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☆ Another 'close call': A JetBlue flight landing in Boston had to take 'evasive action' to avoid a private jet that crossed the runway
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A JetBlue flight landing at a Massachusetts airport had a "close call" with a private jet, the FAA said. The JetBlue pilot had to take "evasive action" to avoid the private jet on the runway on Monday. "The pilot of the JetBlue aircraft took evasive action and initiated a climb-out as the Learjet crossed the intersection," said the FAA. Two weeks ago, FAA acting administrator Billy Nolen issued a "safety call to action" following recent near-catastrophic "close calls" on runways and other plane incidents. And in February, a landing FedEx plane in Texas had to pull up at the last minute to avoid landing on a Southwest flight that was headed to Cancun.

☆ Senator says U.S. should consider mandating transponders on high-altitude balloons
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Senator Mark Kelly says Congress should consider mandating transponders on high-altitude weather and research balloons to help the U.S. military differentiate between potential threats. The issue has drawn new attention in recent days after U.S. fighter jets shot down a Chinese balloon and three other objects. The United States has said the Chinese balloon was used for surveillance purposes while Beijing called it a weather balloon. Since an American fighter jet shot down the 200-foot Chinese balloon on Feb. 4, three other objects have been downed. The National Weather Service launches balloons at about 90 locations daily carrying an instrument tracked by specialized ground equipment.

☆ Senators press U.S. FAA on recent airplane near miss incidents
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Michael A. McCoyWASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - U.S. senators on Wednesday raised concerns about a string of recent near miss airplane incidents with the acting Federal Aviation Administration head as well as about a FAA computer system outage that snarled thousands of flights last month. They impact Americans confidence in our aviation system," said Senate Commerce chair Maria Cantwell at Wednesday's hearing. "The FAA must have redundancies, and not a single point where a failure can happen in a key system." Cruz asked if new FAA safeguards remove the risk of a similar single point of failure. On Tuesday, Nolen said he was launching a safety review after the recent near miss incidents raised questions about the U.S. aviation system.

☆ The FAA is taking action after multiple serious safety incidents among US airlines: 'Now is the time'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Billy Nolen, the Federal Aviation Administration's acting administrator, is creating a safety review committee. The group will assess recent incidents and determine if there are any emerging trends. "Recent events remind us that we must not become complacent. According to the FAA, the CAST has been a vital group in proactively identifying aviation safety risks and addressing them before an accident occurs. Three weeks later, a FedEx Boeing 767 nearly landed on top of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 in Austin, Texas.

☆ FAA chief gets grilled by Congress for recent airline groundings and safety concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Gregory Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

In a letter to Congress in early February, the FAA said it plans to dramatically accelerate replacing its outdated Notice To Air Missions (NOTAM) safety system, whose failure led to a nationwide air travel grounding in January. A contractor working for the FAA unintentionally deleted files related to the key pilot safety system, the FAA said. The near collisions have also raised concerns that the FAA’s safety systems may be insufficient. “Can I sit here today and tell you that there will never be another issue on the NOTAM system? That near collision happened after air traffic controllers cleared the FedEx Boeing 767 to land on Austin’s Runway 18 Left, according to the FAA.

☆ FAA chief tells Senate that new procedures will avoid repeat of outage that halted U.S. flights
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Senate Commerce Committee hearing comes amid growing safety concerns about aviation safety after several close calls involving major U.S. airlines. The system failed when a contractor unintentionally deleted files during an update, the FAA has said. "After the incident, we implemented a synchronization delay to ensure that bad data from a database cannot affect a backup database," Nolen said in prepared remarks ahead of the hearing. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the committee's highest-ranking Republican, pressed Nolen on improvements to the NOTAM system: "Can a single screwup ground air traffic nationwide?" Nolen replied: "Could I sit here and tell you there will never be an issue on the NOTAM system?

☆ FAA to conduct sweeping safety review after multiple incidents
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Greg Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Citing a series of recent aviation safety incidents, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration has ordered a sweeping review of the agency. “We are experiencing the safest period in aviation history, but we cannot take this for granted,” Billy Nolen, the acting FAA administrator, wrote in a memo. One focus of the safety review team will be determining “whether there are other incidents that resemble ones we have seen in recent weeks.” It will also look at ways to better integrate the FAA’s air traffic control arm into the agency’s broader safety efforts. The review will include participants from the industries that are regulated and served by the FAA, Nolen wrote. “We know that our aviation system is changing dramatically.

