FAA

With slightly more than two days left before the FAA’s funding authority was set to expire, Congress approved a six-month extension, a stopgap measure that keeps the agency afloat until March 31, 2018. One significant stumbling block to the short-term extension before today seems to have been language attached to the bill that would have […]

At least 10 people are dead and as much as $85 billion in insured losses have been reported since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm last Wednesday. Some officials have called the aftermath “apocalyptic,” while one said Maria set Puerto Rico back “20 to 30 years.” San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín […]

An FAA aviation rulemaking advisory committee thinks it could be time to update the experience required that decides when a certified flight instructor is eligible to train another pilot for the CFI rating. Currently, FAR Part 61.195 (h)(2)(iii) says only an instructor who has held the certificate for more than 24 months and has logged […]

The Part 13 complaint the AOPA filed yesterday with the FAA on behalf of its membership focused on egregious FBO pricing at three primarily GA airports: Chicago’s Waukegan (UGN), Asheville NC (AVL) and Florida’s Key West International (EYW). The Part 13 complaint process is an informal method for impacted parties to ask the FAA to […]

People were warned not to fly their aerial photography platforms leading up to Hurricane Harvey. The FAA knew that onlookers by drone would be a hazardous problem for the incoming hurricane and post hurricane relief efforts. The FAA’s official statement: “The FAA warns unauthorized drone operators that they may be subject to significant fines if […]

Since Hurricane Harvey first made landfall in Rockport, Texas, as a category 4 storm with winds as high 130 mph, it has been clear that the damage done to southeastern Texas and other Gulf areas would be catastrophic and historic. FEMA director Brock Long called Hurricane Harvey a “landmark event” in terms of the damage […]

The FAA is asking for comments on an airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Lycoming engines. The AD, 2017-NE-27-AD, which requires an inspection of connecting rods and replacement of affected connecting rod small end bushings, was prompted by reports of connecting rod failures resulting in uncontained engine failure and in-flight shutdowns. While the emergency AD became […]

The Department of Transportation’s Inspector General, Calvin Scovel III, last week delivered an 18-page letter to House Transportation leaders Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), Chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Chairman Subcommittee on Aviation, following a six-month deep dive into the FAA’s business case and assumptions about NextGen. After […]

With an eye in the mirror of history over the closing of Chicago’s Meigs Field 20 years ago without a hard enough fight, the National Business Aviation Association and five related stakeholders yesterday challenged the legality of the January agreement between the FAA and the City of Santa Monica allowing the city to first shorten […]

In government dollars, $162 million might seem like chump change, especially when it gets split up 72 ways. But for the recipients of the airport grants announced yesterday by the FAA, the money means an opportunity to add or repair much needed airport infrastructure. Yesterday’s award is part of the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program, grants […]