Aviation

Beechcraft has taken another step in its bid to stop an Air Force contract awarded to competitors with a new lawsuit filed Thursday.

Beechcraft filed a lawsuit in the Court of Federal Claims to contest the Air Force’s recent decision allowing Sierra Nevada Corp. and Brazil’s Embraer move forward with the contract while the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducts a review.

The lawsuit is only the latest attempt by the Wichita, Kan.-based defense firm to stop the Air Force from awarding the $427 million light air support contract to Embraer and Sierra Nevada to build 20 planes for the Afghan military.

The agency said its screening of a wheelchair-bound Marine was "done by the book."

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Sen. Chuck Grassley and other lawmakers worry that unmanned aircraft will be used to peer into people's private lives.

Harrison Ford says he’d be happy to share a cockpit with any lawmaker, telling ITK that if “there are any going in the same direction” he’d give them a lift.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was blocked Tuesday from starting consideration of the Senate budget resolution.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) blocked Reid’s motion to start the required 50 hours of debate on the budget. Moran also stopped Reid from scheduling a final vote on the continued spending resolution for later Tuesday.

Representatives from U.S. Airways and American Airlines testified before the Senate subcommittee that reviews potential antitrust law violations.

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After a week of intense focus on the wisdom of allowing knives onto airplanes, lawmakers will turn their attention to other areas of aviation safety.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday to check on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) progress on implementing safety provisions that were included in the $63 billion funding bill that was passed for the agenda last year.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Deborah Hersman, Government Accountability Office Director of Civil Aviation Issues Gerald Dillingham, and Department of Transportation Inspector General Assistant Inspector General Jeffery Guzzetti are scheduled to testify. 

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