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This post has been updated. Logan International Airport in Boston is experiencing some delays in service, according to FlightStats.com , after two explosions at the Boston Marathon on Monday left at least two dead and more than 20 injured. A separate explosion at the JFK Library appears to be fire-related and unconnected to the other blasts, according to officials. Earlier, the airport tweeted that the FAA had issued a "ground stop," around 1:50 p.m. Pacific time, which would hold planes at their point of departure and prohibit them from landing in Boston.

In addition to that famously steep takeoff from John Wayne Airport, passengers aboard some departing jets in Orange County might be asked to endure multiple turns as pilots take a zigzag course as they lift off over Newport Beach. The zigzag takeoff pattern - meant to reduce jet noise in the beach city - would be a first in the continental U.S. Over the decades, the city has fought and sued in an effort to tame noise from the commercial airport, and flights in and out of John Wayne are now some of the most strictly controlled in the country.

WASHINGTON - Although the prospect of drones flying over U.S. cities is generating cries of spies in the skies, groups from California to Florida are fiercely competing to become one of six federally designated sites for testing how the remotely piloted aircraft can safely be incorporated into the nation's airspace. North Dakota boasts of its "minimal air traffic congestion. " North Carolina, whose license plates read "First in Flight," cites its aviation history. California pitches its diverse geography: desert, mountains and ocean.

A small plane ditched in Big Bear Lake on Saturday after losing engine power, but those on board were able to get out with only minor injuries, authorities said. The single-engine Beechcraft A36 Bonanza came to rest upside down near the lake's south shoreline, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said. The FAA defines ditching as emergency landings on water. The plane had left Carlsbad airport Saturday morning, and its pilot reported engine trouble and planned to land at Big Bear Airport, said Sgt. Ryan Collins of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

The 149 air-traffic control towers scheduled to be shut down Sunday due to federal budget cuts will be kept open for two more months, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday. The extension, through June 15, gives officials two months to deal with lawsuits regarding the closure, according to a statement issued by the agency. The FAA will also review "appropriate risk mitigations" and consult with airports and operators. The FAA had announced in March that they would close as many as 238 towers as part of mandatory federal budget cuts.

Boeing Co. completed a certification demonstration flight on its 787 Dreamliner to test a proposed fix for the lithium-ion battery systems that led to the commercial jet's grounding in January. The aerospace giant said the flight Friday marked the final certification test for the new battery system required by Federal Aviation Administration to get the 787 fleet airborne again. In the coming days, Boeing will gather and analyze the data and submit materials to the FAA. Then the company will find out whether further fixes or test flights are necessary.

Boeing Co. said it plans a nearly two-hour test flight of a 787 Dreamliner to test its proposed fix for the lithium-ion battery systems that led to the commercial jet's grounding in January. The flight on Monday is the latest attempt by the aerospace giant to win approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and get the 787 fleet airborne again. During the test, the 787 - a production airplane built for LOT Polish Airlines - was scheduled to take off at 11 a.m. Pacific time and land at Paine Field in Everett, Wash.

Seven air-traffic control towers in Southern California will close next month as a result of forced federal budget cuts, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday. The FAA had been considering closing as many as 189 air-traffic control towers at smaller airports across the nation, including 14 in Southern California . The FAA must cut $637 million by Sept. 30 as part of $85 billion in cuts across the federal government. Southern California will lose towers in Fullerton, Oxnard, Riverside, San Diego, Victorville, Pacoima and Lancaster.

Twenty-three air traffic control towers in California are among more than 200 nationwide scheduled to close April 7 as the Federal Aviation Administration begins imposing $600 million in federal budget cuts. It was unknown which traffic control towers would be affected when the automatic federal budget cuts in the so-called sequestration kicked in March 1, but the FAA last week released a list of airports, mainly small and medium-sized, that will be affected. They include airports in Riverside, Fullerton and El Monte.

Federal officials said on Tuesday that they are investigating a report from a pilot of an Alitalia passenger jet who said he saw an unmanned aircraft or drone in the skies over Brooklyn. The Alitalia pilot told officials that he saw the aircraft as he approached the runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday afternoon. The pilot said the aircraft was four to five miles southeast of the airport and was flying at an altitude of about 1,500 feet. "We saw a drone, a drone aircraft," the pilot can be heard on radio calls captured by LiveATC.net, a website that posts air traffic communications.