FAA and Regs

The legal fallout from a Delta 777’s fuel dump over parts of Los Angeles last week has begun to pile up and the FAA has promised to “thoroughly investigate” the incident. The aircraft took off from LAX for Shanghai just before noon last Tuesday and on the tower tape the crew accepted a “high speed […]

A government advisory committee tasked with investigating FAA aircraft certification procedures and the certification of the grounded 737 MAX 8 has found that the proper process was followed by Boeing and the FAA when certifying the MAX. The Special Committee to Review the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aircraft Certification Process also found the FAA’s certification procedures […]

The FAA has officially opened its new indoor fire research facility in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The agency says the $5 million facility will be used to support research and conduct testing on fluorine-free firefighting foams. The project is being conducted in order to address a directive laid out in the FAA Reauthorization Act of […]

The FAA is investigating a runway incursion at JFK involving two Delta Boeing 757s, one of which was reportedly well into its takeoff roll. One aircraft had just arrived from St. Maarten and crossed the active Runway 22R after being told to hold short. A tower controller spotted the errant aircraft and ordered the crew […]

The FAA is proposing a $5.4 million civil penalty against Boeing in addition to the $3.9 million fine it’s already sought for the use of faulty slat tracks in two models of the 737. The $3.9 million fine, levied for the inclusion of the faulty parts in 133 NG models, was proposed in December. On […]

At least one airline has run afoul of the new ADS-B mandate and adjusted its aircraft deployment accordingly. BahamasAir wasn’t able to get three of its Boeing 737-500s equipped with ADS-B before the Jan. 1 deadline so those aircraft have been taken off the routes it flies to Florida. It has one 737-700 and five […]

Bills have been introduced in the House and Senate that would authorize $850 million for NASA over the next five years to promote development of technologies to reduce noise and emissions from airliners. The Cleaner, Quieter Airplanes Act would fund “ongoing work to develop and demonstrate new technologies, including systems architecture, components, or integration of […]

The detailed probe of the Boeing 737 MAX certification has uncovered a potential wiring problem that might require modifications to all 800 airframes built so far and may also affect thousands of 737NGs. The New York Times is reporting that the examination found a couple of wiring bundles that control the tail may be too […]

FAA officials will meet with local law enforcement reps from about a dozen counties in northeastern Colorado to discuss unexplained drone activity that has alarmed local residents and public officials. So far, no one has come forward to give even the slightest hint of why the drones, described as being up to eight feet long, […]

In 22 facilities across the U.S., thousands of air traffic controllers actively watch the skies over their assigned sectors. Each Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) is almost a small town in itself. The Operations Room contains 50 to 60 consoles with large computer monitors displaying aircraft data blocks imposed on top of aviation landmarks […]