FAA

President Donald J. Trump’s memorandum to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao called for an initiative to safely test operations for drones in partnership with state and local governments in select jurisdictions. The Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program will be used to accelerate the integration of UAS into the national airspace […]

There was good news at the FAA’s General Aviation Safety Summit held this week in Washington, D.C. “We’re still finalizing the numbers, but it looks like 2017 will end up being our safest year yet,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta in a speech at the Summit. The fatal accident rate has declined below one per […]

The National Transportation Safety Board this week called upon the FAA to treat balloon pilots like all others by requiring them to possess a current medical certificate. Currently, balloon pilots are exempt from medical certificate requirement in order to conduct commercial operations. In an abstract of the soon-to-be-released final report, the NTSB took the FAA […]

A temporary restraining order that had Santa Monica Airport supporters jumping for joy last week turned out to be short lived. The City of Santa Monica plans to start the process of shortening runway 3-21 on October 23 after Senior U.S. District Judge Ronald S. Lew denied a preliminary injunction and dissolved a temporary restraining […]

Just two weeks after an Air France Airbus A380 enroute to Los Angeles from Paris made an emergency landing at Goose Bay Labrador, following the failure of an engine fan hub, the FAA issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive against the airplane’s Engine Alliance GP7200 series powerplants. The Air France A380’s number four engine on September […]

Remember those executive orders President Donald Trump issued early this year aimed at simplifying and cutting costs in government? My favorite was the one requiring agencies to repeal two existing regulations before creating a new one. Close on the heels of that came “Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda,” which directed agencies to evaluate existing regulations […]

The FAA’s panel of experts and law enforcement officials could not agree on the specifics of tracking civilian drones, such as what models should be radio tracked, and whether or not size and weight should be determining factors. The panel is wrapping up as the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the first case of […]

According to the Santa Monica Airport Association (SMAA), a temporary restraining order from the California District Court has put the brakes on the City of Santa Monica’s plans to shorten the runway at the Santa Monica Airport. The city had planned to start reducing the available runway length from 4,973 to 3,500 feet today, with […]

If you had plans to take scenic shots of the Statue of Liberty, or diving the Hoover Dam with your new racing quad — we’re looking at you, Paul ‘Nurk’ Nurkkala and your viral train video — the FAA may have just ruined your next drone adventure. Beginning on October 5, the FAA is “using […]

Construction, or perhaps it should be called destruction efforts, aimed at reducing the usable length of Santa Monica airport’s 4,973-foot runway to 3,500 feet begin next Monday, October 9. Phase One work shuts down the airport during the overnight hours of 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. until just before Christmas. No work will be performed […]