FAA and Regs

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson says it will take about four years to rewrite regulations governing flight instruction in aircraft other than those in the standard category and until that’s done instructors will need extra paperwork. Speaking at the annual Meet the Administrator event at EAA AirVenture last Thursday, Dickson told the generally disappointed crowd that […]

Mexico says it has signed an agreement with the FAA to get its safety rating back in order. Last May, the agency reduced Mexico to a Category 2 safety rating, putting it at the same level of Third World countries with sketchy safety records. In downgrading the country, the FAA stopped Mexican airlines from starting […]

The FAA opened a new field office in Houston, Texas, on Monday designed to expand its oversight of commercial space operations in Texas and New Mexico. According to the agency, the Space Safety field office will allow it to more efficiently monitor testing programs and commercial space tourism operations conducted by companies including SpaceX, Blue […]

AOPA is warning flight instructors they can’t provide instruction for free in limited, experimental and primary category aircraft without risking sanctions from the FAA. AOPA says the agency has gone after CFIs who have given instruction as volunteers, citing regs that say money doesn’t have to change hands for them to have received “compensation.” According […]

Reuters is reporting the FAA has grounded Rhoades Aviation, whose Boeing 737-200 ditched off Honolulu July 2, and has also revealed that action against the operator has been in the works since last fall. The company, which operated the 737 cargo flight under the Trans Air name, was notified on June 13 that it was […]

The FAA’s Federal Air Surgeon says pilots who have had COVID-19 have to come clean with their AMEs or risk losing their medicals. Dr. Susan Northrup wrote in a safety bulletin AMEs have been told to use their own judgment in determining the fitness to fly for those who have recovered from the disease but […]

The FAA has told Boeing not to expect certification of the 777X until possibly the end of 2023, citing numerous design and test issues including an “uncommanded pitch event” last December. The Seattle Times got to read a letter sent to Boeing on May 13 in which the local FAA manager Ian Won said there […]

Facing pressure in the wake of the two high-profile crashes of Boeing 737 MAX airliners in late 2018 and early 2019, the FAA announced Monday (June 21) it is launching a new Voluntary Safety Reporting Program. The initiative is “an additional way for its engineers, safety inspectors, systems safety specialists, and other aviation safety employees […]

Canadian politicians say its regulators should be “skeptical” of FAA aircraft certifications and do their own validation of new designs. The House of Commons transport committee wants Transport Canada to do its own recertification design changes rather than just accept the FAA’s recommendation. “The committee heard numerous concerns regarding the involvement of manufacturers in the […]

In advance of an official statement, the FAA has clarified its stance on how a recent federal court ruling will affect compensated flight training in limited, experimental and primary category aircraft. According to a June 4 letter (PDF), the agency has taken the position that “a flight instructor who is operating (i.e. “using”) a limited […]