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From NTSB Alert To FAA Action The next month, according to the FAA, is critical for safe icing operations. Late last year, the NTSB recommended all pilots perform tactile testing for ice on flying surfaces, and the FAA now warns icing accidents/incidents are just as prevalent or more prevalent during the months of March and […]

The FAA has sent a “tiger team” to the TRACON to investigate the situation, Schumer said. Its full report is expected sometime this week. The dispute began after the FAA changed overtime procedures in January, and the number of “operational errors” spiked. “What we believe we have is a rogue group of employees engaged in […]

Dispute Is Dangerous, Senator Says Animosity is worsening at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), and now N.Y. Sen. Charles Schumer has called on Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to intervene, citing fears that the dispute between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) could become a threat to safety. “The […]

In Europe, some airlines have started to form alliances with the private-jet companies that have been siphoning off their premium customers. Lufthansa now is partnering with NetJets to offer connecting flights from Munich to the rest of Europe. The bookings count toward the airline’s frequent-flier miles and often come with perks such as limo service […]

And Concerns About Saturation While it was a reference to user fees that drew quick GA response after last week’s FAA Forecast Conference, the meeting also focused on the expected growth of all facets of aviation, with 20,000 more GA aircraft expected to join the fleet over the next 12 years — 4,500 of them […]

The mystery of the missing fuel, which caused concern that the flight might have to land short, has been solved — it was lost overboard due to an error in the placement of fuel vents, Fossett said. When the air in the tanks expanded at high altitudes, fuel instead of air was vented overboard. Fossett […]

The engineers at Scaled had warned that the airplane would be “horrendous” to handle, Fossett said, but in fact he was pleasantly surprised. The wing spars are stiff enough, he said, that there was no problem with the wingtips, 114 feet apart, dragging on takeoff, even at 22,000 pounds. The airplane took an 8,000-foot ground […]

(This Year’s) Truly Exceptional Aircraft At OSH If you’re in Oshkosh, Wis., on Tuesday, July 26, about 3 in the afternoon, you should be able to look into the sky and catch the approach of the long, lanky Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, setting up for a fly-by in its first public appearance. EAA President Tom Poberezny […]

One of the curiosities of FAA budget priorities may be expressed in the veritable building boom of control towers across the country. Multimillion-dollar towers, many of them 200 feet tall or more, are being built all over the country. In a lot of cases the towers are being built long before they are needed, according […]

According to FAA predictions, the number of passengers boarding airliners in the U.S. will top one billion by 2015 compared to about 550 million this year. Couple that with a trend toward smaller aircraft on more direct flights and declining air fares (which are taxed to fund the FAA) and it looks like trouble is […]