FAA

It’s not exactly breaking news that the aviation industry is running short of pilots and maintenance technicians. Boeing recently said the industry worldwide will require nearly 800,000 flight crew and nearly the same number of technicians over the next 20 years. The FAA last week held a Workforce Development Symposium in Washington to call attention […]

Swift Fuels has suspended its work with the Phase-II Piston Alternative Fuels Initiative (PAFI) — the FAA’s initiative to test and develop ASTM standards for unleaded replacements for the low-lead aviation fuels currently used in approximately 167,000 aircraft. Swift Fuels and Shell were the two finalists in the program. In June it was announced that […]

The regular battle to keep the FAA operational has become too much for a long list of groups affected by the government authority. Since 2015, the senate has only authorized short-term extensions. The latest reauthorization of FAA activities spanned six months and will expire at the end of September, continuing the uncertainty in the aviation […]

Nothing ruins a pilot’s day more than landing on the wrong runway, or even worse, touching down on a taxiway the pilot mistakenly thought was the runway. While a slap to the head is certainly in order for anyone who falls prey to a case of mistaken runway identity, there’s also the potential for much […]

The FAA last week committed to immediately address the industry’s growing shortage of designated pilot examiners available to give checkrides for all categories of pilot certificates. The Flight School Association of North America says some of the areas hardest hit by DPE shortages include “Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Texas, the Carolina’s and areas in […]

The National Transportation Safety Board held its first ever road show event yesterday at AirVenture with an entire day focused on loss of control, an industry epidemic that claims more lives than any other single cause. NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt, a retired airline pilot, emphasized the importance of solving this nagging problem during his opening […]

Politico‘s Morning Transportation reported Wednesday that, “Commerce Chairman John Thune told reporters Tuesday that lawmakers have offered about 100 amendments to the FAA reauthorization (S. 1405 (115)), and aides are “trying to narrow that list of amendments down to a handful.” He reiterated that the bill could reach the floor next week at the earliest […]

When John came to in the hospital a number of years ago after a lapse of consciousness, you will appreciate that the very first concern he expressed was for his aviation medical certificate. Perhaps the most significant and deeply personal touchpoint with the FAA for every pilot is the medical certification process. To a pilot, […]

Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’gn5840itSUh0B9b3lnexNA’,sig:’ArMNSzFS_lZ9n6jvWcwoZg2BBVtK2ciysk8_zgCNgeU=’,w:’594px’,h:’396px’,items:’84315862′,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })}); The FAA proposed new standards for bird strike testing in jet engines, as a response 2009’s “Miracle on the Hudson” incident. The proposed new test standards are based on a report from 2015 on the accident. In 2009, a US Airways Airbus A320 flew into a flock […]

After receiving a report of undersized fasteners possibly being used during the construction of some Piper M600s, the FAA on Tuesday issued an airworthiness directive to address what it called an “unsafe condition.” The AD, effective July 25, 2018, is aimed at M600s serial numbers 4698004 thru 4698041. The agency’s concern is focused on the […]