briefs

The door was opened with the sport pilot regulations and now AOPA is asking that recreational certificate holders also be allowed to forego flight medicals. AOPA has formally applied to the Department of Transportation to make the medical standard for rec pilots the same as for sport pilots, namely a valid state driver’s license. AOPA […]

Air-tour operators who use quieter airplanes in the Grand Canyon could be rewarded with more flights and routes under a long-awaited set of noise guidelines published last week in the Federal Register by the FAA. The rules set maximum noise levels for various types of aircraft and allow aircraft with greater seating capacity to make […]

While the future of the flight service station contract is anything but settled, employees who will lose their jobs in the eventual transformation of the system now know how they will be dealt with. The FAA and the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists have reached a reduction in force (RIF) agreement that the FAA […]

India’s civil aviation rules were written in 1937, two years before Igor Sikorsky first flew a helicopter, and they apparently haven’t been substantially amended to include rotorcraft. The day after two senior Indian politicians were killed in a helicopter crash (apparently not an uncommon occurrence in India) Indian officials agreed they should revamp their regs […]

Operators of 1,600 older Boeing airliners may have to fork out a total of up to $660 million (an average of about $400,000 per plane) to replace insulation in the cabin walls if they want to keep them flying beyond 2011. The FAA Friday issued a release proposing an Airworthiness Directive that identifies the transparent […]

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COLUMNS Say Again? #48: Vectoring for FunIFR pilots who spend time in non-radar areas are glad to get back in “radar contact” so they don’t have to spend all that time on the full approach procedures. But then come the dreaded words, “… vectors for spacing …” AVweb’s Don Brown explains why ATC likes giving […]

There are times when being forced to land by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) can be a good thing. In fact, it might even save a life. A 22-year-old California pilot got lost and strayed into Mexico last Tuesday after taking off from Glendale in a Cessna 152. By the time he got […]

(… So far.) An Air New Zealand pilot who is prone to fainting appears to be winning a legal battle to regain his flying privileges. Geoff Paterson, 52, of Auckland, a Boeing 767 captain, has fainted three times since 1990, although it’s not clear whether he was flying at the time. After the first two […]