FAA Certification

Three major themes took center stage on February 19, 2020, at the annual meeting of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Leaders from OEMs and a broad range of associations and industry executives met for GAMA’s release of its 2019 sales report—but the increase in shipments and billings […]

Stans, Switzerland-based Pilatus Aircraft has become the first business jet manufacturer to achieve something many expected would be impossible—certification for rough field operations—for its PC-24 Super Versatile Jet. Since 2018, the bizjet has been certified to land on dry sand and gravel, but complete rough field certification allows the PC-24 to land on additional surfaces, […]

After nearly two decades of ups and downs, Bend, Oregon-based Epic Aircraft is celebrating the biggest achievement of the company’s history–the certification of its E1000 single-engine turboprop. The coveted paperwork for the sleek, speedy airplane was signed off yesterday by Ron Landes, Manager of the FAA’s Seattle Aircraft Certification Office (ACO). The Epic E1000 is […]

Founded in 2017 at South Texas Regional Airport in Hondo, Texas, startup Texas Aircraft Manufacturing (TAM) made a splash at last summer’s EAA AirVenture Oshkosh when they introduced their new-generation Colt Light Sport Aircraft (S-LSA). Now, just months later, the company has announced that the Colt has received full FAA ASTM (American Society for Testing […]

Textron Aviation, parent company of Cessna Aircraft, said yesterday that its new super-midsize business jet, the Citation Longitude, has received its type certification from the FAA. Agency type certification paves the way for deliveries of the new airplane to begin. The Longitude’s certification follows the most robust flight, structural and component qualification testing completed on […]

Italian aircraft builder Tecnam said its P2012 Traveller and the number A00076CE are forever linked thanks to the FAA. That’s the full certification number the agency assigned the airplane last week when they gave the machine the final U.S. green light. Tecnam is now on track to begin delivering airplanes around the globe, beginning with […]

The journey to type inspection authorization can move in fits and starts for a manufacturer, so when that momentous piece of paper is granted to an organization, a certain amount of celebration’s in order. Epic Aircraft announced today it has passed this critical milestone on the road to type certification on the E1000. CEO Doug […]

The instrument rating requirement for commercial pilots created a hullabaloo in Juneau, Alaska, that was just an early episode in the ongoing dialog about the qualifications a commercial pilot should have. For the commercial seaplane pilots in the area, it was unhappy times. The FAA had just mandated that all commercial pilots must have an […]

Gulfstream Aerospace announced on Friday, June 28, 2019, it received not only FAA type certification but also production certification for the G600. The approval caps nearly 100,000 hours of simulated flight in total during the ground testing program, and more than 3,200 hours of flight testing by the company. Years prior to the first flight […]

In 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed in the Buffalo, New York, metropolitan area, killing all 49 passengers and crewmembers on board and one person inside the house into which the Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 crashed. The extensive post-crash investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the pilots were completely at fault. The captain […]