FAA and Regs

The U.S. plan to ban laptops from airliner cabins on flights originating in Europe is drawing increasing resistance from the European Union, a UK pilot union and business travelers. EU aviation authorities will meet this week to consider the proposed laptop ban. The issue became the center of a Washington political firestorm this week on […]

A panel of judges will review the deal struck between the FAA and the city of Santa Monica that will close the airport by 2028 and severely curtail operations in the meantime. A U.S. District Court of Appeals rejected the National Business Aviation Association’s bid for an injunction against implementing the deal but it did […]

As might be expected, pilots are reporting seeing a lot more drones these days but the lather that sightings seem to create might be overblown, according to an analysis by the Academy of Model Aeronautics. AMA looked closely at each of the 1,270 sightings reported by pilots of manned aircraft in data released by the […]

While drones can’t get spatial disorientation and don’t have to worry about seeing a runway in low visibility, weather could still be a significant problem for them in the delivery business. That was at least one sentiment expressed at a technical panel on the technology of drone delivery at AUVSI Xponential in Dallas this week. […]

State and local governments continue to struggle with sensible, much less consistent, regulation of unmanned aircraft systems, according to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. Speaking at the AUVSI Xponential 2017 conference in Dallas this week, Huerta said the FAA is has made understanding what state and local governments want and need to regulate drone operations a […]

The FAA funding bill passed by Congress and signed by President Trump last week is good news for general aviation, according to analyses of the plan by several GA advocacy groups. “We appreciate the strong support shown by Congress in this omnibus measure for general aviation, especially in the critical areas of safety, certification and […]

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 web site at www.ntsb.gov. Final […]

The new BasicMed FAA rule took effect on Monday, and according to AOPA, 1,354 pilots already have completed all the requirements to qualify for the program. Those pilots are now eligible to fly under the BasicMed rules. Another 3,897 pilots have completed the online medical education course quiz, and 2,412 pilots have begun the course, […]

New medical rules for pilots, known as BasicMed, take effect May 1, but starting today, pilots can start to prepare for the new requirements. Forms and checklists for both pilots and doctors are posted online at the FAA website. The FAA also has compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions, and said the Medical Self-Assessment […]

Lilium Aviation, of Munich, says it has flown a prototype of its all-electric VTOL tilt-engine aircraft that the company says will fly 160 knots in horizontal thrust configuration with a range of 180 miles. A video provided by the company of the first flight shows the aircraft, with what looks like a spacious automotive-style cabin, […]