Marc Joel Atrero

A Chieftain’s fatal thunderstorm encounter The Australian Transport Safety Bureau report on the inflight break-up of a Piper Chieftain makes sober reading for all pilots. VH-PYN broke-up in a fierce thunderstorm and crashed north of Condobolin, NSW, on December 2 2005, killing all four occupants. Taking off from Archerfield Airport in Brisbane at 11. 22am,

Setting A New Course The Navy’s Naval Aviation Group – often still referred to as the Fleet Air Arm – has suffered in recent years from delayed upgrade programs, the bungled development and introduction of a new type, and a tragic crash resulting from a poor engineering and maintenance culture. However, naval aviation is fighting

If recent media reports are anything to go by, Australia is in the grip of a pilot shortage. Airlines, regional and GA operators have been finding that the market for pilots has shifted enormously since there was an oversupply in 2001 after the collapse of Ansett. The problem has been driven largely by a buoyant

Bombardier’s racy looking ‘super-light’ Learjet 45XR business jet recently visited Australia on a sales tour. The demonstrator flew into Australia from Singapore on November 6, stopping first at Perth before heading to Melbourne, Sydney (where Australian Aviation had a tour of the aircraft), and the Gold Coast. It then flew over to Auckland and Christchurch

Lockheed Martin’s US$5. 8bn (A$6. 6bn) AGM‑158A JASSM (Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile) program appears to be getting back on track after a reported recent successful test flight, the first following a program suspension in May 2007. Four failed test flights in early 2007, including three tests which impacted more than 30 metres from

Tiger Airways Australia takes off The headline writers and commentators had a field day with the launch of Tiger Airways’s Australian domestic services in November with feline cliches abounding as Tiger’s CEO Tony Davis and arch rival Jetstar’s CEO Alan Joyce traded marketing barbs. While the media focused on comparisons with Impulse and Compass I