Aviation Law

The Department of Justice has taken possession of a 31-year-old Boeing 747-300 cargo plane it says was used to carry weapons and soldiers of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO). Iranian airline Mahan Air transferred the plane to Venezuelan cargo carrier Emtrasur in 2022 in violation of international sanctions, the DOJ said. […]

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker has asked Congress to leave the current mandatory age-65 retirement age for airline pilots alone until the agency has studied the idea more. Whitaker sent a letter to Congress warning against what might be growing momentum toward boosting it to 67. “It is crucial to provide the agency an opportunity to […]

Four major aviation groups have signed on to comments to the FAA that would tweak the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to expand its benefits to recreational aviation. Monday was the comment deadline and EAA submitted the comments that were co-signed by AOPA, NBAA and the National Air Transportation […]

Things might be a little tense around the dinner table for Canadian family members thrown off an Air Canada flight on Jan. 3. The flight from Toronto to Calgary diverted to Winnipeg because of violent fracas involving two family members. “The investigation has determined that Air Canada flight #137 was en route from Toronto to […]

Jonathan J. Dunn, a former Delta Air Lines first officer who allegedly threatened to shoot his captain after suggesting to divert for a passenger’s medical emergency, called the incident a “misunderstanding” and joke, as reported by the Associated Press (AP).  According to the news agency, Dunn, who was charged with interfering with a flight crew, made his first court […]

An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to set off the fire suppression system on a company E175 in flight will face misdemeanor charges in Oregon for the widely publicized incident. He’s also likely to be released from custody to go home to California to await trial, according to the New York Times. A grand […]

A day before the NTSB will hold a daylong meeting on pilot mental health issues, the FAA announced the creation of its new rulemaking committee on the same topic. The Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Aviation Rulemaking Committee was officially formed with a committee charter and its role is to “provide a forum for […]

Russia’s Transport Minister has come out with what he says is the final tally of aircraft lost and gained when sanctions from the Ukraine invasion were imposed and it would appear the country made out like bandits. Vitaly Savelyev told Russian media outlet RBC (and translated by Business Insider) that 76 Russian-registered aircraft were stranded […]

A French pilot received a one-year suspended sentence and was banned from flying for a year after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the decapitation death of a wingsuit flyer in 2018. French media identified the pilot as 64-year-old Alain C. During the freak accident, the wing hit Nicolas Galy, 40, seconds after Galy jumped from the plane […]

The pilot of a balloon carrying six passengers that landed in Grand Teton National Park in July is facing Class B misdemeanor charges under the Code of Federal Regulations. As reported by a local Wyoming news source, Richard Glas told a court an unexpected wind shift took him into the Jackson Hole Airport airspace. Glas […]