Airplane News: China 737 Crash, Mid-Air Plane Swap, Embraer training Program, Textron & Pipistrel

This week in airplane news, a 737 has crashed claiming the lives of 132 people, RedBull pilots to attempt a mid-air plane swap, Embraer has announced a training program, and Textron will be purchasing Pipistrel. A 737-800 operated by China Eastern crashed on Monday. The aircraft was carrying 132 people. Currently, there are no survivors. ADS-B tracks of the 737 show that the airplane was in the cruise phase of flight and lost nearly 30,000’ of altitude in 3 minutes.  The aircraft was delivered to China Eastern by Boeing in 2015. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-plane-crash-eastern-airlines-boeing-737-guangxi-wuzhou-guangzhou/ Two red bull pilots will attempt to jump out of their planes and into the others where they will regain control and fly the other’s plane This stunt is sponsored by Redbull and will use a pair of C182s with custom air breaks.  The airplanes will dive from 14,000 feet and the event will air live on Hulu on April 24th.  https://www.redbull.com/us-en/events/plane-swap#:~:text=Skydivers%20Luke%20Aikins%20and%20Andy,and%20attempt%20to%20switch%20planes. Embraer has launched a new program that will offer grants, internships, and scholarships. Embraer will be choosing six aviation training programs to partner with in order to train their students. As part of EPP, Embraer will send representatives to each school to assist with academic support and advise on curriculum. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/embraer-launches-educational-partnership-program Purchase Agreement to acquire Pipistrel in Q2 of this year, developer of the Velis Electro aircraft  This will lead to the creation of Textron eAviation.  This will allow Textron to start developing urban air mobility aircraft, GA and cargo aircraft.  Hopefully, this doesn’t mean the death of the Velis since Textron has a history of canceling GA programs like the Skycatcher or the Corvalis. https://www.flyingmag.com/textron-to-acquire-pipistrel-in-bid-to-position-in-electric-airplane-market/