U.S. Federal Aviation Administration

Boeing announced that it has halted flight testing of the 777X after finding a failure in a structure on one of the wide-body aircraft.

The company said it discovered the damage to the custom part, which it said is located between the engine and the propeller, during scheduled maintenance. It has since grounded the other three aircraft in its test fleet.

Boeing is giving subcontractor Spirit Aerosystems $425 million in advance payments so it can maintain production and allow the U.S. aviation giant to fulfill its orders, a regulatory filing has shown.

Boeing has faced intense scrutiny since a near-catastrophic incident in January, when a fuselage panel blew off of a 737 MAX mid-flight.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has recommended that airlines inspect door plugs on Boeing 737-900ER jets after a blowout on another type of aircraft with a similar mid-cabin exit earlier this month.

Russia has concentrated more than 150,000 troops on Ukraine's border and in annexed Crimea, the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday after EU foreign ministers were briefed by Ukraine's foreign minister.

The flight recorder of the Boeing 737 plane that skidded off the runway at Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen Airport on Feb. 5 will be examined in Europe in a bid to shed light to the accident which killed three passengers and injured 180 people, including all of the crew members.

Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines on Jan. 8 temporarily suspended its scheduled flights to Iraq and Iran.

Turkish Airlines said that due to tensions between Iran and the U.S., the flights to Iraq and Iran will halt until 9.00 p.m. local time (1800GMT) on Jan. 9.

The airlines' flights will not use the airspace of these two countries, it added.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which claimed responsibility for the attack, said the attacks on the bases were "revenge for the killing of top Iranian General, the Quds Unit Commander Qasem Soleimani."

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is facing mounting criticism for backing the airworthiness of Boeing's 737 Max jets as the number of countries that have grounded the aircraft grows in the wake of the Ethiopian Airlines crash over the weekend.

Adviser "blames minister" for plane engine failure

BELGRADE -- Presidential adviser Oliver Antic has said that Minister Zoran Mihajlovic is to blame for the malfunction of a government plane.

A Florida man was arrested after he landed his small helicopter on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol on April 15, police said, violating restricted airspace and causing a security scare.