landing

Feb. 9 (UPI) — The fuel shortage in Cuba began to simultaneously impact air transportation and tourism after an international aviation alert reported that Havana’s José Martí airport will not have fuel for one month.

The government also began to close hotels and relocate tourists as part of an emergency plan in the face of one of the worst energy crises in the island’s history, worsened by the end of oil shipments from Venezuela and pressure from the government of Donald Trump on crude oil supplies.

An operational notice from the international NOTAM system Sunday confirmed that Havana’s José Martí international airport will not have Jet A-1 fuel, the standard for commercial aviation, for one month between Tuesday and March 11, digital outlet CiberCuba reported.

The notification not only warns of the fuel shortage, but also of temporary limitations in landing aid systems, in addition to the inoperability of the runway visual range system, which is used to measure visibility when weather conditions are unfavorable.

The restriction is not limited to the capital. Similar notifications indicate fuel shortages at the country’s nine other airports.

Aviation authorities warned airlines that reserves could run out within a short period if supplies are not restored.

The measure compromises commercial, charter, cargo and executive aviation flights, and forces companies to arrive with extra fuel, make refueling stopovers in other countries or reschedule operations, reported Cuba Noticias 360.

This situation contrasts with recent statements by Transport Minister Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, who had said operations at ports and airports remain guaranteed.

So far, international airlines have not communicated how they will deal with the contingency.

The impact is projected directly on tourism, the island’s main source of foreign currency.

Cancellations, delays and reduced air connectivity threaten the arrival of visitors from key markets such as Canada, Russia and Europe, in a context in which traveler confidence already shows signs of deterioration.

According to official figures, the arrival of international tourists to Cuba fell to 1.8 million in 2025, 17.8% less than in 2024. The result fell well short of the government target of 2.6 million visitors and marked one of the lowest records in more than two decades.

The energy crisis has as its backdrop the interruption of oil supplies from Venezuela, the island’s main supplier, following the capture of Nicolas Maduro.

This was compounded by the recent decision of the United States to declare a national emergency regarding Cuba and warn that it could impose tariffs on countries that supply oil to the Caribbean nation, in an escalation of pressure that has further complicated Havana’s access to fuel.

In parallel with the airport problem, the government has begun to close hotels in key tourist destinations and relocating foreign guests. The measure is part of an emergency plan to reduce energy consumption and reorganize facilities.

At least eight hotels closed in Cuba’s main tourist destinations and their clients are being relocated to other resorts amid the worsening national crisis and the shortage of fuel and supplies, Diario de Cuba confirmed from the island.

The hotel closures are occurring in the middle of the high season but amid travel advisories over the deterioration of internal conditions. The reduction of flights, energy uncertainty and hotel reorganization add pressure to an industry that is strategic for the Cuban economy.

Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga said on state television that the executive branch “has designed a plan in tourism to reduce energy consumption, compact tourist facilities and take advantage of the high season,” digital outlet Cuba LLama reported.

Sources from the sector indicated that destinations such as Varadero and the northern cays concentrate much of these measures, where international chains operate.

Authorities are maintaining an emergency plan that includes broader energy restrictions, a reduction of state activities and measures to manage available fuel.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Thursday he was willing to initiate a negotiation process “without pressure” with the United States to help economic difficulties facing the island.

He acknowledged that the lack of Venezuelan oil has placed the country in a “complex” energy situation, affecting not only electricity generation, but also the population’s basic economic activities.

While the United States has sent more than $5.95 million in humanitarian aid managed by the Catholic Church, a measure criticized by Havana because of its “grossly opportunistic political purposes,” it has insisted on the blockade regarding hydrocarbons.

Meanwhile, countries have sent assistance. China was behind a financial package of about $81 million and a food shipment of 60,000 tons of rice in January. Mexico, sent two Navy vessels Sunday loaded with 800 tons of humanitarian aid.

The U.S. Navy has shown no signs of reversing course on major changes to its pipeline for new naval aviators in its latest draft requirements for a replacement for its T-45 Goshawk jet trainers. The Navy has already axed carrier qualifications from the syllabus for prospective tactical jet pilots and has plans to significantly alter how other training is done at bases ashore. These decisions have prompted concerns and criticism, but the service argues that advances in virtualized training and automated carrier landing capabilities have fundamentally changed the training ecosystem.

Aviation Week was first to report on the recent release of the latest draft requirements for what the Navy is currently calling the Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS). The service is looking to acquire 216 new jet trainers to replace the just under 200 T-45s it has in inventory today. The Navy has been pursuing a successor to the T-45 Goshawk for years now, and the UJTS effort has been delayed multiple times. The goal now is to kick off a formal competition relatively soon, ahead of a final contract award in mid-2027.

A number of companies have already lined up to compete for UJTS. This includes Boeing with a navalized version of its T-7 Red Hawk, the TF-50N from Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the M-346N offered by Textron and Leonardo (and now branded as a Beechcraft product), and the Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Freedom jet.

The newest UJTS draft request for proposals reinforces the aforementioned changes to the carrier qualification and so-called Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) training requirements. Though conducted at bases on land, FCLP landings have historically been structured in a way that “simulates, as near as practicable, the conditions encountered during carrier landing operations,” according to the Navy.

