News

Randy Babbitt, administrator of the FAA, was taken into custody Saturday by Fairfax County police and charged with driving while intoxicated, according to a news release from the city of Fairfax, Virginia. At about 10:30 p.m. Babbitt was seen driving on the wrong side of the road and was pulled over. He was alone in […]

Hawker Beechcraft is slowing down work on its Hawker 200 light jet, the company said on Friday, citing the “fragile global economic situation.” The program has been meeting its objectives, Hawker CEO Bill Boisture said in a letter to employees, but with the timing of a recovery uncertain, “the prudent management decision is to slow […]

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The U.S. Air Force will scale back single-ship demo flights for next year’s airshow season, the Air Combat Command announced last week. “We face significant fiscal constraints,” the ACC said in a statement (PDF). Those constraints require “tough decisions,” and the ACC said it will scale back from sponsoring six single-ship demo teams to just […]

Cessna has launched an initiative to educate owners about new required inspections for the 145,000 single-engine aircraft in the 100- and 200-series that were built between 1946 and 1986. The supplemental procedures will be added into the service manuals this month for aircraft in the 100 series and in April for the 200 series. The […]

The FAA’s Commercial Aviation Safety Team said last week it will expand its proactive accident-reduction efforts with the goal of cutting the already-low fatality rate in U.S. commercial aviation 50 percent by 2025. The team also will start to include general aviation, helicopter operators, and the military in its programs. In addition to analyzing past […]

The NTSB will hold a hearing next month to gather information about the safety of air races and airshows, the board said on Friday. During a one-day meeting on Jan. 10, the board will hear from regulators, aviation organizations, industry groups, and airport authorities to learn about safety practices, procedures and protocols. The board also […]

The FAA announced Friday that it will no longer require operators to provide a valid security concern — or any other requirement — to participate in a specific program that prevents IFR flight information from displayed online. Those who want to enroll aircraft in the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program for the sake of […]

Pilot unions concerned that international safety standards are lacking when it comes to regulation of lithium batteries have (at least temporarily) lost out to industry and foreign government interests. A deal struck as part of the talks on long-term funding for the FAA blocks new battery shipment rules proposed by the Obama administration and reverts […]

Another deadline passed Wednesday without the FAA acting to finalize new rules aimed at pilot fatigue, and that brought ire from family members of the victims of Continental Flight 3407. The concerned parties have organized into the Families of Continental Flight 3407, an action group formed in remembrance of relatives lost to that 2009 crash, […]