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Martin (of the FAA) told AVweb that to get the funding required for the hiring program from Congress, the agency — and the union — will have to sharpen their pencils. “These are times that present some very valid fiscal constraints and challenges,” Martin said. “We cannot show an unwillingness to work smarter and control […]

Who Will Pay For 12,500 “New” Controllers During a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, John Carr, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), said he believed the FAA’s 10-year air traffic controller staffing plan announced on Tuesday could lead to general aviation’s being charged for services provided by the FAA. “This is […]

After four fatal crashes of Mitsubishi MU-2 twin turboprops this year, the manufacturer is recommending that pilots of its planes get specialized training in flight simulators, Ralph Sorrells, deputy general manager of Mitsubishi’s aircraft product support division, said in The Denver Post on Saturday. Sorrells said his company is “deeply concerned, and we’re in the […]

Caravan’s Icing Record Raises Alarm The NTSB last week asked the FAA to require that all pilots and operators of Cessna 208 Caravan series airplanes carefully check for ice and/or snow on the wings and tail before any flight when temperatures are conducive to frost or ground icing. Also, pilots of Caravans equipped for flight […]

While the cost may not seem like a big obstacle for many corporate operators, for others it can be a hardship. Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), which operates a fleet of 70 aircraft worldwide in support of missionaries and relief efforts, said last week it needs to raise $230,000 by the end of this month to […]

Hall added that the FAA should extend the TAWS requirement to helicopters, which are currently exempt. “[Helicopters] fly lower and are therefore even more at risk from terrain and obstacles,” Hall wrote. “Ten crashes involving helicopters flying into terrain have occurred in 2004, killing 35 people. Tragically, many of these accidents involve medical evacuation helicopters […]

Compliance Criticized The FAA needs to beef up its oversight and ensure that all airplanes that are required to have Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems (TAWS) on board are in compliance, Jim Hall, former chairman of the NTSB, wrote in The Charlotte Observer last week. “In the United States during the past 12 months, there […]

While the Bush plan expresses concern about GPS security, it also shifts responsibility away from the military, creating an executive committee to manage the global satellite system that will be co-chaired by the Defense Department and the Transportation Department. The policy explicitly recognizes the extent to which civilian and commercial infrastructure has come to depend […]

Perfect Storm Unlikely, Says AOPA When the Bush administration announced changes in GPS policy last week, the possibility that GPS could be shut down to deny its use to enemy forces or terrorist groups drew the most headlines, and generated much GA concern. But there is really nothing to worry about, says AOPA. “GPS is […]

Even if the FAA does adopt a change in the rules regarding night flying, the agency would still have to survey all applicable airports — over 18,000 of them — and then determine revised sunset/sunrise times for each, Shumann said. “That won’t be soon.” A rule-making committee that reviewed all the comments on the NPRM […]