Briefing: December 2010

The Office of Inspector General for the Transportation Department reports that the FAAs ADS-B plan faces significant risks and challenges. The number-one issue: Reluctance to purchase and install the required new avionics. Users have raised justifiable concerns about evolving requirements and uncertain equipage costs and benefits, the report says and brings back up the idea of cost sharing on incentives for upgrading users. The report also points to promised cost savings by using contractors that have evaporated or ended up costing more than doing things in-house. Meanwhile, the Airline Electronics Association says the new FAA guidelines that require ADS-B equipment to be installed under the supplemental type certificate (STC) process will stall early equipage, delay early implementation, and, at the extreme, cause the failure of ADS-B implementation all together.

Editorial Staff

Tuesday, September 30, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The FAA's ADS-B implementation plan faces "significant risks and challenges," including user reluctance due to evolving requirements and uncertain costs, as well as contractor cost overruns.
New European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) rules propose to invalidate FAA pilot certificates and instrument ratings for pilots living and operating in Europe, affecting an estimated 10,000 pilots.
A petition has been submitted to the FAA to eliminate the third-class medical requirement for pilots, proposing a valid driver's license as sufficient for aircraft under 6,000 pounds max gross weight.

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The Office of Inspector General for the Transportation Department reports that the FAA’s ADS-B plan faces “significant risks and challenges.” The number-one issue: Reluctance to purchase and install the required new avionics. “Users have raised justifiable concerns about evolving requirements and uncertain equipage costs and benefits,” the report says and brings back up the idea of cost sharing on incentives for upgrading users. The report also points to promised cost savings by using contractors that have evaporated or ended up costing more than doing things in-house. Meanwhile, the Airline Electronics Association says the new FAA guidelines that require ADS-B equipment to be installed under the supplemental type certificate (STC) process will “stall early equipage, delay early implementation, and, at the extreme, cause the failure of ADS-B implementation all together.”

The FAA will move forward on requiring photos for pilot certificates. The requirement for pilot certificates to have a photo and be capable of carrying biometric data (such as fingerprint or iris scans) has been around since 2004, but the FAA hasn’t completed the process. Currently, pilots are required to carry a government-issued photo ID in addition to their pilot certificate. The current certificates can carry the biometric data, although no such data currently is required.