FAA and Regs

The rollout of the FAA’s streamlined low-altitude airspace approval for drones rolled out this week with few hiccups, according to an FAA official at the AUVSI XPONENTIAL show in Denver. Wider deployment is expected later this year. The program is called Low Altitude Authorization Notification Capability—LAANC—and is the product of a cooperative effort between the […]

A new FAA Airworthiness Directive responding to the recent engine failure on a Southwest 737 will require initial and repetitive inspections of the fan blades in CFM56-7B engines, based on the accumulated fan-blade cycles, the FAA said on Tuesday. The AD (PDF), scheduled to be published on Wednesday, aims to “address the risk of fan-blade […]

It’s a small step, but the Transportation Department on Monday took what could be the first move toward allowing the widespread commercial use of drones to transport cargo, and eventually, passengers as well. The DOT—the parent of the FAA—published a “notification of procedures” (PDF) on Monday stating that it will provide “certificate or exemption authority” […]

Last week the FAA released a notice regarding changes in policy regarding testing applicants for a commercial pilot or flight instructor certificate. The notice states that it is no longer required for applicants for a “commercial pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine rating to provide a complex or turbine-powered airplane for the associated practical test […]

You’ve had your instrument rating for a couple of years by now. The first year you didn’t have any trouble keeping current to fly IFR—you were out there just about every week “flying in the system” as you called it. The new hadn’t worn off your rating; you knew that you were just a baby […]

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (H.R. 4), which will grant funding for the FAA until 2023. The legislation was introduced by chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa. and passed with a vote of 393-13. Although the original House bill did not […]

The last-minute amendment that Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., added to the five-year FAA funding bill on Tuesday was quickly revised after a concerted and vehement response from GA advocacy groups. In response to calls for action, “pilots flooded the switchboard at the U.S. House of Representatives, urging their members of Congress to oppose Section 5 […]

After GA advocates had breathed a sigh of relief, believing that the ATC privatization battle was won for this year, House Transportation Committee chairman Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa, introduced a last-minute amendment to the FAA funding bill on Tuesday that raised alarm. Section 5 of the amendment calls for moving the FAA Air Traffic Organization, […]

The Aero Expo in Friedrichshafen promotes itself as the pulse-meter of the European GA market and that often doesn’t come across in a factually balanced news release.By American standards, Aero is not a huge show, but it’s a busy one and a target-rich environment for new stuff. Yes, there was a clear dominance of electronics, […]

AVweb’s General Aviation Accident Bulletin is taken from the pages of our sister publication, Aviation Safety magazine, and is published twice a month. All the reports listed here are preliminary and include only initial factual findings about crashes. You can learn more about the final probable cause in the NTSB’s website at www.ntsb.gov. Final reports […]