FAA and Regs

The city council in Torrance, California, is trying to ban touch and goes at its airport despite warnings from aviation groups and the FAA that it’s blatantly illegal. Zamperini Field is home to 10 flight schools and the Robinson Helicopter factory. After decades of noise complaints and numerous attempts to whittle down access to the […]

An NTSB final report into the fatal crash at an impromptu STOL competition in Nebraska in May of 2022 suggests the FAA inspectors onsite could have prevented the tragedy by enforcing rules already established for the STOL drag race that was supposed to be going on. The accident occurred during an unofficial STOL competition that […]

The Senate confirmed White House nominee Michael Whitaker as the new FAA Administrator in a vote Tuesday. Whitaker seemed to breeze through the confirmation process, which was without the rancor and finger-pointing that marked the grueling questioning that previous nominee Phil Washington endured. Washington withdrew when it became obvious he didn’t have the votes to […]

Cancellations mounted at Spirit Airlines on Friday as the airline cited “necessary” inspections for some of its aircraft. Data from FlightAware  shows Spirit had canceled roughly 100 flights or 11 percent of its daily operations by Friday afternoon. Spirit said 25 aircraft were being inspected and the FAA was aware of the situation. It did not […]

The FAA has officially closed its investigation into the crash of Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket system shortly after launch on Sept. 12, 2022. According to the agency, the loss of the uncrewed research mission was the result of the “structural failure of an engine nozzle caused by higher than expected engine operating temperatures.” […]

A coalition of sports leagues including the NFL, MLB and NASCAR are opposing a provision in the FAA Reauthorization Bill, currently making its way through the Senate, which relaxes flight restrictions over the nation’s stadiums during sporting events—a first since 9/11. As it stands, the FAA issues a temporary flight restriction above any stadium or […]

Law enforcement and aviation officials in the Boston area are trying to figure out who is using lasers to target aircraft. Last week there were three incidents of laser strikes from the ground. The first two occurred in the predawn hours Thursday and involved two JetBlue aircraft. Both were reportedly struck by green lasers while […]

The FAA has proposed a rule designed to limit new orbital debris from commercial space vehicles, citing the need to “reduce the potential for collisions with spacecraft and satellites to promote a sustainable space environment.” According to the agency, current estimates put the number of orbital objects measuring 10 cm or greater at over 23,000 […]

The FAA has authorized drone delivery and logistics company Zipline to make commercial deliveries using drones flying beyond the operator’s line of sight. According to the agency, Zipline will use its Sparrow drone, which releases payloads via parachute and is capable of traveling up to 120 miles, for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations. […]

A coalition of aviation organizations sent a letter last week calling for the U.S. Senate to move forward as soon as possible on an FAA Reauthorization bill and confirming the next FAA Administrator. FAA reauthorization legislation was introduced in both the Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives last June. A bill was passed by […]