FAA

The introduction of new aircraft might have just become a lot easier. The FAA has accepted ASTM International standards as a means of certification for Part 23 aircraft. A new rule published by the FAA on May 11 allows for 63 Means of Compliance based on 30 ASTM consensus standards related to general aviation aircraft. […]

FAA reauthorization legislation that would fund programs through 2023 heads to the U.S. Senate after passage of the House bill, HR 4, late last month. Lawmakers say they hope they can begin debating the legislation in the Senate in the coming weeks and get a final bill to President Donald Trump’s desk before the August […]

A beta testing phase of the FAA’s Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) is being incrementally implemented across the United States. The testing phase has begun in the south central region of the country and, once completed in mid-September, the LAANC will cover nearly 300 air traffic control facilities and about 500 airports. A […]

The FAA has addressed a long-simmering aircraft availability issue that focuses on pilots trying to earn some pilot certificates. Until yesterday, the agency required commercial pilot applicants, as well as applicants for single-engine flight instructor ratings, to fly at least a portion of the checkride in a complex aircraft, that is, one with retractable landing […]

The message from GA pilots to Congress on Tuesday was loud and clear: Leave ATC alone. Amid an outcry from general aviation groups, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) dropped an eleventh-hour effort to move oversight of air traffic control out of the FAA and into the Department of Transportation, a maneuver […]

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 […]