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Aviation

This tiny supersonic jet could be the next generation Concorde

by Andrew J . Hawkins

Meet the ‘Baby Boom’

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No-fly zone implemented around Trump Tower in NYC

by Jordan Golson

No-fly zones have been put in place around President-elect Donald Trump’s residence at Trump Tower in New York City and Vice President-elect Mike Pence’s home in Indianapolis. The FAA directives, officially called Notice To Airmen or NOTAM, is...

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Of course Uber is working on a flying car project

by Andrew J . Hawkins and Ben Popper

Uber just published a massive white paper detailing its plan to launch an “on demand aviation” service called Uber Elevate. Yes, that’s right. Uber is working on a flying car project. We should have seen this coming. The ambitious project, which...

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Delta's new app lets you track your bag from airplane to airport

by James Vincent

Earlier this year, Delta introduced new RFID luggages tags to let airports and passengers more accurately track and identify bags. Now, the airline has updated its app to take this feature one step further — letting users track their bags on their...

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UK approves third runway for London's Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport

by James Vincent

The UK has approved the addition of a third runway to Heathrow airport in London — a decision that has taken decades to come to and that has already been heavily criticized by members of the government. Businesses have said increasing airport...

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Airbus has a secret flying-car project called Vahana

by Andrew J . Hawkins

The European aerospace giant Airbus recently unveiled its secret flying-car project dubbed Vahana — a single-manned, autonomously piloted aircraft that can take off and land vertically. Cue the Jetsons references! The concept drawing of Vahana...

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Samsung will tell Note 7 owners of flight ban via text message

by Jordan Golson

Samsung says it will send a text message to all Galaxy Note 7 owners in the US, informing them that the phones will be forbidden on board US aircraft starting tomorrow. Notifying Note 7 owners, who should really have replaced their phones by now,...

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The Galaxy Note 7 will be banned from all US airline flights

by Jordan Golson

Samsung’s recalled Galaxy Note 7 smartphone will be banned from US airline flights. The order comes from the FAA and the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and follows an announcement from...

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This Twitter bot is tracking dictators' flights in and out of Geneva

by Amar Toor

A Swiss journalist has created a Twitter bot that tracks dictators’ flights to and from Geneva, as part of a crowdsourced effort to shed light on potentially shady dealings. The bot, called GVA Dictator Alert, tracks planes registered to...

FAA reiterates warning that no Galaxy Note 7 phones may be turned on or charged in flight

by Jordan Golson

The FAA has reiterated its position that airline passengers should power down and not use or charge Samsung Galaxy Note 7 devices on airplanes, or put the phones in checked luggage. The statement comes after Samsung halted global sales of the Note...

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US regulators open investigation into replacement Note 7 that caught fire

by Jordan Golson

Federal regulators are moving quickly to investigate the replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 that caught fire on a Southwest Airlines flight today, with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission "moving expeditiously" to find out what happened. “...

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Replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone catches fire on Southwest plane

by Jordan Golson

Southwest Airlines flight 994 from Louisville to Baltimore was evacuated this morning while still at the gate because of a smoking Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone. All passengers and crew exited the plane via the main cabin door and no injuries...

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The first commercial flight between the US and Cuba in over 50 years just landed

by Andrew J . Hawkins

JetBlue Airways Flight 387 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida just landed in Santa Clara, Cuba, marking the first scheduled flight between the US and Cuba in over half a century. Onboard was US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, who said in a...

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Delta flights delayed worldwide due to computer outage

by James Vincent

A system-wide computer outage has delayed Delta flights around the world, leaving thousands of passengers stuck in airports as they wait to board their planes. The US airline says the glitch was caused by a power outage in Atlanta at 2:30AM ET...

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A skydiver jumped out of a plane at 25,000 feet without parachute — and survived

by Andrew Liptak

Luke Aikins is a skydiver who is a safety and training advisor for the United States Parachute Association, and who has performed stunts on films such as Iron Man 3. Last night, he became the first person to jump out of an airplane without a...

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Solar Impulse 2 completes round-the-world trip on Sun power alone

by Rich McCormick

More than a year after it took off from Abu Dhabi, Solar Impulse 2 has completed its round-the-world trip. The solar-powered plane landed back again in Abu Dhabi last night, just over two days after it took off from Cairo late on July 23rd,...

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The world’s largest amphibious airplane was just unveiled in China

by Andrew J . Hawkins

The AG600, the world’s largest seaplane, was rolled out by a state-run Chinese company last week, which experts say is the country’s latest effort to bolster its nascent aviation industry. The plane is roughly the size of a Boeing 737, has a...

