briefs

National Air Traffic Controllers Association President John Carr has offered to meet personally with FAA Administrator Marion Blakey to try to achieve a negotiated settlement in the current contract impasse. Last week, Blakey rejected the union’s call for a return to the bargaining table, saying the two sides are too far apart on money issues. […]

The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) and the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) say legislation aimed at solving a mythical problem has caused some real concerns for fuel dealers and, believe it or not, has resulted in taxes on jet fuel being pumped into a trust fund for highway improvements. New legislation (S.2666, which has […]

AOPA President Phil Boyer says the FAA’s justification for imposing user fees is just hot air. Boyer told the American Association of Airport Executives meeting in San Diego last week that, far from going broke, the Airport and Airways Trust Fund is awash in cash and will have billions in the bank in coming years. […]

COLUMNS Say Again? #62: Too Close for ComfortWe can learn a lot from accidents, but wouldn’t it be great to learn from near accidents — those that don’t actually have to be reported? AVweb’s Don Brown recently saw some dangerous situations that point out the problems with GPS, and he recounts them in this month’s […]

Online Now: Exclusive interviews featuring Scott Crossfield, Cirrus Design’s Alan Klapmeier, FAA administrator Marion Blakey, plus Monday’s news, and more… Find AVweb‘s Podcast index, here, or subscribe free to AVweb‘s podcasts and receive them automatically for listening on your computer, iPod, or while traveling with any MP3 player. You’ll hear things you won’t find anywhere […]

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Two professional well-regarded pilots — one with his three children on board — were at the controls on Sunday when their two airplanes collided in midair, about 20 miles northeast of Anchorage, Alaska. All five people were killed. David Beauregard, 45, an Alaska Airlines pilot, was flying a Cessna 170B with his three children, Ryan, […]

The Transportation Security Administration said in 2004 that all flight instructors must complete recurrent annual security training — but left it up to the aviation industry to develop its own materials. The National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI) has stepped in to that role, with a new CD-ROM. Required training, now available for $10. The […]

It’s been a year and a half since Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne took civilian astronauts into space — and since then, nobody else has tried it. But a group of entrepreneurs who met last week in Phoenix, Ariz., hope to change that soon. At the Space Access ’06 conference, company execs reported on their efforts. Besides […]