FAA

The cover story in The New York Times magazine for September 22, 2019, was entitled, “What Really Brought Down the Boeing 737 Max?” The writer, William Langewiesche—son of the sainted author of Stick and Rudder, Wolfgang Langewiesche—is a veteran of Flying, an experienced pilot, and a thorough and technically savvy researcher of his wide-ranging articles […]

The FAA has taken emergency action against Paradigm Air Operators, of Dallas, Texas, revoking the company’s operating certificate. The agency alleges that Paradigm conducted illegal charter flights using pilots who were not qualified for Part 135 operations, and lacking appropriate management and safety personnel. Paradigm’s current operating certificate had allowed it to operate flights that […]

On March 8, 2017, the FAA granted Boeing an amended type certificate for the 737 Max 8, the 12th derivative of the 737 and the first successor aircraft to the 737 NG series. The first fatal crash of a Lion Air 737 Max 8 occurred just 17 months later near Jakarta, Indonesia. Another Max 8, […]

Transport Canada and the FAA are looking for input on the operation of the cargo doors on certain models of the Cessna 206, particularly those involving floatplane installations. An August 2018 accident in the Northwest Territories, Canada, trigged the request. The pilot of the Simpson Air Limited Cessna U206G had four passengers on board the […]

Drone operators, including DJI, a world leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, have filed more than 51,000 comments to the FAA’s recent Remote ID rule, urging the FAA to reconsider requiring two means of compliance to the rule. DJI’s 89-page formal comment outlines a path where drone pilots could choose one of two […]

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently released Advisory Circular AC No: 61-142, which spells out in great detail the regulations that allow private pilots flying non-commercial flights to share expenses with their passengers. While most private pilots understand what can be considered legal when sharing expenses, FAA provides guidance in the AC backing up their […]

The US Chamber of Commerce hosts its 19th Annual Aviation Summit 2020 on March 5, 2020, in Washington, D.C. The summit brings together a host of leaders from across aviation to “discuss the many challenges and opportunities facing the aviation industry, including rich conversations on international flight, advancements in aviation technology, and opportunities and challenges […]

Effective March 9, 2020, the FAA has released an airworthiness directive calling for the inspection of Cessna 210s in a specific model range, to determine the presence of corrosion and evidence of fatigue in the carry-through spar lower cap and carrying out mitigating preventative maintenance. The AD comes as the result of an in-flight breakup […]

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced a new FAA rule in the Federal Register created to enhance the professional development of pilots operating at Part 121 and Part 135 commercial carriers. A DOT news release announcing the effort said, “All captains are now required to receive leadership and command training, as well as mentoring […]

Following a well-publicized ground fire on December 27, 2019, beginning in the cabin of a Cirrus Vision Jet in Santa Monica, the company released a service bulletin (SBA5X-23-03) on February 7 to correct the problem, which was traced to a potential malfunction of the audio interface circuit card that could have resulted in the overheating […]