FAA

It took nearly a year of often contentious debate, but the U.S. House this week passed a long-term reauthorization of the FAA to replace the series of short-term extensions that have plagued the agency since 2015. The bi-partisan effort will run for five years. While the new legislation did not include his controversial amendment to […]

Many thousands of general aviation pilots are benefitting from the free in-cockpit weather information broadcast over the FIS-B link accessible by 978-MHz universal access transceivers – what most of us call ADS-B In. Now, a host of new weather products are coming to the service to provide pilots with even more information they can use […]

It was no big surprise that the House on Wednesday agreed to a spending package that included a short-term extension to the FAA, yet again kicking the can down the road on negotiations for a full reauthorization. The current extension would have expired at the end of this month. Bill Shuster (R-PA) said he still […]

The FAA is moving to temporarily grounding doors-off helicopter tour flights in which passengers are tethered to the aircraft, after the March 11 crash in New York City of a Liberty Helicopters Airbus AS350 that killed five people. “The FAA will order operators and pilots to take immediate actions to control or mitigate this risk,” […]

Under the FAA’s Part 107 rule, operators of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) are required to obtain approval to enter airspace controlled by an air traffic control facility. Airspace authorization is based on data from UAS Facility Maps, which generally allow for operations below 400 feet, and currently involves a 19-step manual application process, which […]

The Wall Street Journal ran a Valentine’s Day editorial that had nothing to do with love, at least not with folks on either side of the ATC privatization debate. The piece, “Private Jet-Setters Against Better Air Travel,” took the National Business Aviation Association to task for blocking reforms of the nation’s air traffic control system […]

The FAA has nearly completed its 20-year effort to install final versions of a new radar system at 11 large hub airports around the United States. Close on the heels of the agency’s work, the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General recently audited the program at the behest of the House Appropriations Committee to better understand […]

When we first came across a video last week of a drone’s dramatic encounter with an airliner, like a lot of people we assumed it was fake – or at least impossible to verify as real. Now, the FAA confirms to Flying it is taking the video very seriously, and members of the drone community […]

On January 26, the FAA issued an Emergency Order of Revocation against TapJets Inc., claiming that the company conducted various flights in violation of federal aviation regulations. The agency claimed that the company flew 10 flights during the period between September 28, 2016, and January 22, 2017, with unqualified pilots. Allegedly, one copilot only had […]

If you are one of many pilots who have stayed ahead of the mandate to install ADS-B-Out equipment in your airplane before January 1, 2020, you might want to make sure that the transponder codes in the system are correct. The FAA is cracking down on what is called non-performing equipment (NPE) — ADS-B equipment […]