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The Air Force Seeks a Low-Tech Alternative to the F-22

The Air Force spent years fighting to keep building the $350 million F-22 fighter, an airplane crammed with so much gee-whiz technology there’s a law barring it from being sold to any other nation. But since no other nation is building such a plane to challenge it, the F-22 has become a costly investment with an uncertain payoff, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates just killed it. That sent an unmistakable message to the two new top Air Force officials Gates recently appointed, and now the service is seeking 100 slower, lower-flying and far cheaper airplanes — most likely prop-driven — that it can use to kill insurgents today and use to train local pilots — such as Afghans or Iraqis — tomorrow

Man gets 4 years for crashing plane, trying to fake death

A man who crashed his plane in the Florida Panhandle in an apparent attempt to fake his death was sentenced Wednesday to more than four years in federal prison, officials said. Marcus Schrenker, 38, of McCordsville, Indiana, pleaded guilty in June to charges of destruction of an aircraft and causing the Coast Guard to respond when no help is needed.

Hudson air crash probe focuses on controller; union cries foul

Investigators probing last weekend’s fatal aircraft collision over New York’s Hudson River focused Friday on an air traffic controller, though union leaders angrily said the controller could have done nothing to prevent the crash. In a report, the National Transportation Safety Board said that the controller at New Jersey’s Teterboro airport did not advise a pilot of potential traffic when he handed off radar monitoring of the plane to the tower at Newark airport at 11:52:20 a.m. Saturday

Fourth body located after New York midair collision

Investigators have located the body of a fourth victim in the wreckage of a helicopter that crashed after colliding with a plane over the Hudson River in New York, a source close to the investigation said. Rescue workers have not yet recovered the body, believed to be among nine victims of the collision, the source said late Saturday night. So far, only three bodies, including that of a child, have been recovered — all of them from the Piper PA-32 Saratoga, which apparently took off from New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport

At least 26 hurt as airliner hits turbulence

Severe turbulence shook a Continental Airlines flight Monday, injuring 26 passengers — four seriously — and forcing the aircraft to divert to Miami, Florida, an airport fire official said. There were 168 passengers on Flight 128, which was originally headed from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Houston, Texas, according to Lt. Elkin Sierra of the Miami-Dade Fire Department

Fumes trigger evacuation of BA plane

Passengers on a British Airways flight to Barcelona, Spain, were forced to evacuate the aircraft on the airport runway after landing Sunday when fumes were apparently detected in the aircraft’s cabin.

Total eclipse envelops Asia in darkness

Darkness fell across parts of China and India on Wednesday morning as a total solar eclipse passed across the world’s most populous countries, bringing throngs of people outside to watch the phenomenon. Total eclipses occur about twice a year as the moon passes between the Earth and the sun on the same plane as Earth’s orbit

U.S. airline irks India by frisking ex-president

Indian authorities Tuesday filed a police complaint against Continental Airlines for frisking a former president of the country as he was to travel to New York in April. Civil aviation officials in New Delhi accused Continental of gross violation of Indian security rules that prohibit pre-embarkation body checks on certain dignitaries like a former president. The police complaint followed a probe that had established that APJ Abdul Kalam was subject to frisking before he boarded a flight from New Delhi to New York on April 21, the Indian civil aviation ministry said in a statement.

Fighter jet crashes in Afghanistan

A fighter jet crashed in southern Afghanistan on Monday, in the fourth wreck in three days, authorities said. Authorities were looking into why the plane went down during takeoff from Kandahar airfield Monday morning, but the role of insurgents had been ruled out, said Lt. Col.

Copter crash kills 16 in Afghanistan, NATO says

A helicopter crashed during takeoff from Kandahar airfield in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing 16 people, NATO said. The aircraft was a “civilian contracted” helicopter, not a military one, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. The helicopter was not shot down, ISAF said, adding that the exact cause of the crash was not known.