ICAO, IATA and other major global aviation organizations are forming a high-level international task force of state and industry experts to look at airspace security issues raised by the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 earlier this month.

French air accident investigators have read the flight data recorder (FDR) of the Boeing MD-83 that crashed in Mali while operating for Air Algerie, but work is continuing on the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), which was damaged on impact.

The European Commission (EC) has approved the provision of financial aid to LOT Polish Airlines, following a nine-month investigation.

FAA announced in a press release it is proposing a $12 million civil penalty against Southwest Airlines for failing to comply with federal aviation regulations in three separate enforcement cases related to repairs on its Boeing 737s.

The Malaysia Airlines (MH17) Boeing 777-200ER that crashed over Ukraine July 17, killing all 298 on board, was destroyed because of “massive explosive decompression” due to “multiple fragmentation damage caused by a missile explosion,” according to the Ukrainian Security and Defense Council.

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill that would reverse a Department of Transportation (DOT) rule requiring airlines to include taxes in displayed airfares.

IATA has sent its fourth letter to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to allow airlines to repatriate funds, now estimated to be $4.1 billion, at the original exchange rate.

The terrible irony of the shooting down of flight MH17, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 with 298 people on board, is that in this, the 100th anniversary year of commercial air transportation, modern airliners and engines have never been safer or more reliable than they are today. And yet, within the space of six months, two Boeing 777s have been lost along with the lives of almost 530 passengers and crew.