FAA and Regs

For any pilot wanting or needing the ATP certificate, the window is about to slam shut on earning that rating at an affordable price. Beginning in August, a new FAR kicks in requiring sharply higher flight experience and training for any pilots who plan to use the ATP in Part 121 operations. Bottom line: The […]

The FAA has announced that it will be hiring 10,000 controllers over the next decade, with 6,000 in the next five years. It is accepting applications now. Successful applicants must be U.S. citizens, able to start training before their 31st birthday, and willing to relocate to to an air traffic facility based on the FAAs […]

To thunderous applause from alphabet groups, the House passed a bill Tuesday that will force the FAA to go through a formal rulemaking process to institute its controversial sleep apnea measures. As we reportedin November, FAA Air Surgeon Dr. Fred Tilton sent a newsletter to air medical examiners telling them that any pilot with a […]

The House Transportation Committee has approved a bill that would ban passengers from talking on their cellphones in flight. The bill, which still must be debated by the full House, would ban only voice communications and would allow passengers to text, go online and email while on aircraft. A similar bill has also been proposed […]

Letter of the Week:The Real Costs of the Super Bowl? Regarding the story about the NFL not being charged for air traffic services for the Super Bowl: There is a lack of understanding of the difference in cost of supporting AirVenture and the Super Bowl. I am a retired controller who worked EAA three times […]

A lightning strike that injured an air traffic controller at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport has exposed a potential vulnerability at air traffic control towers during storms. It has prompted Federal Aviation Administration officials to inspect hundreds of towers nationwide, according to The Associated Press. The FAA said in a statement that the accident was […]

The Federal Aviation Administration took an important step on Feb. 5 to help improve safety in small aircraft by simplifying design approval requirements for angle of attack (AOA) indicators. AOA indicators give a precise indication of the angle between the wing and the relative wind, which provides critical information to the pilot regarding the lift […]

EAA says it’s wondering why the FAA billed it $450,000 for air traffic services at last year’s AirVenture when the NFL won’t have to pay the extra costs associated with the Super Bowl. On Sunday, the FAA told AVwebthat it only bills for services if it has to move equipment and personnel to the venue. […]

The FAA has confirmed to AVweb that the NFL will not have to pay for the extra costs of providing air traffic services in the New York area that result from Sunday’s Super Bowl game in New Jersey.In an email to AVweb late Sunday, the agency also indicated that last year’s game in New Orleans […]

A Minnesota brewery’s airborne solution to the preventable yet apparently prevalent problem of running out of beer while ice fishing has been shot down by the FAA. Lakemaid Brewery’s clever use of a six-rotor drone to whisk the frosty brews to their icebound customers runs afoul of the agency’s current ban on the commercial use […]