SCOOP: The FAA has exempted ATC modernization projects from standard agency acquisition policies, a move that could accelerate procurement timelines but one that may also have unknown additional impacts. (via @theaircurrent.com) Read here: theaircurrent.com/air-traffic-...

Electric aircraft developer Beta Technologies prepares for IPO theaircurrent.com/aircraft-dev... (via @elanhead.com & @jonostrower.com) #staycurrent

SCOOP: Internal FAA documents indicate that the planned move of agency HQ employees to the DOT building in Navy Yard could "impact NAS safety" and cost over $250 million, @theaircurrent.com reports. Read more here for all the details about this plan: theaircurrent.com/regulation/f...

New from me: MOSAIC is causing some trouble as ambiguous language creates confusion surrounding the development of aircraft with highly automated flight controls. Read more here on @theaircurrent.com: theaircurrent.com/regulation/m...

GE Aerospace is partnering with Beta Technologies to develop a hybrid-electric turbogenerator, and is also making a $300M equity investment in the Vermont-based eVTOL developer. I caught up with both companies to discuss their new strategic partnership: theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatc...

Jaiwon Shin removed as CEO of struggling eVTOL developer Supernal theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatc... (via @elanhead.com and @jonostrower.com) #staycurrent

Trump’s executive order on drones will shape U.S. eVTOL roll-out theaircurrent.com/aviation-pol... (via @elanhead.com) #staycurrent

NEW: FAA chief Bryan Bedford is planning on restructuring his sprawling, 46,000-strong agency -- and is starting with leadership. My latest scoop for @theaircurrent.com: theaircurrent.com/regulation/f...

"If it’s something you’re thinking about but are scared to take that first step, do it scared. Don’t wait for the day you have the confidence. You must build the necessary confidence by doing hard things." (Adele is as cool as she sounds, btw) www.londonsairambulance.org.uk/news-and-sto...

FAA to clarify its automation approach in forthcoming framework document theaircurrent.com/aviation-pol... (via @elanhead.com) #staycurrent

With its forthcoming Automation Framework, the FAA is taking a practical, task-focused approach to evaluating automation technologies without assuming full autonomy is inevitable. “Autonomy is not at all our North Star. Our North Star really is safety." theaircurrent.com/aviation-pol...

From flame-out to fade-out: Defining emergency landings for eVTOLs theaircurrent.com/regulation/f... (via @elanhead.com) #staycurrent

Today I went through the 15 minutes of purgatory between learning about a fatal plane crash and confirming that my good friend had not been in it. Most pilots come to accept this as a routine experience; this essay explains its associated impacts on loved ones. www.military.com/spouse/recko...

Took me a while to catch up with this fascinating story by @henrywismayer.bsky.social in @noemamag.com but glad I did. It's a great weekend read: www.noemamag.com/the-unseen-f...

I spoke with Joby executive chairman Paul Sciarra about the company's new partnership with L3Harris to develop a gas turbine hybrid VTOL for defense missions, including the implications for its partnership with Toyota: theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatc...

NTSB Chair Homendy has ‘20 pages of questions’ on day two of DCA hearing (via @theaircurrent.com ) w/ no paywall: theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatc...

FOLLOW ALONG: @theaircurrent.com will be posting live updates from the NTSB's three-day DCA crash investigative hearing on our website, free as a public service. Read here: theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatc...

My first story from Oshkosh is not something I found at the show. Instead, it asks the question: how do you put a price on safety? The FAA’s decades-long struggle to put a price on aviation safety (via @theaircurrent.com) -- no paywall! theaircurrent.com/aviation-saf...

For eVTOL developer Beta Technologies, "chunking" the FAA certification process is a way to burn down development risk while also allowing it to sell its electric motors to other aircraft developers. FAA approval of Hartzell's AAM propeller advances this strategy: theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatc...

Michigan is leaning in hard on drones and advanced air mobility. For @theaircurrent.com I wrote about M-Air, a new initiative at @umich.edu that builds on its Mcity consortium for autonomous vehicle testing: theaircurrent.com/industry-str...

NEWS: Sen. Cruz says he will soon introduce a bill to close the "loophole" that allows military helicopters to operate without ADSB-out turned on. Will also force Army OIG to investigate this w/r/t DCA crash. Bill title is Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (ROTOR) act.

Last year my partner was the pilot for an exceptionally tricky helicopter rescue on the North Face of the Grand Teton. This is a great podcast episode about the rescue from the perspective of the people who were flown out: soundcloud.com/the_fine_lin...

"When pilots resisted cockpit cameras at the turn of the century, they were seeking the same privacy guarantees available to most people in professional occupations. Today, they are increasingly asking to remain an exception." (via @elanhead.com) theaircurrent.com/aviation-saf...

The mysteries in the Air India Flight 171 preliminary report are likely to restart the fierce debate over cockpit video recorders. @elanhead.com with an excellent in-depth history of the fight over cameras in the cockpit.

There is a good amount of detail in the 15-page report, but these are the key paragraphs. @theaircurrent.com's report for reference: theaircurrent.com/aviation-saf...

