FAA

A plane flown by U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe ran off the runway after making a forced landing Sunday night in Ketchum, Oklahoma. The 81-year-old Oklahoma senator, who walked away from the incident unharmed, reportedly made the unscheduled landing in his aerobatic Harmon Rocket taildragger after encountering severe weather. Inhofe was flying in tandem with another […]

While most pilots understand the inherent dangers of operating a motor vehicle — airplane included — while attempting to fire off a quick text message, the FAA says text-based ATC, also known as controller-pilot datalink communications (CPDLC), is the wave of the future and is taking hold at airports around the United States. The agency […]

The following is an excerpt from official NTSB summaries of general aviation accidents in the United States. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report. Cessna 421B Diboll, Texas/Injuries: 1 […]

An air-travel ridesharing website that was shut down last year after a legal battle with the FAA is now taking its case to the nation’s highest court. Flytenow, an online service that paired private pilots with passengers to share flights in exchange for flight expenses such as fuel and fees, has asked the U.S. Supreme […]

The FAA says the Terrafugia Transition can now be called a light sport aircraft despite the fact that its maximum weight is 370 pounds greater than the standard LSA 1,430-pound limit. Terrafugia petitioned the agency for the exemption to use the LSA label for a street-legal version of the aircraft back in 2014. Although the […]

Modernization is not always a good thing as residents near major airports around the country have found out. Recently, new flight paths that were implemented as part of the modernized NextGen system have caused a stir with residents in Maryland and other parts of the country as more efficient routes are being implemented. The complaints […]

The FAA announced today it has finalized a set of rules for the routine commercial operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) weighing less than 55 pounds, including a provision requiring the operator to obtain a “remote pilot certificate.” Under the new rule, drone pilots must be at least 16 years old and possess such a […]

Piper’s M600 single-engine turboprop achieved FAA type certification last week, adding a new model to the Vero Beach, Florida, manufacturer’s lineup that features more power and improved avionics. The $2.853 million M600 features the same Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-42A engine as the Piper M500, but power has been boosted from 500 to 600 shp, […]

The FAA is still struggling to find enough qualified people to staff air traffic control facilities around the country, according to a DOT report released yesterday. Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), called the staffing situation a crisis, claiming controller numbers stand at their lowest level in 27 years. The […]

An Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) composed of both aviation and medical experts, working in conjunction with commercial airlines and pilots’ unions, will strive to create a holistic approach to improving pilot mental health evaluations, in part by encouraging voluntary reporting of pilot mental health issues. “While some conditions automatically disqualify someone from flying, many pilots […]