FAA and Regs

Piedmont Airlines is under scrutiny after denying pilots time off to get COVID-19 vaccinations last weekend in order to maintain its schedule. FAA rules require pilots to take 48 hours off after getting the shot and last weekend was the start of spring break, a big deal in the Southeast where Piedmont, a wholly owned subsidiary […]

Even though airplanes are a lot quieter than they used to be, they annoy people on the ground far more these days. The FAA’s recently released Neighborhood Environmental Survey says almost two-thirds of the 10,000 people surveyed, who live near one of 20 U.S. airports, are “highly annoyed by aircraft noise over the entire range […]

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson announced he’s extending the so-called “zero tolerance” policy for noncompliant passengers because the message clearly hasn’t been heard by some people. “The number of cases we’re seeing is still far too high, and it tells us urgent action continues to be required,” Dickson said in a statement. “The policy directs our […]

The FAA has announced that the final rules covering remote identification of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS/drones) and drone operations over people will now go into effect on April 21, 2021. The original effective date for both rules was March 16, 60 days after they were published in the Federal Register. According to the FAA, the […]

The FAA safety engineer who says he should have signed off on the Boeing 737 MAX Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) during the certification process says the system should be scrapped entirely. Joe Jacobsen told the Seattle Times the system addresses relatively minor control feel issues that pilots can easily adapt to compared to the […]

Transport Canada has imposed its second emergency AD in two weeks on Bell’s newest helicopter after the collective handle on a nearly new 505 Jet Ranger X broke in the pilot’s hands during a preflight control check. The aircraft is built and was certified in Canada. The handle busted above the floor on a 2019 […]

The FAA has chosen five host airports to test technologies designed to “detect and mitigate potential safety risks” presented by unmanned aircraft systems (UAS/drones). The airports selected are New Jersey’s Atlantic City International Airport (ACY); Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) in New York; Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK) in Columbus, Ohio; Huntsville International Airport (HSV) in […]

A woman who belted a Delta flight attendant in defense of her anti-mask, anti-seatbelt male traveling companion is finding out just how tough the FAA’s new passenger behavior crackdown can be. The FAA announced on Friday it’s proposing a $27,500 civil penalty against the woman, who went after the FA on a plane that should […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has dissected the FAA’s freshly enunciated guidance on cost sharing by passengers in private aircraft and reported to Congress that there are a variety of opinions on that policy. The report, submitted last week, doesn’t reach any conclusions or make any recommendations. In fact, the title of the report (Stakeholders […]

Reuters is reporting that Boeing will spend hundreds of millions of dollars or more to inspect and repair Boeing 787s that are suspected to have manufacturing flaws in the fuselage skins. Boeing stopped delivering Dreamliners in October and didn’t fix the manufacturing process until February, according to the unnamed sources used for the report. It’s […]