May 6 
Reports from the USA have EAA's Boeing B-17 WW11 vintage bomber with an undercarriage malfunction after landing at Van Nuys airport in California

"The WWII veteran aircraft had landed without any difficulty at VNY at 1628 (Pacific time) and was completing its 4,000-foot landing roll when both main gear systems suffered some form of collapse"

"The B-17 has been flying national tours since 1994 with thousands of people enjoying flights aboard the vintage aircraft and tens of thousands more touring the interior of the aircraft"

Purchased by the Experimental Aircraft Association in 1981 the bomber spent more than 10 years undergoing a full restoration to flying condition and has been dubbed the "Aluminum Overcast" due to it's immense size compared to the home-built sport aircraft normally associated with the EAA

May 3 
An Ultralight aircraft - a 2 seat Skyfox - has been caught on camera flying under the Sydney Harbour Bridge creating a news item for the local TV morning news segment

The film crew that captured the incident were on another assignment when they noticed the Skyfox in the background passing under the bridge

The media report had the female pilot and aircraft from Queensland with the pilot indicating she did not think there was anything wrong by flying under the bridge

The News Desk awaits a response from authorities

May 3 
An experienced and well respected airshow performer has crashed into the Atlantic waters off the coast of Fort Lauderdale in the USA during a practice session



"The pilot - Ian Groom - was the holder of the world record for completing 57 snap rolls in 26 seconds in his Russian-built Sukhoi SU-31 stunt-plane"



"His accident is both a tragedy for the air show community and a stark reminder that even when performed by the very best in our business - air show aerobatics can be very unforgiving"

May 5 
A news helicopter has crashed in Brooklyn New York while "working a story" with the 2 pilots and reporter escaping from the completely demolished machine that ended up on a roof top after colliding with the building alongside

The Helinet Aviation operated Eurocopter was under contract for a local NBC affiliate

No one else in this highly populated area was injured on the ground or in the building the machine hit after it had an apparent mechanical failure

May 6 
The ATSB has released a document on "research investigation analysis" of mid-air collisions over a period of 42 years of flying

There were 37 midair's - all of which were light aircraft - and of that number 58 aircraft were involved in or near the circuit area mainly at secondary airports with similar air traffic control to Archerfield

Statistics can be used in various ways to prove/disprove just about anything - here is something to think about - it's 10 times safer for a female to fly in a light aircraft in QLD than to be in a marriage type relationship



(News Desk research indicates that domestic violence kills about 30 females in QLD each year - light aircraft accidents claim about 6 lives of which approx half are female)