Editor’s Log

Several items of interest crossed my desk in recent weeks, all of them involving the FAA and its ongoing struggle with technology and funding. That the agency has difficulties identifying and implementing strategies embracing new hardware, software and procedures shouldnt come as a surprise to anyone whos been paying attention over the last few years. Yet, these news items point out the FAA doesnt seem to have learned anything from its past mistakes and is poised to make a few more.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is one of those federal agencies wed have to create if it didnt already exist. The NTSB has its roots in the 1926 Air Commerce Act and, through successive legislation, was made independent of the FAA, for example, or any other government agency in 1974. Its mission has been relatively consistent throughout its history: “determining the probable cause of transportation accidents and promoting transportation safety. In 1996, Congress added the responsibility to assist victims of transportation accidents and their families. In addition to the aviation accidents and incidents highlighted in these pages, the NTSB also investigates maritime, rail, highway and even pipeline events.

Although Ive been accused of having Luddite tendencies, Im usually open to trying new things and doing old things differently. That said, a few years ago, I regularly ranted about proliferating portable electronic devices (PEDs) in the cockpit, usually focusing on the maze of power and data cables required. “A safety hazard,” I pointed out to anyone who would listen.

Its been more than six years since the FAA established the sport pilot certificate. Along with the rules on what a sport pilot can and cannot do, there was something noticeably missing: Any requirement for a sport pilot to obtain or hold an FAA medical certificate, as long as he or she has a U.S. drivers license (and had not been denied a medical). At the same time, the new rules allowed anyone with a higher certificate to fly a light sport aircraft without a current medical but with a current drivers license.

We spend a lot of time and space here fretting about training. In this issue, for example, regular contributor Bob Wright discusses the need for and obstacles to better integration into our training infrastructure of risk management concepts. Similarly, were always writing about getting with an instructor and practicing various maneuvers or procedures. But none of this is easy, nor inexpensive.Weve also railed from time to time about what Ill call the “FBO experience.” Too often, when a well-off prospective student and airplane owner drives his or her luxury SUV out to the airport to inquire about flying lessons, they are greeted in a dingy, poorly lit building by an uninformed employee who shrugs, saying, “Our flight instructor is up with a student.”

About the time this issue hits your mailbox, the FAAs standard phraseology for taxiing onto an active runway and stopping to await takeoff clearance will change. Instead of “taxi into position and hold,” the new instruction will be “line up and wait.” The change goes into effect September 30, 2010. This is similar to the mid-1990s switch from the FAA-standard set of weather reporting and forecasting abbreviations to the METAR/TAF format. The FAAs set of abbreviations had been in use since at least the 1960s, and probably going as far back as the 1930s.

Thankfully, most of my operations are fairly routine, and not too demanding of my average skills. The trick, of course, is keeping them sharp and knowing when to avoid a situation demanding more than I have to give. Thats one result of being trained by older instructors instead of time-building youngsters and accumulating a bit of experience over the years.

In June, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a regulatory document stating, in part, “The manufacture, importation, sale or use of 121.5 MHz ELTs is prohibited.” Relax: At this writing, the ban has not gone into effect and cannot until at least early September. Although the FCCs action apparently caught many unawares, it was telegraphed as long ago as 2001. The ban comes on the heels of-and is partly justified by-the February 2009 cessation of satellite-based monitoring of 121.5 MHz emergency locator transmitters by the responsible international organization. The present lack of satellite-based monitoring shouldnt be anything new to pilots or operators.

So, there I was, droning along level at 9000 feet. I had just launched from Cheap Fuel Stop, Fla, on a non-stop IFR to Virginia. I was cleared direct Savannah, and was motoring off in that general direction, from southwest of Orlando. Miami Center had turned me over to Orlando Approach. It was a typical Florida spring afternoon, with scattered white puffies in all quadrants, tops to about 7-8000 feet and smooth, clear air above.

A regional turboprop captain and his fatigued first officer engage in a wide-ranging discussion while maneuvering for an approach into Buffalo, N.Y. While descending in icing conditions, the crew allows their airplane to get slow enough the stick pusher activates. Instead of powering up and reducing the angle of attack, the captain abruptly pulls back on the yoke, forcing the airplane into a stall/spin from which it doesnt recover. All 49 aboard the Bombardier Dash-8 are killed, plus one on the ground.