FAA and Regs

The FAA has released its initial design guidelines for vertiports aimed at supporting advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capabilities. The design standards are intended to “serve as the initial step to provide key information for airport owners, operators and infrastructure developers to begin development of facilities that will support […]

A Senate subcommittee hearing scheduled for Sept. 28 will help to lay the groundwork for integration of advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft, drones and other new technology into the National Airspace System. The Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation will hear from five aviation industry witnesses, four from drone and AAM organizations and Ed […]

The FAA has denied a Republic Airways petition for an exemption from regulations requiring pilots applying for an airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate to have logged 1,500 flight hours. In the petition, the airline asked that graduates from its Leadership in Flight Training Academy (LIFT) be allowed to apply for a restricted airline transport pilot […]

The General Accountability Office says the FAA, FBI and FDA need to get together to revive cooperation to stem the increasing scourge of laser attacks on aircraft. The three agencies disbanded their interagency working group five years ago and laser attacks have since spiked dramatically. The FDA is in there because for some reason it […]

Just as with any other complex endeavor that’s developed over time, aviation has many myths. That’s especially true when it comes to FAA regulations—the FARs. To be fair, there are a lot of regulations, and many of them are written for attorneys, not pilots. Especially for newer pilots or those who fly different aircraft in […]

In what may be the shortest final report ever issued by the NTSB, the board found the probable cause of the crash of a Cessna 182 being used in a made-for-streaming airplane swap stunt for Red Bull last April to be “exceedance of the critical angle of attack which resulted in a stall, subsequent inverted […]

The FAA is moving its airworthiness directives and emergency airworthiness directives databases to its new Dynamic Regulatory System (DRS). As a result, the current locations of the documents in the Regulatory Guidance Library will be decommissioned on Aug. 16 and all searches will go through the new system. Those unfamiliar with the system can request […]

ABC News is reporting the FAA has approved Boeing’s plan to validate fixes on Boeing 787s so they can resume deliveries of the aircraft. The company hasn’t been able to ship out any of the planes since 2020 because of deficiencies in the documentation of repairs for manufacturing faults discovered in 2020. The authorization could […]

The Department of Transportation has validated the allegations in several whistleblower complaints and the findings of two other investigations that the FAA mismanaged oversight of Southwest Airlines and looked the other way on many safety-related issues at the airline. Among the substantiated allegations are that dealing with Southwest was intimidating for FAA inspectors, that the […]

The FAA has proposed a rule designed to reduce greenhouse gasses emitted by large aircraft flying in U.S. airspace by requiring the aircraft to be more fuel efficient. The rule would apply to new subsonic jet and large turboprop and propeller aircraft models that are not yet certified or are manufactured after Jan. 1, 2028. […]