Flight Safety

A law firm has filed a second class-action suit against the FAA based on the agency’s air traffic controller hiring practices in 2014. The lawsuit alleges that the biographical assessment added to the initial air traffic controller application process in late 2013 was used to “intentionally disadvantage [Hispanic, Asian, Caucasian, and other] applicants based on […]

Six aviation associations released a document detailing a series of communications best practices for FBOs on Wednesday. “Know Before You Go” (PDF) calls on FBOs to provide clear, complete and easily accessible online descriptions of available services, along with all associated prices and fees. The organizations, which include the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), […]

Here in Florida, September was the hottest month on record. Ever. So on Sunday, when the weather finally delivered the fall temperature break, I luxuriated in simply standing in front of the hangar for 10 minutes watching the world go by. And what went by, among others, was what I sometimes call the Cryin’ Shame. […]

The FAA is accepting comments until Dec. 21 on its proposed new ATP certification standards, which have been posted online. The standards were revised by an industry group chaired by David Oord, AOPA senior director of regulatory affairs, working with the FAA’s Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee. The working group proposed the new standards, and the […]

Officials in Indonesia, where a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed into the sea on Monday, killing all 189 on board, ordered on Tuesday that all Max 8 aircraft in the country operated by commercial airlines must be inspected. It was not clear if the aircraft are grounded pending the inspections, or precisely what […]

A Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed into the Java Sea just after taking off from Jakarta, in Indonesia, early Monday, and rescuers have begun to retrieve bodies from the site. No survivors have been found. The aircraft, with 189 people on board, departed at 6:21 a.m. en route toPangkal Pinang island, about 400 […]

Thanks to the contents of the FAA’s new airman certification standards (ACS), which are replacing the practical test standards (PTS), most applicants for pilot certificates and ratings must now demonstrate that they can identify, assess and mitigate risk. Although the FAA and industry organizations have developed flight risk assessment tools (FRATs) to help pilots identify […]

As the oft-paraphrased aphorism goes, all is well when the ties that bind us are stronger than the stresses that can separate us. The same goes for parking an aircraft. When we properly secure it after a flight, it’s reasonable to expect it’ll be there when we return. Once we release the ties that bind […]

The Government Accountability Office has bitten on AOPA’s two-year-long campaign to end what it says is gouging by FBOs at some airports. At the request of House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster and aviation subcommittee chairman Frank LoBiondo the GAO is specifically looking at whether the FAA is doing its job ensuring airports that receive federal […]