News

The FAA hasn’t reviewed the duration of aviation medicals since extending the duration of third-class medical certificates from two years to three years for individuals under age 40 in 1996, and it believes it’s time to do so again. On Tuesday, the agency issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would increase the duration of […]

It appears that FAA Administrator Marion Blakey is backing off on her claim that “one hundred percent of our major capital programs are on schedule and on budget,” a statement she delivered in testimony to the House appropriations subcommittee on March 22. During a speech last Thursday at the Pratt & Whitney Women’s Leadership Forum, […]

Actor and aviation aficionado John Travolta is denying published reports that he was forced to declare an emergency while flying his personal Boeing 707 from Germany to New York last Monday. Despite reports stating he successfully landed his ex-Qantas Boeing 707-138 at Shannon, Ireland, after what reportedly were engine-related “technical difficulties,” Travolta says he had […]

Naverus, a Seattle-based company developing required navigation performance flight procedures for air carriers and private operators, said this week it had obtained FAA authorization as an RNP procedure developer. According to the company, the new FAA authorization — the first company so recognized by the agency — recognizes its ability to provide all the products […]

Gulfstream Aerospace last week said it recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new business-jet manufacturing building at its headquarters in Savannah, and did so 40 years after the company began operations at the site. The new 306,104-square-foot manufacturing building is in addition to approximately 400,000 square feet of existing manufacturing space the company already […]

It used to be an FBO lounge was a calm shelter from the outside world. Few people even knew the FBO existed — over there on the other side of the airport — and even fewer had a reason to go there. Pilots and passengers could go to an FBO and actually count on some […]

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) yesterday released a training aid it says is designed to reduce approach-and-landing accidents (ALAR). The new, 90-minute interactive training aid is packaged on a CD-ROM and was produced for NBAA members in partnership with the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF). Dubbed the “NBAA ALAR Training Aid,” it customizes FSF’s Approach-and-Landing […]

With only 48 hours of operation as the new Hawker Beechcraft Corporation, the company in late March delivered its first two new aircraft to commercial and government customers. The sale of Raytheon Aircraft Company was completed on March 26 and on March 28, Hawker Beechcraft delivered a new Beechcraft Model G36 Bonanza to businessman/pilot Vic […]

Cessna Aircraft Company last week said it and FlightSafety International (FSI) have inaugurated their Citation Mustang training program following last month’s FAA and EASA qualification of the Mustang simulator. Cessna added that the training program started on schedule. The FAA qualified the simulator to Level D, the highest certification available for simulators. EASA qualification is […]

In formal safety recommendations issued yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board tackled the issue of controller fatigue, suggesting the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) work together to “to reduce the potential for controller fatigue.” The recommendations, numbered A-07-30 through -32, come during the NTSB’s investigation into the Aug. 27, 2006, fatal […]