FAA and Regs

The FAA has announced the next incremental step in putting drones into the National Airspace system with a field test of Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM.) The test will start in the next few months and will gather data on the integration of small drones operating at low altitude. “UTM includes a set of […]

The FAA is telling the NTSB to mind its own business and butt out of investigating spaceflight crashes. Last month the NTSB issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adding space transportation to the list of methods of locomotion that it oversees. The commercial space industry pushed back, fearful that the new layer would curtail the […]

Airline and charter pilots may be in for more stick and rudder time assuming a new proposed advisory circular makes it through the 30-day comment period. The FAA has issued a draft of the AC on Flightpath Management and it includes a host of measures the agency wants operators to include in training and operations […]

It would appear the chafe between 5G and aviation safety will be around for some time but FAA Administrator Steve Dickson told Congress on Thursday he expects future disruptions to be minimal. Dickson told the aviation subcommittee of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure that new rules on the interference resistance to 5G of […]

The NTSB wants the FAA to issue an AD for old Pipers after two incidents in which the rudder posts snapped and the top section of the rudder folded into a roughly horizontal position. The failure obviously had a big effect on the controllability of the aircraft involved, a PA-12 Super Cruiser and a PA-14 […]

The FAA issued an airworthiness directive (AD) on Tuesday prohibiting Boeing 747-8, 747-8F and 777 aircraft from landing at airports where Verizon and AT&T’s 5G C-Band wireless broadband networks could cause radar altimeter interference. The AD requires airplane flight manual (AFM) revisions to add limitations prohibiting dispatching or releasing affected aircraft “to airports, and approaches […]

The CEOs of American Airlines and United Airlines say cooperation and collaboration in the past week between airlines, telecommunications companies and government agencies minimized the effect of the rollout of 5G cell service to airline service. The release of details on the strength and nature of the 5G signals by the telecoms made it possible […]

FedEx is asking the FAA to allow it to install anti-missile infrared lasers on its Airbus A321-200 cargo aircraft and the agency has laid out conditions for the modification. FedEx applied for the approval three years ago. It had previously worked with Northrop Grumman 10 years earlier on anti-missile defenses but the current application doesn’t […]

The FAA is warning Boeing 787 operators that 5G interference “could prevent engine and braking systems from transitioning to landing mode, which could prevent an aircraft from stopping on the runway” when the runway surface is wet or contaminated. In an Airworthiness Notification issued Jan. 14, the agency says information from Boeing says “anomalies” in […]

The FAA has issued an exemption allowing helicopter air ambulance (HAA) operators to conduct rescue flights if their radar altimeters are affected or could be affected by interference from 5G cellphone signals. Helicopter Association International announced the welcome news Friday. “This exemption will allow HAA operators to continue to do what they do best—save lives,” […]