☆ U.S. FAA says update will prevent 'bad data' from corrupting key database
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Last month, the FAA told lawmakers it had revoked access to a pilot messaging database by contractor personnel who unintentionally deleted files in the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) database. The NOTAM system provides pilots, flight crews and other users of U.S. airspace with critical safety notices. "We expect that a significant portion of the modernization work will be complete by mid-2025. Nolen's testimony said on Jan. 10, the NOTAM system became unreliable and technical experts sought to address the issue by switching to a NOTAM backup database. The FAA will need support from Congress to fund FAA "modernization needs," Nolen's testimony says.

☆ U.S. House committee to hold aviation safety hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - A Federal Aviation Administration safety official, National Transportation Safety Board chair and head of the largest pilots union are among those who will testify on Feb. 7 before Congress. Associate FAA Administrator for Aviation Safety David Boulter, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, Air Line Pilots Association President Jason Ambrosi, National Business Aviation Association CEO Ed Bolen and General Aviation Manufacturers Association CEO Pete Bunce are among the witnesses, the committee said Wednesday. Billy Nolen, the head of aviation safety, has been acting FAA administrator since April 1 when Steve Dickson left halfway through his five-year term. The Senate Commerce Committee has yet to schedule a hearing on President Joe Biden's FAA nominee who has drawn fire from Republicans. Last month, the FAA named two dozen experts to review Boeing’s safety management processes and safety culture.

☆ U.S. Lawmakers press FAA chief on computer outage, nationwide ground stop
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

On Wednesday, the FAA told lawmakers it had revoked access to a pilot messaging database by contractor personnel involved in a file deletion that disrupted more than 11,000 flights on Jan. 11. FAA plans to respond by Friday to a detailed letter lawmakers sent earlier this month asking questions about the investigation, Larsen said. The FAA identified to lawmakers the contractor involved as Bethesda-based Spatial Front. "All personnel from Spatial Front directly involved in the deletion have lost access to FAA buildings and systems while we complete our investigation," the FAA email said. The FAA said the deletion had occurred while personnel were working "to correct synchronization between the live primary database and a backup database."

☆ U.S. FAA revokes access to system for contractors involved in computer outage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The FAA in an email to lawmakers seen by Reuters identified the contractor involved as Bethesda-based Spatial Front. "All personnel from Spatial Front directly involved in the deletion have lost access to FAA buildings and systems while we complete our investigation," the FAA email to lawmakers said. The NOTAM system provides pilots, flight crews and other users of U.S. airspace with critical safety notices. "The recent NOTAM system meltdown highlighted a huge vulnerability in our air transportation system and underscores the need to address the leadership vacuum at FAA," said House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves. Earlier in the day, the FAA said some NOTAM users reported slower response times but said the system remained "online and operational."

☆ U.S. House eyes creating task force on flawed aviation computer system
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The outage of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) database prompted the Jan. 11 nationwide groundstop of U.S. passenger traffic, the first since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The NOTAM system provides pilots, flight crews and other users of U.S. airspace with critical safety notices. The FAA next week plans to hold a briefing for House lawmakers. There are two separate databases including a 30-year-old system known as the U.S. NOTAM System" based in Oklahoma City being phased out in favor of the newer "Federal NOTAM system" based in Atlantic City, the sources said. Last week, the corruption occurred in the US NOTAM system, which then infiltrated the federal NOTAM database.

☆ U.S. FAA says 'unintentionally deleted files' prompted computer outage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Thursday a preliminary review found that contract personnel "unintentionally deleted files" disrupting a key computer system and prompting a nationwide groundstop on Jan. 11 that disrupted more than 11,000 flights. The FAA said the issue occurred while personnel were working "to correct synchronization between the live primary database and a backup database." The NOTAM system provides pilots, flight crews and other users of U.S. airspace with critical safety notices. The system outage occurred on Jan. 10, but the FAA groundstop was not issued until the following morning. Last week, a group of more than 120 U.S. lawmakers told the FAA that the computer outage was "completely unacceptable" and demanded the agency explain how it will avoid future incidents.

