FAA

PEGASAS, is not just another aviation-weather acronym—it stands for the Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility, and Sustainability, an FAA Center of Excellence for General Aviation. Amongst the long list of efforts produced by PEGASAS has been Project 4, Wx Technology in the Cockpit (WTIC), which concluded in August 2018. Project 4 collected information […]

The FAA published its final AD on inspections for a long series of single-engine Textron Aviation (Cessna) aircraft. The airworthiness directive goes into effect on November 12, 2020. The AD was prompted by cracks found in the lower area of the forward cabin doorpost bulkhead, and it requires repeated inspections of the lower area of […]

On August 28, the FAA published an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) 2020-18-51 for certain Sandia attitude indicators with a part number (P/N) 306171-10 or 306171-20 installed, as well as those marketed as BendixKing Model KI-300 or Sandia Model SAI-340A. This emergency AD was prompted by an initial report of three failed attitude indicators (P/N 306171-10) […]

Aircraft accident investigations often take years as the players sift through the physical evidence, voice and radar recordings and interview witnesses trying to piece together the cause. The ongoing investigation into last January’s crash of the helicopter (N72EX) carrying basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others, took an interesting twist last week after […]

We’d all like to live in a world with less extra paperwork—particularly when it comes to anything that duplicates effort, or leaves us having to wait for our slot on another person’s schedule. That’s why companies within the aviation industry seek efficiencies whenever they can to streamline the required approval processes in concert with the […]

Skydiving operators would like to carry as many people aloft for a single jump as possible—while observing the aircraft’s weight limits. However, the FAA has issued an important safety alert for pilots—20013—warning operators of a possibly overlooked hazard when using aircraft that are certified with two control wheels, such as single-engine Cessnas. In most skydiving […]

Epic Aircraft announced on July 23 that it had obtained the production certificate on the E1000 turboprop from the FAA, allowing for it to manufacture and flight test the airplane with a reduced presence from the agency. “Achieving [the] FAA Production Certificate is tremendous milestone,” said Epic Aircraft CEO Doug King. “It is a rigorous […]

In an action meant to address an “unsafe condition” on Diamond twins using these engines, the FAA published an airworthiness directive on July 27, that applies to certain Austro Engine GmbH model E4s and all E4P engines. The directive follows up on reports of “considerable wear of the timing chain on the affected engines,” according […]

During the NTSB’s probe into the February 2019 crash of an Atlas Air Boeing 767 into a marshy area in Trinity Bay, Texas, the board determined the crew lost control of the airplane as it approached Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The accident, an all-cargo flight, killed both pilots and also took the life […]

Gallipolis is a town in extreme southeastern Ohio—not to be confused with the World War I battle site on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. This one got its name in 1790, when some Frenchmen (“Gallia”) established a village or city (“polis”) across from where West Virginia’s Kanawha River joins the mighty Ohio. They’d been discovered […]