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After the recall, inspectors found problems with cables and bolts, a stall-warning sensor that hadn’t been hooked up, two cases of foreign objects in the aircraft and a rudder-trim chain off the sprocket. According to The Wichita Eagle, the company issued a statement on Monday saying it wants to meet informally with FAA officials “to […]

Cessna says it hopes to cut a better deal after the FAA proposed fines of $840,000 for alleged violations stemming from a recall of 42 Cessna 182 and 172 aircraft last March. As AVweb told you then, the FAA found problems with aircraft control rigging during an inspection of the company’s factory in Independence, Kan. […]

AOPA said it was satisfied with the FAA’s report. “The FAA heeded our recommendation and will likely issue a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) to require specific MU-2B training,” said Luis Gutierrez, AOPA director of regulatory and certification policy. “We think this is the right result and a much better solution than issuing an airworthiness […]

The FAA found that the use of MU-2B airplanes has changed. Originally marketed as a corporate aircraft in the 1960s, it is used more today for cargo hauling and private operations. This switch means the aircraft is now “in the hands of pilots and maintenance providers who, in general, have less experience in high-performance airplanes […]

The design of the Mitsubishi MU-2B twin turboprop is not inherently unsafe, the FAA said in a safety report released last week. The airplane has been involved in 11 accidents in the last two years, in which 12 people died. The FAA’s analysis found that compared to similar twin-turboprop airplanes, the MU-2B accident rate is […]

The legislation would require both sides to submit to binding arbitration. Senator Obama said he introduced the bill “to help defuse the growing management-labor tension at the FAA.” The Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS) union applauded NATCA’s move, saying under the current rules, there is no incentive for the FAA to negotiate. “The FAA is […]

As the FAA and NATCA continue their acrimonious contract talks and debate over staffing, funding, safety priorities, equipment, pay rates and just about everything else, the controllers union last week announced that four Democratic senators are introducing a bill that would prevent the FAA from unilaterally imposing a “last, best offer.” NATCA President John Carr […]

The FAA has also published an updated NOTAM for Super Bowl XL, to be held in Detroit on Feb. 5. This new version corrects an earlier one that said reservations would be required for nearby airports. There won’t be a reservation program, but arrival and departure routes must be adhered to, ground delays may be […]

The airspace over Washington, D.C., will be pretty much shut down to GA operations from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Jan. 31, during President Bush’s State of the Union address to Congress. AOPA says the restriction covers 3,000 square miles, and notes that airlines are not affected, and neither are cars and trucks, “which […]

Yesterday, the FAA reported that it has made progress with problems at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) six months after implementing new management controls at the facility. “Overtime has decreased by 76 percent,” said Bruce Johnson, vice president of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization in charge of terminal operations. In fiscal year […]