Textron Aviation expects the Cessna Citation CJ4 Gen3 to receive FAA certification this year, the company said as it marked the rollout of the 500th CJ4 at its Wichita facility yesterday. The milestone aircraft is a CJ4 Gen2. In production since 2010, the CJ4 series has been delivered worldwide to owner-pilots and fleet operators alike.

The Gen3 variant includes Garmin G3000 Prime avionics and Garmin Emergency Autoland, along with what Textron describes as the most standard features in the light jet class. The upgrades reflect customer feedback gathered across the nearly 500 aircraft delivered before the Gen3’s development.

“For more than a decade, customers around the world have chosen the CJ4 for its combination of performance, ease of operation, and confidence in the cockpit,” said Lannie O’Bannion, senior v-p of sales and marketing at Textron Aviation. “Reaching 500 aircraft built demonstrates the strength of this platform and reinforces our continued investment in the light jet market as we prepare to bring the CJ4 Gen3 to customers.”

The CJ4 series is a single-pilot-capable light jet. Designed to build on that foundation, the Gen3 incorporates advanced technologies to enhance the pilot experience.

NBAA’s recently released “Business Aviation Accident and Incident Analysis” for the first quarter highlights a need to focus on stabilized approaches, the association said. The analysis examined 15 incidents and 25 accidents that occurred in the first three months of the year in the U.S. and Caribbean.

Seven of the accidents involved business jets, including a fatal accident in Bangor, Maine. Another 10 involved business turboprops, including fatal accidents in Haiti, Louisiana, and Colorado. In addition, eight involved turbine helicopters with fatal accidents in Arizona and Hawaii.

The analysis looks at common themes for industry safety managers and experts to consider. “While investigations into many of these events are ongoing and probable causes have yet to be determined, the data already points to the need for strict adherence to stabilized approach criteria, as well as heightened vigilance and enhanced ground control procedures in the airport ramp and runway environments,” said Mark Larsen, NBAA director of safety and flight operations. Other common elements that surfaced include runway excursions, landing gear events, and environmental hazards such as terrain and poor weather.

“NBAA encourages members to review this analysis closely, and for safety managers and training coordinators to incorporate these real-world operational challenges into recurrent training scenarios and upcoming safety reviews,” he said.

After parts supplier Resurgent Aviation Solutions (RAS) announced plans to shut down and auction off its remaining inventory, due to no buyer coming forward to keep the company going, Eclipse Aerospace assured owners of its very light jets that the company has enough supply on hand for the next two to three years.

RAS president Cary Winter had warned Eclipse owners that he planned to retire in 2025 and offered the company for sale, but none of those interested were able to come to agreeable terms. A major sticking point was that Winter and his colleagues wanted to retire rather than keep running the business. “They wanted me to sign up to work for five more years,” he told AIN.

At the mid-May Eclipse Jet Owners and Pilots Association (EJOPA) convention in Hot Springs, Virginia, Winter announced the upcoming shutdown of RAS and the parts auction via a livestreamed presentation. Afterwards, Eclipse Aerospace COO Ed Lundeen assured attendees that the company is well-stocked. “I know the inventory, and I know the average annual usage,” he said, and there is enough to keep the fleet going for another two to three years. “We’re not going out of business, and we’re well-funded. Our intention is to support them for longer, absolutely.”

The Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) has qualified Loft Dynamics’ virtual reality flight simulator to FTD level-7, becoming the third regulator, after the FAA and EASA, to do so. Installed at helicopter operator Nakanihon Air at Nagoya Airport (RJNA), the simulator is a Loft Airbus H125 TXi and is both the first level-7-qualified simulator in Japan and Loft’s first Asia-Pacific simulator installation. Inter-Craft helped arrange the delivery and worked with the JCAB on qualification.

Equipped with a six-degrees-of-freedom motion platform, the Loft simulator replicates the real helicopter’s avionics and systems, allowing pilots to practice emergencies in a safe environment. Engine failure scenarios can include full-down autorotations, and tail rotor and hydraulic system malfunctions are fully replicated, as are changing weather and flight into inadvertent instrument meteorological conditions. The Loft simulator also replicates a technical crewmember station to facilitate coordinated training between pilots and mission specialists.

“By enabling repeated, immersive training, this technology will strengthen pilot readiness and elevate safety across a wide range of operations,” said Nakanihon Air president Shigeharu Matsuoka. “It will also allow us to refine the skills of pilots on the front lines and, more broadly, accelerate the development of the next generation of aviation talent in Japan.”

Spirit Sky Club—a $13 million, 28-hangar private members’ community for aviators—will hold the grand opening of its first phase of construction on Friday at Missouri’s Spirit of St. Louis Airport (KSUS). According to its developers, the eight-acre complex on the north end of KSUS directly targets a hangar capacity gap on the field. KSUS had a hangar waitlist of more than 150 parties at the project’s groundbreaking a year ago.

“The model is also a bit different from most of what’s going up around the country—it’s not an FBO-attached or operator-leased build, but a country-club-style community of approximately 30 owner-operator members storing aircraft ranging from Cirrus single-engine pistons up through Cessna Citation light jets,” said company founding partner Alex Martin.

With that focus on smaller aircraft, each 3,472-sq-ft private hangar has an 18-foot-high door and is insulated and climate-controlled, with private bathrooms and 24/7 security. The company has not yet detailed further phases of development.

“What we tried to do with Spirit Sky Club is build for the way owner-operators actually use their aircraft today—not just storage, but a place they want to spend time,” Martin told AIN.

Canadian air navigation service provider Nav Canada has selected Indra Group, a Spanish air traffic management technology supplier, to build its planned flight information management system for remotely piloted aircraft (rFIMS). The centralized digital platform will integrate drones and other uncrewed aircraft into Canadian airspace. The agreement was signed last week at Airspace World 2026 in Lisbon.

The rFIMS will serve as the digital backbone linking Nav Canada with a growing network of remote-piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) traffic management service providers (RSPs) that will offer services directly to drone operators. The system will be deployed in phases, with initial capabilities—including foundational flight management, monitoring, and connectivity services—targeted to go live in 2029. Enhanced operational intelligence and tactical conflict management features are slated for later phases.

The partnership builds on the RPAS traffic management concept of operations that Nav Canada and Transport Canada, the country’s civil aviation authority, published in 2023. That concept envisions a collaborative 2030 ecosystem of regulators, service providers, and industry partners. Nav Canada said it will work with Transport Canada and prospective RSPs in the coming months to develop the standards and framework governing third-party participation.

Alpha Wingman has formed a customer advisory board (CAB) to help the maintenance service provider platform with its product roadmap, strategy, and service improvements. Founded in 2017, Alpha Wingman began as MRO Insider, connecting aircraft owners and operators with service providers.

CAB members will have the opportunity “to influence the tools used by Alpha Wingman members, share insights with peers, and get a first look at upcoming innovations within the Alpha Wingman ecosystem,” according to the company. Alpha Wingman also provides remote maintenance and service technician coordination through Alpha Workforce and offers MyVendors, “an operator-customized map to send electronic maintenance requests with one click.”

“The Alpha Wingman platform is the industry standard in managing and leading remote teams, sourcing AOG vendors, comparing quotes for scheduled maintenance, and accessing legitimate parts inventory in a transparent, efficient manner,” said company president Andy Nixon. “If we can bridge the gap between operators and providers, it will only lead to more transparency, uptime, and improved safety within the industry.”