An FAA program for non-punitive reporting of safety concerns among air traffic controllers needs “significant improvements” before it can become effective, according to the Transportation Department Office of Inspector General (OIG). The safety reports are meant to reveal safety issues while protecting the controllers who submit them, but the OIG says reports have been accepted that address “air traffic controller conduct issues,” rather than performance concerns. These include controllers falling asleep, viewing videos while on position, and refusing to take handoffs. This leaves us wondering: If those aren’t the safety issues worth reporting, what are?
Avidyne is still finishing up its IFD540—a slide-in replacement for Garmin’s GNS 530—but that didn’t stop them from announcing the IFD440. This is a slide-in replacement for what’s probably the most popular GPS navigator of all time: the Garmin GNS 430. The IFD440 will have both a touchscreen and conventional knobs and buttons, as well as FMS operating logic from the company’s R9 integrated glass. Two IFD440s can act like one larger unit, with a virtual keyboard on one to enter data on the other.
