A candidate for Air Force flight training and an instructor pilot were injured Monday when their Diamond DA-20 trainer aircraft crashed near the Memorial Airport in Pueblo Colo., during touch-and-go landing drills. The Pueblo Chieftain reported Sept. 9 that the airplane tumbled down a ravine and landed upside-down in a dry creek bed. Both pilots were taken to local hospitals; their identities were withheld pending notification of family. Doss Aviation owns the DA-20. The company is under contract to the Air Force to screen and offer initial training to about 1,800 flight-school candidates each year, according to the Denver Post’s Sept. 8 report of the incident. The Air Force and FAA will investigate the mishap.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