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This awesome plane-train hybrid could revolutionize transportation, but not for another 50 years

by Andrew J . Hawkins

Imagine a future where a plane lands at an airfield that doubles as a rail yard. The cabin — one of three that cling to the underbelly of the aircraft like a baby possum to its mother — detaches, is seamlessly transferred to a nearby train, and...

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Solar Impulse 2 completes first ever solar-powered Atlantic flight

by James Vincent

Solar Impulse 2 has successfully crossed the Atlantic — the first journey of its kind made by a solar-powered plane. The experimental aircraft set off from New York on Monday and landed this morning in Seville, Spain. The four-day crossing is one...

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United's new business class seats solve the second biggest problem with business class

by Chris Ziegler

The biggest problem with business class air travel — the cheapest class of international air travel in which you aren't treated like livestock — is that it's still absurdly expensive. Odds are very good that you'll never have a chance to...

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Boeing wants in on the solar airplane craze

by Chris Ziegler

Boeing filed a patent application in recent weeks simply titled "Solar Powered Airplane," which proposes a wing-shaped drone with enormous winglets on either end completely covered in solar panels. The idea would be to make a drone capable of...

The US just approved six airlines to begin flying to Cuba

by Andrew J . Hawkins

The US Department of Transportation just approved six domestic airlines to begin offering service to and from Cuba, four months after the two former Cold War foes signed an agreement to restore commercial air travel. Twenty roundtrip flights...

Jets from the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels crash on same day

by Chris Ziegler

Jets from both the US Air Force's Thunderbirds and Navy's Blue Angels aerobatics demonstration teams have crashed in the same day. The Blue Angels were practicing ahead of performances in Smyrna, Tennessee this weekend; the Thunderbirds had just...

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Head of TSA security removed following inquiry into agency 'mismanagement'

by James Vincent

The head of security at the TSA has been removed from his position as frustration mounts over growing lines in airports. Kelly Hoggan had been the agency's assistant administrator for security operations since 2013, during which time a report from...

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The TSA will ruin your summer vacation and no one can agree on a fix

by Jordan Golson

Security lines at airports around the US are growing longer and longer. And that’s infuriating airlines, airports, passengers, and our elected officials alike. The long lines at the TSA-staffed security checkpoints are delaying fights and causing...

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NYC airports will 'no longer tolerate' TSA screening inadequacies

by Jordan Golson

The government agency in charge of New York City's JFK, Newark, and LaGuardia airports has sent a scathing letter to the Transportation Security Administration criticizing growing passenger wait times at the three airports, some of the busiest in...

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Solar Impulse 2 successfully completes flight to California after 62 hours

by Kwame Opam

After taking off from Kalaeloa Airport in Hawaii on Thursday, the Solar Impulse 2 successfully landed at Moffett Air Field in Mountain View, California last night. Pilot Bertrand Piccard spent a total 62 hours flying the solar-powered plane. The...

You'll actually want to get sucked into this Boeing 737 engine... chair

by Chris Ziegler

Meet the aptly named 737 Cowling Chair from British workshop Fallen Funiture. It is precisely what it sounds like: a chair made out of the cowling of an actual 737 engine, best known for its trademark squat appearance — most airliner engines are...

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Man who landed a gyrocopter in front of the US Capitol sentenced to 120 days in jail

by Andrew J . Hawkins

Douglas Hughes, the 61-year-old former mail carrier who landed a gyrocopter on the West Lawn of the US Capitol Building, was sentenced to 120 days in prison, the AP reported today. Hughes, who performed the stunt as a protest of government...

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Watch the Solar Impulse 2 sun-powered airplane take off for the first time in 9 months

by Andrew J . Hawkins

Today, Solar Impulse 2 will take off from Kalaeloa Airport in Hawaii for the next leg of its record-breaking flight around the world. The team anticipates taking off at 6-6:30AM local time (12-12:30PM ET) and landing at Moffett Air Field in...

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Here are the seven best ways to neutralize a rogue drone

by Andrew J . Hawkins

The US Senate passed a bill Tuesday to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, including a provision to create a pilot program to test new technologies to intercept or shut down drones that get too close to airports. Senator Bill Nelson...

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More pieces of missing Malaysian airplane MH370 are identified

by Andrew J . Hawkins

The Australian government confirmed today that two items of debris recovered on a beach in Mozambique are from Malaysian Airlines 370, the airplane that mysteriously disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people on board. It is only the second time...

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