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A shortage of FAA safety inspectors in the U.S. is also raising concerns about airline safety. A recent report by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General concluded that the FAA needs to strengthen its oversight and monitoring of its inspectors and assess whether it can safely go ahead with the planned cuts of […]

Heavy Iron, Light On Safety Britain has published a “blacklist” of airlines banned from landing at its airports due to safety concerns, and France’s Civil Aviation Authority now says it will publish its own list online this week. Concerns over airline safety have intensified after 330 people died in four crashes this month. Under the […]

Coastal flying can be fun … or a misdemeanor. The FAA already has revoked the pilot’s certificate, and now the county is charging the pilot of a Cessna 152 who allegedly buzzed a crowded beach in Santa Cruz, Calif., last May with reckless flying. The pilot was observed flying as low as 20 feet off […]

The Minnesota report caught the ears of the folks at AOPA headquarters in Maryland, and Phil Boyer, AOPA president, promptly sent off a letter to Heffelfinger. “We respectfully believe that your quotes, if reported accurately, reflect significant misunderstanding about aviation security, and, in fact, are not consistent with the views and policies of the U.S. […]

Repeat As Needed: Not A Threat, Not A Threat, Not A Threat While airspace restrictions over the nation’s capital are in the spotlight lately, the showdown over aviation security vs. the right to fly — and the right to run an on-airport business — continues to play out at local airfields around the country. Last […]

A group of four airplanes — a Cessna 210, two 185s, and a Piper Twin Comanche — flew from Nome, Alaska, to the Russian Far East’s Provideniya Bay Airport on July 24, in the annual flight organized by the Alaska Airmen’s Association. The airmen have been working with Russian officials for over 10 years to […]

Small Airplanes In Big Places Biologist Mike Fay wrapped up eight months of flying at low altitudes above Africa in a 40-year-old single-engine Cessna in January, but he collected so much data and so many pictures that the results are only now starting to be revealed. Last week, an exhibit opened at the National Geographic […]

The TSA is also working to develop a free Web site that would allow aircraft owners and operators to voluntarily assess their security protections against terrorist attacks and receive recommendations on how to make improvements. The self-assessment tool would ask a series of questions to develop a comprehensive picture of your security system, and a […]

It’s Complex And Pricey Oct. 18 is the first day that corporate operators will be allowed back into Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), but if you are thinking that your corporate-owned aircraft can get in there, you might want to think again. Complying with the procedures established by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) would require […]

An FAA database called the special-use airspace management system (SAMS) now will tell anyone with Internet access whether any restricted area, military operations area, military route, or warning area anywhere in the country is going to be “hot,” AOPA said on Monday. It updates every six minutes, and the schedule is accurate 24 hours in […]