In the early days of aviation, airplanes were mostly used as joy rides, in air shows, and for just general "barnstorming." Even into the 1920s, debate occurred regarding whether the airplane had a useful purpose, and one of the main...

A horrible air disaster occurred in the skies over the Grand Canyon in 1956, when a two commercial aircraft, operated by Trans World Airlines and United Airlines and flying in clear skies, collided and crashed, killing more than 100 people. As a result...

In the early twenty-first century, there are approximately 5000 commercial and private airplanes in the air at any one moment. The task of the U.S. Air Traffic Control System is to ensure the safe operation of these commercial and private aircraft. Air...

Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. A controller's primary task is to separate certain aircraft — to prevent them from coming too close to each other by use...

Brazil's airlines were trying to make up for lengthy flight delays Monday after its troubled air traffic control system failed over the weekend, stranding travelers just months after a breakdown that enraged thousands of passengers.A control center in Brasilia that monitors flights through the nation's...

A team led by defense company ITT Corp. on Thursday won a government contract worth up to $1.8 billion to build the first portion of a new satellite-based air traffic control system.The Federal Aviation Administration, which awarded the contract, said upgrading the system used to...

Air traffic controllers told Congress on Tuesday that poor maintenance of their aging work places has hampered and harmed them and could endanger the flying public.The Federal Aviation Administration, which employs the controllers, has not given priority to maintaining and preserving air traffic control facilities,...

Ron Carpenter and his fellow air traffic controllers were busy keeping more than 200 airplanes on course over seven states when their communication system crashed. Suddenly they couldn't talk to pilots or call for help."Somebody just pulled out a cell phone," Carpenter said. "Then everybody...