Noted journalist @elanhead.com has a great interview centred on Robinson's retention of: « the most controversial feature of its existing product line: a teetering two-bladed main rotor system that, like all such rotor systems, is susceptible to the hazardous phenomenon of mast bumping. » | 🛩️ 🚁 🥇

NO SPECULATION, JUST REPORTING: Air India crash investigation focuses on movement of engine fuel control switches theaircurrent.com/aviation-saf... (via @theaircurrent.com)

I have written about SO many fatal helicopter crashes in which accident investigators simply didn't have enough data to draw firm conclusions. Not the case for this R66 crash in Australia, thanks to a factory-installed cockpit video and flight data recorder: verticalmag.com/news/r66-hel...

If you want* to read Frederick Douglass's speech "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"--a clear-eyed yet profoundly hopeful inspection of the gap between U.S. ideals and U.S. reality--you can read it as it was first published at the Internet Archive. * Yes, you do.

10 years ago today, a Flight For Life helicopter crashed and burst into flames in Frisco, Colorado. In 2018, I interviewed one of the survivors, flight nurse Dave Repsher, about his incredible survival story: verticalmag.com/features/aga...

I love this one, too. The big aviation angle inside the Big Beautiful Bill. Easy to get lost in the numbers coming out of the bicameral debate, but there are big implications for ATC hiring and the local shoe leather politics of facility consolidation. theaircurrent.com/aviation-pol...

I love this story. It's the perfect encapsulation of what we do @theaircurrent.com. Take a big news item (Joby arriving in Dubai) and giving it our own angle, while taking one key technical problem (AC on an eVTOL) and explaining it for everyone to understand. theaircurrent.com/aircraft-dev...

Having flown in many helicopters without air conditioning (because AC is heavy and helos are weight-sensitive) I was intensely curious how Joby would tackle the problem for its *ultra* weight-sensitive eVTOL. Its solution is pretty neat—and is now flying in Dubai. theaircurrent.com/aircraft-dev...

Why Airbus is strengthening ties with defense unicorn Quantum Systems theaircurrent.com/defense/airb... (via @elanhead.com) #staycurrent

A lot of my stories for The Air Current are pretty deep in the weeds, so it was fun to zoom out for this big-picture look at autonomous aircraft certification in IEEE Spectrum. Also nice for a change: no paywall! 🔓 spectrum.ieee.org/autonomous-p...

Why are so many eVTOL developers flying their aircraft like conventional airplanes? There are a number of reasons, but a big one is burning down risk for a crewed flight test program. Full explanation in my latest story for @theaircurrent.com: theaircurrent.com/aircraft-dev...

Breaking by me: Marine commandant throws F-35 pilot under the bus again for flying a plane that went haywire. #military www.postandcourier.com/news/special...

Archer settles on four blades for its eVTOL lifting props theaircurrent.com/aircraft-dev... (via @elanhead.com) #staycurrent

Most reporting on AI examines worst-case systems deployed under the guise of efficiency. But what would a good faith effort at Ethical AI look like? For two years, we’ve been looking over the shoulder of a city trying to do things differently.

#Kyiv appreciation thread: A lot of people perceive Ukraine as an undifferentiated war zone, so I thought I'd share some touristy photos from my recent visit to Kyiv. It's a beautiful, vibrant city with incredible historic architecture... 1/

#Kyiv appreciation thread: A lot of people perceive Ukraine as an undifferentiated war zone, so I thought I'd share some touristy photos from my recent visit to Kyiv. It's a beautiful, vibrant city with incredible historic architecture... 1/

I had some things to say on the history of women in aviation. colleenmondor.substack.com/p/28-a-femal...

SCOOP: White House readies executive orders on drone rulemaking, competitiveness (via @theaircurrent.com) theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatc...

A new sodium metal fuel cell with an energy density of around 1,200 Wh/kg could help clean up transportation (via @caseycrownhart.bsky.social @technologyreview.com) www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/27/1...

As with most things related to AI, the hype around its use in drone warfare has outpaced reality. Which is probably a good thing. Part 3 of my special report on Ukraine's drone industry is now live at @theaircurrent.com: theaircurrent.com/ukraine-spec...

I was lucky enough to be the first journalist to see the completed Pathfinder 1, the prototype next-gen helium airship from Sergey Brin's LTA Research, now flying over SF Bay. I also had a sit down with the startup's CEO, Brett Crozier. Story in IEEE Spectrum: spectrum.ieee.org/lta-research...

I wrote about a scandal in the Big Beautiful Bill that should really be shocking even if it isn’t surprising. Replacing jet fuel with corn and soybeans doesn’t pencil out for the climate, so Congress wants to take away the government’s pencils. @yalee360.bsky.social e360.yale.edu/features/cor...

FWIW, none of my sources on China's superior drone supply chain mentioned small hands; rather “design work and craftsmanship in certain highly technical areas—tool making, machining, a lot of these very technical disciplines which are simply forgotten by the West.” theaircurrent.com/ukraine-spec...

Joby Aviation and Vertical Aerospace have very different expectations for what it will take to certify an eVTOL in the UK. New from me in @theaircurrent.com, how the debate over eVTOL target levels of safety is playing out in the UK: theaircurrent.com/regulation/e...

My partner is teaching some 🚁 pilots how to long line this week and I told him he should send them my 2018 story on how hard the process is so they're not alone in their frustration. Here it is to inspire anyone else who's looking for a challenge! verticalmag.com/features/lon...