FAA and Regs

A Frontier Airlines A320 returned to Las Vegas immediately after takeoff on Friday after the right cowl flipped up on takeoff. The flapping aluminum met a predictable demise and passengers recorded the mishap with their phones. The short climb out and the quick return were reportedly routine but the plethora of smartphones at the ready […]

A Florida man says he’ll try hang gliding again after his first tandem flight left him hanging on for dear life over the Swiss countryside. Chris Gursky’s pilot on the flight forgot to attach his harness to the aircraft and as they soared from the takeoff point Gursky grasped the control bar and the pilot’s […]

EAA is warning its members, and other aircraft owners, to think twice before signing up for aircraft-renewal services that charge hefty fees. “These businesses essentially duplicate the same process that the FAA directly administers for a mere $5,” EAA said in a post on its website. The FAA’s online registration portal is easy to use […]

Japan Airlines has tightened its rules regarding alcohol consumption by employees in the wake of series of incidents that have caused flight delays and led to the arrest of one pilot. Pilots are now banned from any alcohol consumption within 24 hours of flying a company plane and the airline is also extending its mandatory […]

When I swore the air traffic controller employment oath, I shed my civilian identity and for the rest of my FAA career was known by my operating initials. Controllers never said “Goodbye” to end a call to another controller. Instead, like a secret cult, we gave our initials. In my case, IE. Unfortunately, PB was […]

Two adolescent boys, aged 14 and 15, were arrested Thursday in Utah after allegedly taking a light sport aircraft for a Thanksgiving joyride. The duo, who police say had earlier made off with a tractor, took the aircraft from a private airstrip in Jensen in the northeast corner of Utah. They reportedly got it airborne […]

MIT engineers have developed an aircraft propulsion system with no moving parts. A team led by Steven Barrett, an MIT professor of aerospace engineering, flew a five-pound model the width of a gymnasium using “ionic wind” to maintain flight after an initial push using bungee cords. The first flight occurred almost a year ago. After […]

The FAA has issued a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) addressing several aircraft refueled with contaminated jet fuel at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (OPF) in Opa-locka, Florida. The agency reports that five aircraft were serviced with jet fuel containing diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) between Aug. 12 and Aug. 16, 2018. Nine additional aircraft were serviced […]

The FAA has proposed some changes to its standards for obtaining an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate in the airplane category or for obtaining an airplane type rating, and if you have any opinions about the proposal, the FAA wants to hear from you. The proposed rule change is posted online, and comments will be […]

The FAA has increased controller staffing at Las Vegas’s McCarran International Airport tower after the only controller on duty late Wednesday apparently became incapacitated at her position. Confused pilots on the ground stopped where they were for about eight minutes and talked among themselves about the issues in the tower before a second controller returned […]