☆ U.S. lawmakers call FAA outage 'unacceptable,' demand a fix
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - A group of more than 120 U.S. lawmakers told the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) its computer outage on Wednesday that disrupted 11,000 flights was "completely unacceptable" and demanded the agency explain how it will avoid future incidents. On Thursday, the FAA said its preliminary analysis showed the computer outage was caused by a procedural error related to a corrupted data file. The Senate committee email also said it appears the groundstop actually lasted from 7:21 a.m. Buttigieg tweeted at approximately 8:50am that the groundstop had been lifted, was the NOTAM system full operational at that point?" The Senate email asked "what additional resources does FAA need to expeditiously update the NOTAM system?"

☆ U.S. FAA proposes requiring 5G safeguards on planes by early 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Octavio JonesWASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Monday it is proposing a requirement that passenger and cargo aircraft in the United States have 5G C-Band-tolerant radio altimeters or install approved filters by early 2024. The proposed airworthiness directive, which would take effect in February 2024, is similar to one that took effect in December 2021, prohibiting passenger and cargo flight operations in the vicinity of 5G C-Band wireless transmitters unless the FAA specifically approved them. Some international airlines have privately expressed reluctance to install filters absent a legal requirement from the FAA, officials told Reuters. FAA acting Administrator Billy Nolen in October sought a delay in some 5G C-Band transmissions from smaller operators over aviation safety concerns. A deal struck shortly before a 2022 deadline did not prevent dozens of foreign carriers from canceling international flights to the United States.

☆ United States, South Korea to partner on advanced air mobility development
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Saturday it had agreed to partner with the Korea Office of Civil Aviation (KOCA) future Advanced Air Mobility aircraft development and operations. The two nations signed a declaration to collaborate and share information on advanced air mobility projects and work together to promote the safety oversight of advanced air mobility projects, the U.S. regulator said. The FAA has previously announced similar partnerships with Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in the National Aviation Authorities Network to harmonize certification and integration plans for advanced air mobility projects. Last month, the FAA issued the airworthiness criteria that Archer Aviation (ACHR.N) will need to meet for its M001 air taxi to be certified for use. The FAA released the criteria for public comment of Archer's eVTOL after it made a similar announcement in November for Joby Aviation's (JOBY.N) Model JAS4-1 eVTOL.

☆ U.S. lawmakers decline to add Boeing 737 MAX exemption in defense bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers late on Tuesday declined to add an extension to an annual defense bill of a looming deadline that would impose a new safety standard for modern cockpit alerts for two new versions of Boeing's (BA.N) best-selling 737 MAX aircraft. The U.S. planemaker has been lobbying for months to convince lawmakers to waive the deadline that affects its MAX 7 and MAX 10 airplanes and was imposed by Congress in 2020 after two fatal 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia. That would be a significant setback for Boeing, which did not immediately comment but has argued previously it is better to have a common alerting system for all versions of the 737 MAX. The requirements for modern cockpit alerts were adopted by Congress as part of certification reform passed after two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 that led to the plane's 20-month grounding. Nadia Milleron, whose daughter Samya Rose Stumo died in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash, praised lawmakers for not including the extension in the defense.

☆ U.S. senator presses FAA for details on Boeing 737 MAX alerting system
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A senior U.S. lawmaker wants details from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the safety of the cockpit alerting system for the Boeing 737 MAX -- an issue at the heart of a dispute over two new variants of the best selling airplane. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell on Tuesday circulated a draft proposal that would extend the 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10 certification deadline and require retrofitting existing planes with safety enhancements, Reuters reported. After Dec. 27, all planes must have modern cockpit alerting systems to be certified by the FAA, which could put the two new MAX planes future in jeopardy. Cantwell's letter asked "to the extent FAA has identified safety deficiencies with 737 MAX’s flight crew alerting system, please describe FAA’s plans to immediately address these safety concerns." Boeing declined to comment but has said it is safer to have one common cockpit alerting system for all versions of the 737.

