briefs

Emma Carter Browning began her flying career in 1929 with a $1 plane ride in Abilene, and last week, at age 92, the Texas Department of Transportation gave her its lifetime achievement award. Browning, a pioneer in Austin aviation, worked with her late husband, barnstormer Robert Browning Jr., to start an FBO at University Airport […]

Tuesday was the last day to comment on the FAA’s recent final rule that allows the TSA to deem any pilot a security threat, making that person ineligible to hold any FAA airman certificate. There is no appeal except to the TSA, which may not reveal its evidence, at its own discretion. About 640 comments […]

A young aviator at Delta State University in Jackson, Miss., started up a conversation with his passenger on a short charter flight — the conversation changed his life. Lamar Buchanan, a 24-year-old senior, told Nelson Wilson how tough it is to cover the costs of flight training. When student loans fell short, Buchanan took to […]

Owners of GE CT7 turboprop engines must repeatedly inspect propeller gearbox impending bypass buttons for extension and replace other parts as necessary to ensure the props feather properly when the pilot wants them to. Owners of Air Tractor models AT-300, -301, -302 and -440A must inspect the centerline splice joint for cracks and report those […]

Canada’s government is giving its major airports a blueprint on the fees it can charge for aeronautical and passenger services. The government has introduced the Canada Airports Act in Parliament. And since the governing Liberal Party controls Parliament by a hefty majority, the proposed legislation is almost sure to pass. Much of the new act […]

Lawsuits by two United Air Lines mechanics contend that documents were falsified and corners cut in a maintenance contract for the military’s C-17 Globemaster transports. The documents, obtained by The Dallas Morning News, allege that mechanics were told to hide evidence of oil leaks in the engines and to say on documents that they’d properly […]

For the record, on March 11, the Air Transport Association predicted “a serious risk of chaotic industry bankruptcies and liquidations” that could result in “forced nationalization of the industry.” Within days of the start of hostilities in Iraq, those predictions are already coming true. On Friday, Hawaiian Airlines filed for Chapter 11 protection. The 73-year-old […]

If it works in Alaska, does it mean that true GPS/WAAS IFR navigation will come to the Lower 48? On March 13, the FAA passed a final rule creating Special Federal Aviation Regulation 97 that allows properly equipped aircraft in parts of Alaska to use satellite-based navigation aids as their sole reference during en route […]

We flew less but we crashed proportionately more in 2002, according to a new report by the NTSB. There were actually 12 fewer GA accidents in 2002 (1,714) compared to 2001 (1,726) but because we spent less time in the air, the accident rate actually jumped from 6.28 per 100,000 hours to 6.56. Despite fewer […]

Qantas, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) and the Center for Sleep Research at the University of South Australia have joined forces to conduct a major study on pilot fatigue. The Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) study will be conducted in three phases, with the aim of discovering […]