Aircraft

Insurance giant American International Group Inc. is in talks to sell a 90% stake in its Century City aircraft-leasing company to Chinese investors. AIG revealed in a statement Friday that talks to sell International Lease Finance Corp. were underway. The New York insurance company has been trying to unload the unit since 2008, when AIG nearly collapsed and was forced to go under government control. The leasing company, better known as ILFC, buys aircraft and rents them to airlines for a fixed period.

In the blue skies above the Diablo Range, just east of San Jose, a Black Hawk helicopter flew a two-hour test mission controlled entirely by a computer -- without a pilot's hand. There were pilots aboard the aircraft, but all maneuvers during the flight were conducted autonomously, Army officials said . Through its sensors and onboard computers, the Black Hawk was able to sense surrounding terrain, assess risk and avoid possible threats. The Black Hawk, made by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., maintained a low-flying altitude of 200 and 400 feet throughout the flight.

A controversial plan to separate the two northern runways at Los Angeles International Airport by 260 feet advanced last week when airport staff recommended the proposal for further environmental review over other runway options. The recommendation, if approved by L.A.'s Board of Airport Commissioners, could set the stage for more battles over the modernization of LAX, which has been delayed for decades by lawsuits, community opposition and the changing visions of mayoral administrations.

Bombardier Inc. won a business-jet deal with luxury air-charter company VistaJet Holding that could be the biggest in its history, exceeding a transaction five months ago with Warren Buffett's plane-leasing unit. VistaJet ordered 56 Global-series aircraft and took options for 86 more as it taps Asian demand. The deal has a value of $3.1 billion, which would rise to $7.8 billion should all the planes be taken, Bombardier said in a statement. The business-jet agreement marks a second significant win for the Montreal aircraft maker, which in June reached a $7.3-billion agreement for as many as 275 of its Challenger aircraft with a unit of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Purchases of private aircraft had languished amid a recession and the global financial crisis that intensified in late 2008.

The U.S. Navy's new bat-winged experimental drone has been delivered to an aircraft carrier to undergo handling tests aboard the ship. The Navy said that sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman took delivery of the drone Monday from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, where it had been undergoing tests. Truman is the first aircraft carrier to conduct test operations for an unmanned aircraft. The drone, named the X-47B, is designed to perform one of aviation's most difficult maneuvers: landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

After a fellow soldier died, Army Sgt. Richard Essex watched his friend's family agonize over funeral details. He vowed to never let the same thing happen to his family. So while he was home for his sister's wedding last October, the Kelseyville, Calif., native gave his family some specifics. If anything happened to him, he didn't want to burden them with decisions. His car should go to his older brother and his guitar to a friend who wrote music. He made his family promise that the procession would pass in front of Kelseyville High School, from which he graduated in 2008.

The Federal Aviation Administration has recommended inspections for airlines that use seats made by the same Texas manufacturer of seats that came loose last month on several American Airlines planes. Reports of loose seats on three American Airlines flights forced the Fort Worth carrier last month to temporarily ground and inspect almost 100 jets to ensure the seats were securely fastened to the cabin floor. After initially blaming the problem on a faulty seat clamp, the airline later said that the problem had to do with locking pins in the seat that failed to engage, possibly because of a build-up of spilled soft drinks, coffee and juice.

In their last debate together, President Obama focused on one of the few areas on Syria policy where he and Mitt Romney have a substantial difference: giving heavy weapons to opposition members. Although the Obama administration has been helping Arab allies choose which opposition groups to give small arms to, it has opposed providing heavier anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons, fearing they might fall into the hands of extremists. But the former Massachusetts governor, in a major foreign policy speech two weeks ago, said he believed the United States should help the opposition obtain such weapons.

Seattle-based Alaska Airlines announced Thursday its biggest aircraft order, the purchase of 50 Boeing jets. The planes, three versions of the Boeing 737 jets, add to the current fleet of 120 Boeing 737s. But the airline said two-thirds of the new planes will replace aging aircraft. "This order positions us for growth and ensures that we'll continue to operate the quietest and most fuel-efficient aircraft available for the foreseeable future," Alaska Airlines President and Chief Executive Brad Tilden said in a statement.