☆ Key U.S. senator backs Boeing push to lift 737 MAX extension deadline - document
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A key U.S. lawmaker is proposing an extension of a certification deadline for two new versions of Boeing's (BA.N) 737 MAX and requiring retrofitting existing planes, according to a document reviewed by Reuters. Boeing is seeking an extension from Congress of a December deadline imposing a new safety standard for modern cockpit alerts for the 737 MAX 7 and 737 MAX 10 variants after two fatal 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia and led to the plane's 20-month grounding. Boeing would be required to bear the costs of the mandatory safety enhancements retrofit for MAX planes currently in service, according to the proposal. Faulty data from a single sensor that erroneously triggered a software function called MCAS to repeatedly activate played critical roles in the fatal 737 MAX crashes. Earlier this month, acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said he does not expect the agency will certify the 737 MAX 7 before the December deadline.

☆ U.S. Senate will not take up FAA nomination before 2023 -lawmaker
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The U.S Senate does not plan to take up President Joe Biden's nominee to head the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) until next year, a key lawmaker said. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, who heads the panel that overseas the FAA, told Reuters late on Tuesday she planned to hold a hearing for Denver International Airport Chief Executive Phil Washington to head the FAA after the new Congress convenes in January. Cantwell said she plans to meet next week with Washington, who was nominated in July but not yet had a hearing. The Democratic lawmaker said she believes the White House will stand by Washington and renominate him next year. Washington, a former CEO of the Los Angeles public transport system, previously told Bloomberg News "all the allegations are false."

☆ U.S. proposes rules to advance flying taxi operations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Monday proposed new rules that would help pave the way for commercial air taxi operations by around the middle of the decade. Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) have been touted as flying taxis that could be the future of urban air mobility. The FAA issued a proposal to update its air carrier definition to add "powered-lift" operations to regulations covering other commercial operations like airlines, charters and air tours. The FAA is separately developing a powered-lift operations rule for certifying pilots and operating requirements to fly eVTOLs. The FAA expects to issue an implementation plan next May that will help it meet the industry's ambitious growth plans, he added.

☆ FAA does not expect to certify Boeing 737 MAX 7 before end of year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Thursday he does not expect the agency will certify the Boeing (BA.N) 737 MAX 7 before a key deadline at the end of the year. Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said it "does not appear" the 737 MAX 7 will be certified by the end of the year. Boeing is seeking a waiver from Congress of a December deadline imposing a new safety standard for modern cockpit alerts for the 737 MAX 7 and 737 MAX 10. Boeing said last month it expects the 737 MAX 7 to be certified this year or in 2023 and the MAX 10 to begin FAA certification flight testing in 2022 or 2023 and enter service in 2023 or 2024. Earlier this month, Republican Senator Roger Wicker unsuccessfully sought to attach an extension of the MAX deadline to September 2024 to a defense bill.

☆ U.S. aviation sector calls for 5G wireless deadline extension
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A letter signed by Airlines for America, Boeing (BA.N) Airbus (AIR.PA), Embraer (EMBR3.SA), aviation unions and others backed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) request to mandate an extension of mitigation by wireless carriers as airlines retrofit radio altimeters. FAA acting Administrator Billy Nolen urged a delay in some 5G C-Band transmissions from smaller operators over aviation safety concerns. The aviation industry letter said that since January "the FAA has documented over 100 FAA incidents of potential 5G interference ... The FAA and White House did not immediately comment. The aviation letter Tuesday said "inter-agency government progress appears to be at a stalemate, while stakeholders are doing their part to address these issue."

☆ U.S. FAA should bar airlines from reducing leg room -6 Democratic senators
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Mary F. CalvertWASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Six Democratic U.S senators urged the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday to bar airlines from further shrinking the size and leg room of airplane seats. Last month, a U.S. appeals court heard arguments from a flyer advocacy group urging it to order the FAA to set minimum seat dimensions on passenger airplanes. There are no current minimum seat dimensions. Current rules say airlines must be able to evacuate passengers within 90 seconds but do not set seat size requirements. In July 2018 the FAA said it would not regulate seat size.

☆ FAA, U.S. telecom agency hold 5G C-Band aviation talks -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - The senior leaders at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Commerce Department's telecommunications unit met to discuss aviation safety concerns raised by new 5G C-Band deployments, two sources briefed on the meeting told Reuters on Tuesday. FAA acting Administrator Billy Nolen and Alan Davidson, who heads the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), met virtually for about 30 minutes on Monday, the sources said. Last month, Nolen wrote the NTIA seeking a delay in some 5G C-Band transmissions from smaller operators over aviation safety concerns. Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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