AeroTime - Aviation News, Insights, and Analysis

US-developer Electra has secured approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a critical stage of commercializing its hybrid-electric ultra short-takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft.
On July 10, 2026, Electra announced that the US regulator has closed the G-1 Issue Paper, formally establishing the certification basis for the nine-seater EL9 aircraft....

The Pentagon has lifted the flight suspensions of eight South Carolina Army National Guard pilots who took part in a July 4, 2026, Apache helicopter flyby along the state’s coastline.
“Effective immediately, the suspension of all involved South Carolina pilots has been lifted,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a July 10 post on X. “Carry on Patriots.”...

A locking pin designed to prevent a Boeing 787’s nose landing gear from retracting remained inside its storage box when a Lufthansa Dreamliner collapsed at Frankfurt Airport (FRA), German investigators have found.
The discovery offers the clearest explanation yet for the June 4, 2026, incident involving Lufthansa Boeing 787-9 D-ABPQ, although Germany’s Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, or BFU, has not issued a final determination of cause....

For decades, military laser weapons promised revolutionary capability but rarely moved beyond laboratory testing and field demonstrations.
That is beginning to change.
The Pentagon’s decision to award nLIGHT Defense and Lockheed Martin Aculight agreements worth an initial $86 million, with a combined program ceiling of $847 million, reflects an effort to turn high-energy laser prototypes into deployable weapons against...