FAA and Regs

The FAA has published a new policy that tries to ensure that pilots and controllers aren’t blinded by the reflected light of green projects at airports. Homeland Security Today is reporting that airports with control towers now have to assess the potential glare hazard from solar power projects and clear the design with the agency. […]

The FAA has told the city of Lafayette, Louisiana, and the surrounding parishes to get rid of a rule that requires at least one of the seven members of its airport commission to be Black. The Baton Rouge Advocate is reporting the FAA has ruled the practice is discriminatory and must end. The city appoints […]

Boeing has stopped deliveries of 787s for the second time this year because of what seems to be a paperwork shortcoming in its fix for fuselage joints on the aircraft. The FAA told the Seattle Times that the fixes “must be validated and approved by the FAA.” Spokeswoman Crystal Essiaw told the newspaper Boeing decided […]

The Mexican government has suddenly found the money to increase the budget of its civil aviation authority by 40 percent after the FAA downgraded the nation’s airlines to its lowest safety rating last week. The government has freed up $7.5 million to hire 180 safety inspectors and beef up English training for pilots in light […]

The FAA has adopted a rule establishing an electronic Pilot Records Database and requiring air carriers and some other operators to report pilots’ employment history, training and qualifications to that database. Along with FAA pilot certificate information, summaries of unsatisfactory pilot applications for new certificates or ratings and records of accidents, incidents and enforcement actions, […]

The FAA is proposing the highest civil penalty it has so far recommended under its current crackdown on passenger behavior, $52,500, be levied against a man who belted a Delta flight attendant in two separate altercations on one flight. The passenger got things rolling on the flight from Honolulu to Seattle last December by trying […]

The FAA wants to expand the AD requiring inspection of the carry-through spars on Cessna 210s to more models of that type and to some versions of the 177 Cardinal. The agency issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requiring inspection of the spars on almost 2,000 additional aircraft that were captured by an earlier AD […]

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) have sent a joint letter to the FAA calling on the agency to clarify how a recent federal court ruling will affect compensated flight training. The ruling denied a petition to review an emergency cease-and-desist order issued by […]

In response to what the agency describes as “a dramatic increase in unruly or dangerous behavior” by passengers on commercial airlines, FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson said, “We will not tolerate interfering with a flight crew and the performance of their safety duties. Period.” A normal year sees up to 150 recorded cases of dangerous behavior […]

It might seem surprising that after all these years of tracking magenta lines, GPS navigation is still considered “cheating.” But there are many procedures where it remains unclear when using satellite navigation as a primary source is a no-no, and the distinction can be confusing. The American Bonanza Society (ABS) is presenting an FAA FAAST-sponsored […]