman-takes-over-as-ntsb-chair-rosenker-steps-down-after-6-years-on-board/