FAA and Regs

The FAA says its astronaut “wings” program has served its purpose and it will stop handing out the mementoes in the New Year. But that also means Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Virgin Galactic head Sir Richard Branson and Star Trek’s Capt. Kirk, actor William Shatner, along with about a dozen others, will each be officially […]

The FAA has issued two airworthiness directives (ADs) requiring flight manual revisions “to incorporate limitations prohibiting certain operations requiring radio [also called radar] altimeter data when in the presence of 5G C-Band interference.” The ADs stem from concerns that the planned rollout of wireless broadband operations in the 3.7-3.98 GHz frequency band (5G C-Band) could […]

A NOTAM is still a NOTAM but the words represented by the acronym now represent the FAA’s foray into modernizing and gender-neutralizing aviation terms. As of Thursday, NOTAM means Notice to Air Missions, which the agency says is “more applicable” to the role of the notices and is “inclusive of all aviators and missions.” The agency […]

The FAA will start vetting the engineers Boeing designates as safety inspectors after the agency found many didn’t have the qualifications or experience needed to be effective in the job. In a letter of complaint to Boeing obtained by the Seattle Times, the agency said it came across inspectors, who are designated to sign off […]

The FAA is calling in backup to tackle the continuing surge in violent behavior in airliners. The agency is now referring the worst examples of unruly passengers to the FBI for criminal prosecution. “This is a priority for both agencies,” the FAA said in a tweet posted Saturday. Among the cases heading to the FBI […]

The FAA is starting the consultation process on a gender-neutral rewrite of its vast trove of rules, regs and other documents with a virtual “Inclusive Language Summit” on Nov. 10 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST. The event will be livestreamed on all of the agency’s social media platforms and the public is welcome […]

The FAA has proposed a new rule that would require commercial hot air balloon pilots to hold second-class medical certificates when operating for hire. As the regulations stand, balloon pilots are exempt from the medical requirement under 14 CFR 61.3(c)(2)(vi). According to the agency, the change will address the directive laid out in the FAA […]

The FAA plans to issue a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin and an Airworthiness Directive in coming days concerning the rollout of 5G cellular phone service in 46 major metropolitan areas of the U.S. on Dec. 5, according to Reuters. The actions are expected to limit the use of automated systems on aircraft that rely on […]

The FAA announced on Monday that it has seen a rise in the number of laser strikes reported by pilots for the fourth year in a row. For 2021, 7,186 laser strike reports for had been received as of Oct. 14, the highest number recorded by the agency since 2016. 6,852 laser strikes were reported […]

The Transportation Department’s inspector general says the FAA allowed American Airlines to fly snagged and even non-airworthy aircraft without following up on whether repairs were made. According to an Associated Press report, the IG was generally critical of the performance of both the airline and the regulator in the new safety enforcement environment of safety […]