In the face of intense market rejection, Icon says it has heard its customers and is going to revise the rather onerous purchase contract it planned to require of its buyers. It hasn’t yet made the new contract public. But in a statement it says that one thing the new contract will keep is the
Light-sport Aircraft
Icon Aircraft A5 Purchase Agreement: Who would sign this thing?
As AOPA is pointing out, Icon’s 41-page purchase agreement for its long-awaited A5 is, well, “unusual.”
Perhaps what is most troubling is its language that seeks to allow Icon to dodge liability for any accident, regardless of its cause.
Founder and CEO Kirk Hawkins told AOPA that Icon believes in "extreme responsibility."
What we’re trying
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FAA Declines To Close LSA Loophole
Operators have begun using LSAs — particularly "trikes" — to give air tours over the Hawaiian islands. LSAs fly low and slow, just like helicopters, and are much cheaper to run. But they have a terrible safety record. And it’s illegal to use LSAs for commercial tours.
If it is illegal to use LSAs for commercial…
LSA Loophole Claims the Life of Another Hawaiian Tourist
The Hawaiian air tour industry has a horrible safety record. And now it has claimed yet another life – that of a 53 year-old Californian who had traveled with his wife to the islands to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.
I’ve written before about the dangers of Hawaiian helicopter tours. But this tourist’s death was…
Another Zodiac In-Flight Breakup Triggers an NSTB “I told you so”
This past April, the NTSB called upon the FAA to ground the entire fleet of Zodiac aircraft because their wings tend to fall off in mid-flight. As it turns out, a defect in the Zodiac’s design induces an aerodynamic phenomenon known as flutter. Flutter can destroy a wing or other control surface in a matter of seconds. …
More Zodiac Victims File Suit
The families of the victims of the Zodiac crash near Oakdale, California, have filed suit against the aircraft’s maker, Zenith Aircraft, alleging that the Zodiac’s design is defective. The Zodiac is the two-seat aircraft whose wings tend to break off in flight due to a design-induced aerodynamic phenomenon known as flutter. That appears…
NTSB to FAA: Ground the Zodiac Fleet
Today the NTSB issued an "urgent" safety recommendation, asking the FAA to immediately ground all Zodiac CH-601XL aircraft. The reason: their wings tend to fall off. So far, six have broken up in flight, causing 10 fatalities. The NTSB suspects that the design of the aircraft induces "flutter"– an aerodynamic phenomenon that can destroy an aircraft…