FAA and Regs

After dropping steadily for most of the past two decades, the helicopter accident and fatal accident rates have plateaued and the FAA is redoubling efforts to keep the numbers dropping. The U.S. Helicopter Safety Team (USHST), an FAA-led initiative with the lofty goal of eliminating helicopter fatalities, released the latest stats on accident rates and […]

The FAA has awarded its Future Flight Services Program (FFSP) contract to current flight service provider Leidos. Under the new contract, Leidos will continue to supply weather data, aeronautical information and flight planning services in the contiguous United States, Puerto Rico and Hawaii via 1-800-WX-BRIEF and 1800wxbrief.com. The previous flight service provider contract—called the Automated […]

The FAA will now be the sole issuer of airworthiness certificates for all newly manufactured Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, the agency said in a letter to Boeing on Tuesday. Citing “public interest and safety in air commerce,” the FAA stated that it would retain that authority—which was previously delegated to Boeing through the organization designation […]

A Minnesota pilot was uninjured and his Cub appeared virtually undamaged after it became entangled in power lines south of Shakopee, Minn., on Saturday afternoon. “Initial investigation indicated that the plane, a single-engine prop Piper Cub, was traveling south, hit a cluster of power lines and became suspended … upside-down,” the local sheriff’s office reported in a news release. Pilot […]

Two weeks after an international committee declared Boeing’s changes to the Boeing 737 MAX software “safe,” a Canadian official has suggested the only way he and his colleagues can “sleep at night” is if the problematic Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) is scrapped. Jim Marko, a 30-year veteran at Transport Canada and its engineering manager […]

The FAA is asking for public comment on the Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) for its Las Vegas Metroplex Project. The project is designed to “optimize” air traffic routes in Southern Nevada including developing new or replacement arrival and departure procedures for McCarran International Airport (LAS), Henderson Executive Airport (HND) and North Las Vegas Airport […]

The Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) and ten other aviation organizations have come out in opposition of a recently introduced bill aimed at increasing FAA oversight of repair stations located outside of the United States. The Safe Aircraft Maintenance Standards Act (H.R. 5119) was introduced by U.S. House of Representatives Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman […]

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson has told staff to ignore pressure to return the Boeing 737 MAX to service and to take all the time they need to ensure the aircraft is safe. In a video address released on Friday, Dickson said he will personally support FAA staff in their thorough review of the aircraft and […]

The FAA has issued an AD affecting more than 4100 Bonanzas and requires an inspection of the right aileron flight control cable end fittings. There have been 17 failures reported on E33A, S35, V35 and A36 models but the agency has included E33, E33C, F33, F33A, F33C, G33, 35-C33, 35-C33A, K35, M35, N35, P35, V35A, […]

Bloomberg is reporting the independent group of experts formed to evaluate Boeing’s fixes for the 737 MAX has signed off on changes to the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System. The Technical Advisory Board was convened shortly after the aircraft was grounded last March and presented its preliminary report to the FAA, Congress was told by the […]