Boeing is inspecting the carbon fiber composite wings of 787 Dreamliners for potential hairline cracks that are due to a change in the way the wings are manufactured. The inspections of 42 planes started a few weeks ago after the airplane maker was notified of the problem by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which makes the wings in Japan.

NBC News is reporting that the National Transportation Safety Board law judge has dismissed a civil penalty action brought by the Federal Aviation Administration against a commercial drone operator. The FAA has appealed the Order.

Malaysia Airlines reported on Friday that contact had been lost with Boeing 777-200 that was on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The 777 took off just after midnight Malaysia time and the airline said it "disappeared" about two hours later.

With more than 70 employees now employed at its Kerrville, Texas, facility, and about to restart the assembly line to produce the first M20TN Acclaim Type S, Mooney has announced that its management leadership team is in place.

News this week includes Garmin's announcement of new capabilities for G1000-equipped King Airs, and Team AeroDynamix expanding its partnership with Whelen Aviation to provide lighting kits for homebuilt aircraft. Two companies celebrated milestone birthdays, with Zenair Limited turning 40 and Executive Flyers Aviation turning 50.

Sun 'n Fun launches for the 40th time, in Lakeland, Fla., on April 1 -- less than four weeks away -- and with aircraft sales back in positive growth mode, the mood is expected to be upbeat. The event will host its first-ever Job Fair, on Wednesday, April 2, at the Florida Air Museum, with recruiters in search of pilots, engineers, mechanics, flight ops personnel and more. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will fly Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and the popular night airshow is back for Saturday night.

This weekend's aviation events highlight Women of Aviation Worldwide Week with open houses in addition to traditional fly ins for food and camaraderie.

Ten out of every 100 Army helicopter pilots are women -- but they account for only three out of every 100 accidents. That's the bottom line in an Army report that, in an effort to study the impact of women on the front lines, compares accident rates of men and women flying U.S. Army helicopters from 2002 to 2013.

Technology in development at Tufts University in Boston could detect when an air traffic controller's over-tasked brain is nearing the saturation point and instantly redistribute the workload, according to a report this week in the Boston Globe. Computer scientist Robert Jacob and biomedical engineer Sergio Fantini are working together to create a headband that reads brain activity and transmits that data to a computer that can tell if the wearer is bored, fatigued or sharp. The computer could automatically distribute the workload to keep each controller working at peak efficiency.

A new federal budget plan released by the White House on Tuesday includes a proposal to "establish a surcharge for air traffic services of $100 per flight." NBAA President Ed Bolen said similar proposals in the last three budgets were stopped when the aviation community mobilized and asked elected officials to oppose the fees. "There is bipartisan opposition to user fees on Capitol Hill," Bolen said.

The Fantasy of Flight Museum, which has operated for 18 years in central Florida, will close on Sunday, April 6, owner Kermit Weeks announced on Tuesday. The venue will continue as a private-event business, and Weeks said he plans to design and develop "a new future destination attraction." The facility will continue to provide aviation restoration and maintenance services. "For those who wish to enjoy the historical aspects of aircraft, plans are to open an aspect of the collection in a reduced capacity and admission price later this year," according to the news release.

Global business aviation activity grew by 4 percent in 2013 according to Jet Support Services Inc.'s (JSSI) annual report. While the solid increase was in itself encouraging, the company noted the uptick outpaced the 2.9 percent the International Monetary Fund's predicted the global economy would grow last year.

When arriving at the first stop on our pilots association's annual poker run, one of our pilots said on the frequency, for all to hear: "Geez. There's more than one runway here. That makes it kinda confusing." -- Gene Clifford, via e-mail (We love a pilot who accidentally says over the mic something everyone has thought at one time or another.)

Operators of about 500 Boeing 737 aircraft would have to replace or upgrade autothrottle computers to comply with a proposed airworthiness directive published by the FAA on Monday. The AD would mandate actions that Boeing already has recommended to operators via service bulletins. The AD was "prompted by reports in which a single, undetected, erroneous radio altimeter output caused the autothrottle to enter landing flare retard mode prematurely on approach," the FAA said.

Lycoming says it won't certify the IO-390 for mogas, so the Panthera will get an IO-540 instead.