The rapid growth of the commercial satellite-launch industry has the FAA moving ahead to take over some safety oversight duties from the Department of Defense. Someone has to be responsible for overseeing collision avoidance for objects in orbit, and traditionally that has been the military's role. But the FAA and the Pentagon appear to be ready to discuss moving that oversight to civilians, according to a Wall Street Journal report this week.

The ground explosion of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Sept. 1 was likely caused by a "large breach" of the helium system, the company said Friday. SpaceX, NASA and the FAA, among others, continue to investigate the cause of the fiery incident at Cape Canaveral that destroyed the rocket and its payload as it stood at Launch Complex 40 during a pre-launch test.

General aviation accident rates dropped in 2015 amid a rise in flight hours, according to figures reported by the National Transportation Safety Board Thursday. There were 276 accidents reported for general aviation flights in 2015, with 376 fatalities. The accident totals for GA added up to 1,209 GA accidents last year, 229 of those accidents involving fatalities, including three people on the ground. The GA accident rate last year was 5.85 per 100,000 flight hours, with a rate of 1.09 for fatal accidents.

AVweb's search of news in aviation found announcements from Boeing, King Schools, Future and Active Pilot Advisors and Pacific Propeller International. Boeing has selected Rockwell Collins to provide its industry-leading touchscreen flight displays for all five flight deck displays on the new Boeing 777X. The advanced touchscreen capability will make the flight deck more intuitive for pilots and more efficient for flight operations.

ForeFlight is warning subscribers that it will discontinue support for old iPads and iPhones on Jan. 3, 2017.

Reno racer Thom Richard is glad to be alive after another airplane hit his disabled race plane, narrowly missing the top of his head. "The impact was violent and loud," Richard wrote on YouTube, a fact made clear by the cockpit video clearly showing the incident. Richard had stopped on the runway to check on an engine issue, and had signaled the starters to halt the launch process.

The FAA's long-awaited ADS-B rebate program is now online, and despite a few first-day glitches with the system early Monday morning that were quickly smoothed out, it's been getting plenty of takers. "We're up to 1,360 applicants as of the end of the day on Tuesday," David Gray, the FAA's program manager for ADS-B, told AVweb Wednesday afternoon. It's hard to predict if that rate will continue, grow, or decrease, Gray said, but he added it's in the best interest of aircraft owners to start the process sooner rather than later.

The Weekender plans to take in a variety of classic planes, cars and historical attractions found on SocialFlight.com. Head to Santa Rosa, California, this weekend for the Wings Over Wine Country Airshow, presented by the Pacific Coast Air Museum.

A new aviation trade show has been announced for Oct. 24-26, 2017, in Ghana, which organizers say will be the first-ever event of its kind in the West Africa region. "It's an important announcement for the African continent, especially for Ghana, one of the most dynamic countries in Africa, which is experiencing strong economic growth and an increase in aviation activity," said Didier Mary, the show organizer.

A U.S. Air Force U-2 spy plane crashed Tuesday near Sacramento, California, about 9:05 a.m. local time while on a training mission. Both pilots on board ejected, and late on Tuesday, local KCRA News reported that one pilot was killed and the second pilot was hurt, according to Beale AFB officials. The wreckage, in an open rural area near the Sutter Buttes mountain range, caught fire and sent a plume of black smoke into the sky.

The 60th annual Gordon Bennett long-distance balloon race launched on Monday from Gladbeck, Germany, with 24 teams competing from 12 countries. Three teams, from Great Britain, Austria and Switzerland, landed the next morning to avoid flying into military airspace that was scheduled at short notice for a military exercise. By the end of the first 24 hours, half the teams had landed, and after two days, five balloons remained.

The pre-private, 16-year-old, 12-hour total time solo glider student called the TFR-fire base temporary tower staff ...Glider Student: "Santa Ynez Tower, Glider 28 Tango, 45 entry to right traffic, Runway 26, Santa Ynez." ... This was followed by a deep baritone, "Santa Ynez, Skycrane 2C, inbound three miles from the southeast." ... Tower: "Glider 28 Tango , please hold for the inbound helicopter traffic." ... Huh? Even though we love the fire suppressors, this defies all logic. Rotary at distance gets right-of-way? What will my student do? ... Glider Student: "Santa Ynez Tower, 28 Tango, I'll do the best that I can." ... He made normal traffic landing an easy two minutes before the inbound helo, doing nothing out of the norm. Judgment and savvy, no promises he can't keep. He passed his check ride three days later.

Clay Lacy Aviation, which operates FBOs in Los Angeles and Seattle, has joined with Key Air, based in Oxford, Connecticut, the two companies announced last week. "Our clients asked us for a larger presence in New York, and this is the first of several strategic steps to expand our East Coast services," said Brian Kirkdoffer, Clay Lacy CEO. Chris Hand, vice president of operations for Key Air, said joining the "Clay Lacy family" will bring immediate benefits to the company's clients and employees.

Beginning this week, AVweb is introducing a new feature for readers called General Aviation Accident Bulletin. These reports, which will appear twice monthly, comprise the latest preliminary reports on general aviation accidents taken from the NTSB's initial reporting. They offer enough detail to gain a general idea on what happened in the accident, but do not offer causal summaries.

A remarkable set of circumstances and some plain good luck led to only one person being injured in the fiery crash of a Cessna 182 that took off with five people on board and ended up in the living room of a house in Gilbert, Arizona, Saturday evening.