Aviation News

The National Business Aviation Association said it will continue to fight to protect Santa Monica Airport after a federal court denied on procedural grounds the association’s petition to overturn an agreement between the FAA and the city of Santa Monica that cleared the way for the city to eventually close the airport. The association noted […]

NASA’s remotely-piloted Ikhana aircraft on Tuesday successfully flew its first mission in the National Airspace System without a safety chase aircraft. The UAV departed from the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California and moved the United States one step closer to normalizing unmanned aircraft operations in the airspace used by commercial and private […]

A certification engineering firm has devised a solution for seven-place Piper PA-32 and PA-34 owners who are unable to comply with the six-place requirement under BasicMed to take advantage of the medical certification reforms – free of charge. A full list of Piper aircraft that are covered by Aeronautix’s AML-STC is included on the company’s […]

The final rule overhauling Part 23 Airworthiness Standards for GA aircraft officially took effect last summer. Recently the FAA issued 63 means of compliance (MOCs) for Part 23 intended to ease installation of innovative, safety-enhancing technologies into small airplanes while keeping costs down. The FAA participated with industry and other stakeholders in developing the standards […]

In a press release, Airbus explained it will next month acquire most of the C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership (CSALP) comprised of Airbus, Bombardier and Investissement Québec (IQ). Bombardier describes its C Series as a single-aisle commercial jet aimed at the 100 to 150-seat market, built with advanced aluminum and composites and boasting 18 percent […]

In an update posted on the agency’s website, the FAA said although two unleaded replacement fuels have been chosen for the Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative (PAFI), flight and some engine testing has been paused to assess the effects they will have on the larger GA fuel producing industry and the GA fleet. Both fuel producers, […]

DOT Secretary Elaine Chao last week said the administration might be reconsidering one of the most controversial elements of the 2010 Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act, the provision that requires Part 121 first officers on scheduled air carriers to possess an ATP rating before setting foot in the cockpit during regular revenue service. The […]

The FAA’s Southern Region has rejected the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s claim that “egregious” FBO pricing at Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina violates federal airport grant assurances, calling the Part 13 complaint the association filed last summer “unpersuasive.” The FAA Southern Region Airports Division wrote in a June 7 letter to AOPA general […]

Remember all the dire predictions about the FAA’s upcoming ADS-B equipment mandate, the ones that warned aircraft owners of a projected logjam of necessary installation work as the January 1, 2020, deadline approached? It’s looking more and more like those prognostications were spot on. With a year and a half left to go before the […]

Airline pilots are bristling at the suggestion that the nation’s pilot shortage can be solved by a transition to single-pilot cockpits, calling the plan an attack on safety and urging Congress to act. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) wants the House to strike language from draft FAA reauthorization legislation calling for research into single-pilot […]