The Navy’s plan now is to eliminate the actual touch-and-go component of FCLP training, also known as FCLP to touchdown, at least for students flying in the future UJTS jet trainer. Instead, the syllabus will include what is described as FCLP to wave off, where student pilots in those aircraft will fly a profile in line with being waved off from a landing attempt on an actual carrier prior to touchdown.

F-18 Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP). Touch-and-Go Landing.

“The Naval Aviation Enterprise has determined that the UJTS air vehicle will conduct FCLP [field carrier landing practice] to wave off,” a Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) spokesperson explained to Aviation Week. “However, FCLP to touchdown will be trained via other means in the UJTS system of systems.”

TWZ has reached out to NAVAIR for more information about the other elements of the planned “UJTS system of systems” that will be used to support continued FCLP to touchdown training requirements.

As noted, the Navy has already cut the carrier landing qualification requirement from the pipeline for individuals training to fly F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-35C fighters, as well as EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. At least as of last August, carrier qualifications were still part of the syllabus for student aviators in line to fly E-2 Hawkeye airborne early warning and control aircraft, as well as for all international students.

“Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) landings ashore are still required for graduation,” a Navy spokesperson also told TWZ in August 2025, but did not specify whether or not this meant “to touchdown.”

TWZ has reached out to the office of the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) for more information on current and future planned naval aviation training requirements.

All of this has major ramifications for the forthcoming UJTS jet trainer competition. Not even having to perform FLCPs to touchdown, let alone actual carrier qualifications, fundamentally changes the aircraft designs that can be considered to replace the carrier-capable T-45s. Carrier landings and takeoffs stress airframes, especially landing gear, in completely different ways compared to typical operations from airbases on land.

US Navy T-45 Goshawk carrier qualifications on USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)

As it stands now, only SNC’s clean sheet Freedom offering is explicitly designed for touch-and-goes on carriers and FCLP-to-touchdown landings ashore, and the company has been putting heavy emphasis on the continued importance of those capabilities. The other competitors that have emerged so far have presented variations on existing land-based jet trainer designs.

Freedom Family of Training Systems (FoTS)

“The strategic decision of moving carrier qualifications from the training syllabus to their fleet replacement squadrons was driven by increased technological capabilities in the fleet, as well as the need to reduce training pipeline times, enabling the fleet to receive qualified pilots faster,” the aforementioned Navy spokesperson also told TWZ last August. “After earning their initial qualifications after graduation, naval aviators in the strike pipeline are required to complete touch-and-goes and carrier landings at sea during their assignment at the Fleet Replacement Squadrons (FRS).”

FRSs provide initial training on specific types of aircraft before individuals move on to operational units. What this all means, in functional terms, is that the Navy is planning for a future where tactical jet pilots will not make a full FCLP landing, let alone touch down on a carrier, until after they are winged and flying a front-line aircraft.

Though not explicitly mentioned, the “increased technological capabilities” referred to here include the Navy’s substantial investments in virtualized training and automated carrier landing capabilities, such as Magic Carpet, in recent years.

Flight Ready: Magic Carpet

Flight Ready: Live, Virtual, Constructive

There is also a cost benefit arguement to be made. Eliminating the need for features required for carrier-based operations could help keep down the price tag of any future T-45 replacement, as well as reduce developmental risk. The overall changes to the training syllabus will have their own cost impacts with the cut down in time and resources required for a student pilot to get their wings.

At the same time, concerns and criticism have been voiced about the possible downstream impacts of cutting elements long considered critical to naval aviation training. What can be done in virtualized aviation training environments, in particular, has become very impressive in recent years, but they still cannot fully recreate the experience of live training events.

“Carrier qualification is more than catching the wire. It is the exposure to the carrier environment and how an individual deals with it,” an experienced U.S. Navy strike fighter pilot told TWZ back in 2020. “The pattern, the communications, the nuance, the stress. The ability to master this is one of our competitive advantages.”

The Navy does still has yet to issue a final set of requirements for the UJTS jet trainer. However, signs only continue to grow that the service is committed to its new vision for training future naval aviators.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Jan. 28 (UPI) — A NASA research jet performed a gear-up landing at Houston’s Joint Reserve Base Ellington after suffering a “mechanical issue,” according to NASA officials.

Uncorroborated video of the Tuesday landing posted online shows the plane, a WB-57 research aircraft, coming in low toward the runway, touching down with the belly of its fuselage.

Sparks, fire and smoke spew from the back of the plane as it comes to a stop, the video shows.

NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens said in a statement that the gear-up landing was the result of an unspecified “mechanical issue.”

“Response to the incident is ongoing, and all crew are safe at this time,” she said.

“As with any incident, a thorough investigation will be conducted by NASA into the cause. NASA will transparently update the public as we gather more information.”

The incident occurred at about 11:30 a.m. CST Tuesday on Runway 17R-35L, according to Houston Airports, the Texas city’s Department of Aviation.

The WB-57 high-altitude research plane is a mid-wing, long-range aircraft based near the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.

According to NASA, three of the jets operate out of Ellington Field, and can fly in excess of 63,000 feet above sea level. It can also fly for about 6 1/2 hours with a range of about 2,500 miles.

A pilot and a sensor equipment operator generally crew the aircraft during flights.