FAA and Regs

The FAA has ordered operators of some of the hard-working fleet of Boeing 737NGs to conduct inspections for cracks in a critical structural assembly that have shown up in some NGs. Boeing found cracks in a plane that had about 35,000 cycles on it, less than half the 90,000 that the “pickle fork” is designed […]

Coming soon, a “humble” FAA? New Administrator Steve Dickson used a word not often associated with the agency when talking to air traffic controllers about the agency’s role in the historic grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX and the two catastrophic crashes that precipitated it. “We can always improve, we can always get better,” Dickson […]

A major avionics shop says about 5,000 business aircraft will miss the Jan. 1 deadline to be equipped with ADS-B. Duncan Aviation, which has been closely monitoring equipage data, said in a report last week that with 16 weeks to go before the end of the year, 23 percent, or 3,384 business jets, don’t have […]

AOPA has written the FAA urging it to hold off on mandating an expensive fix for older Pipers that pilots say is a nonexistent problem. As we reported earlier, the FAA issued a notice a few weeks ago that it was considering issuing an airworthiness directive requiring operators of older Cherokees to replace the fuel […]

The FAA has banned unauthorized U.S. aircraft from entering Bahamian airspace to clear the airspace for government and sanctioned humanitarian flights. A TFR was issued Sunday at the request of the Bahamian government and any U.S. aircraft busting the TFR can expect a call from the agency. The move comes after days of frustration over […]

Airlines have ordered dozens of MAX simulators since the planes were grounded earlier this year. In its most recent quarterly earnings report, CAE, the largest manufacturer of airliner simulators, said it had taken orders for 47 MAX simulators and expected to deliver 22 by the end of the year. “Clearly there is going to be […]

The former chief technical pilot on the Boeing 737 MAX has invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to turn over documents subpoenaed by the Justice Department as part of its broad investigation into the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Mark Forkner played a key role in the development of the aircraft and worked for […]

The NTSB found that the crash of an Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Piper PA-28R-201 that killed two people in April 2018 was caused by extensive fatigue cracking in the left-wing main spar, according to the final report (PDF) issued by the board on Tuesday. As previously reported by AVweb, the left wing separated from the aircraft […]

The FAA has established three Airspace Coordination Areas (ACAs) over the eastern coast of Florida and the Georgia to help manage and protect air traffic around Hurricane Dorian, the agency reported in a Tuesday update on its response to the hurricane. The FAA further cautioned that pilots should avoid flying in ACAs without permission and […]

The FAA says it will take at least a few more weeks for the panel reviewing the recertification of the Boeing 737 MAX to finish its work and that will likely push back the return to service. The Joint Authorities Technical Review is not documenting its work and won’t have a report or recommendations until […]