briefs

A Finnish 757 pilot who was apprehended by police in August during his preflight and failed a breath test for alcohol was sentenced on Thursday by a U.K. court to six months in prison. A blood test had shown his alcohol level was twice the limit allowed for air traffic in the U.K. The pilot, […]

Lights are fine for marking towers, except when they’re not working, and those big orange balls help in spotting power lines, except when visibility is poor. To help prevent collisions, the FAA in Fort Worth, Texas, is testing a radar system that would continually scan the area around power lines or antennae for nearby aircraft, […]

A Cessna 340 that exploded on the ramp at Lafayette (La.) Regional Airport last week apparently had a slow fuel leak in its left wing tank, investigators say. The pilot of the airplane had reported fumes in the cockpit on its last flight, about three weeks ago. It sat on the ramp until a mechanic […]

China’s economy is the fastest-growing in the world, second only to the U.S. in overall production, and it seems to be ready for GA. Organizers of the 4th Annual GA Forum in China, set for March 2005, say that “yesterday’s potential has turned into today’s reality,” and now is the time to enter the market. […]

Friday, Chicago officials sent off a 43-page legal brief in response to the FAA’s concern that the city diverted $1.5 million from O’Hare’s federal airport development funds to pay for the destruction of Meigs field. The FAA has already ordered the city to pay a $33,000 fine for insufficient notice (not telling anyone at the […]

The FAA needs to change its rules to encourage pilots to totally clean frost from their aircraft’s wings before takeoff, rather than just smooth it out to remove the bumps, according to a safety recommendation from Britain’s Department for Transport. The recommendation was prompted by the investigation into the crash of a U.S.-owned and operated […]

____BRAINTEASERS Quiz #88 — Can You Get There From Here?br>Flying from point A to point B can involve a seemingly pointless exercise in dissecting regulatory minutiae. Since the Brainteaser writer leads a pointless existence, let’s get to the point and see what you know.

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If you’ve been flinching lately at fuel bills from your FBO or for your SUV, imagine how the airlines must feel, with that big fleet of thirsty gas-guzzlers and a big empty wallet. United Air Lines, which is struggling to emerge from bankruptcy, has started fuel-efficiency classes for its flight crew. Pilots — all 7,200 […]