The Antonov An-225, the world’s largest plane, was confirmed by new photos as having been largely destroyed by Russian attacks on Gostomel Airport outside of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. There had been a series of photos throughout the preceding week alternately providing hopeful and not-so-hopeful glimpses of the damage to the plane.
The loss of the Antonov An-225 leaves Boeing in a bad place. The aerospace giant depends on heavy lift from that plane and its slightly less-giant sibling, the An-124, to transport large assemblies between plants. There is reportedly no fallback plan.
The crash in Pennsylvania of a Beechcraft Model 33 Debonair light single was captured on doorbell cam. Both occupants, the CFI and a Commercial student, were killed in the crash. The instructional flight seemed to be experiencing difficulties, as its flight path was erratic and its altitude very low for maneuvering.
The Ghost of Kyiv, a fighter pilot who was given credit for shooting down six Russian planes, most of them frontline fighters, a figure that days later was upped to ten kills, was identified as being Col. Oleksanser Oksanchenko, a returning Ukrainian fighter pilot who was subsequently killed in an air battle. The claims are unverified, and many of the photos and videos supporting the claim are fabricated, but the legend had an undeniably positive effect on the morale of the Ukrainian people in the early days of the war.
Coast Guard searchers have found debris from a small plane that went missing on Sunday. Searchers have parts of the Van’s RV-12 two-seat small plane that disappeared while on a loose formation flight with another plane around 15 miles off of Big Pine Key, Florida. There has been no sign of the two people aboard the plane. For reasons that are yet unexplained, the search for the missing flight didn’t get under way until Tuesday, more than two days after the small plane went missing.
Sen. James M. Inhofe (R, OK), the controversial, long-time champion of aviation and pilots, announced his retirement from the United States Senate. Inhofe sponsored several high-profile pieces of legislation designed to help pilots get a fair shake in their dealings with the FAA.
Dynon Avionics introduced a series of installation product kits designed to make it easier and faster for owners and installers to install Dynon panels in their amateur-built planes. The kits include mounting trays and prewired kits to greatly reduce the amount of labor in installations.
Kevin Mayes, an Oregon pilot on an IFR flight plane to California, suffered a total engine loss on his Cessna 205 Stationaire and subsequently made a picture-perfect forced landing at Hillsborough Airport near Portland, Oregon, all of which was captured on video. The pilot is being widely praised for his cool-headedness in executing the deadstick landing.
After the successful engine-out landing, Mayes launched a GoFundMe page, with the goal of raising enough money for a new engine for his vintage Cessna. His goal was originally $50,000, but he has since dropped that down to $15,000. The page has so far raised $1,125.
A United States foreign investment panel has sided with Icon Aircraft’s ownership in a dispute over claimed inappropriate transfer of technology to China. The largest shareholder of the company is Chinese. The panel found the claims that the plane could be used for future military applications to be baseless.
Charter company Tradewind Aviation ordered 20 new Pilatus PC-12 NGX aircraft for its on-demand operations. Tradewind will take the new pressurized turboprop singles over the next five years.
