FAA News

NTSB Blames Air Canada Pilots for Near Miss at California Airport Last Year

Federal safety officials blame two Air Canada pilots for coming within 10 to 20 feet of crashing their jetliner into a plane on the ground last year in San Francisco. The Air Canada pilots were apparently confused because one of …

Unregulated Recreational Drone Operation May Be Ending

The Wild West days of unregulated recreational drones may be nearing an end. A bill close to passage in Congress would repeal the current exemption for hobbyists from regulations and for the first time require them to take a test …

Stale Cockpit Air Could Dull Airline Pilot Performance

That poorly ventilated conference room isn’t the only place with the potential for sick-air syndrome. Airliner cockpits can also have levels of carbon dioxide elevated enough that in simulations it causes pilots to fail test maneuvers at higher rates than …

Study: One Overheated Laptop Battery Could Down an Airliner

A single personal electronic device that overheats and catches fire in checked luggage on an airliner can overpower the aircraft’s fire suppression system, potentially creating a fire that could rage uncontrolled, according to new government research. Regulators had thought that …

Inspections Reveal More Flaws in Jet Engines Linked to Southwest Fatality

Flaws in jet engine fan blades like one that cracked and broke loose in April, killing a Southwest Airlines Co. passenger, have been discovered on planes operated by several carriers, and the manufacturer is moving to further tighten inspections. General …

FAA Inspector Cozy With American Airlines Exec Ignored Safety Tips

A federal inspector assigned to monitor American Airlines Group Inc. failed to act on safety complaints after developing a friendship with a company official, according to a government watchdog report. The Federal Aviation Administration inspector, who had been assigned to …

Airlines Dodge Minimum Seat Sizes as FAA Finds No Safety Issue

Hopes for more legroom in increasingly cramped airplane cabins were dashed when U.S. regulators, responding to a court order, said they found no need to impose new standards on airlines. The Federal Aviation Administration, in a letter dated Monday, said …

Watchdog Probe Finds FAA Inspectors let Unsafe Charters Fly

Government aviation inspectors allowed unsafe aircraft to operate in U.S. commercial flight operations, a whistleblower investigation has concluded. The Federal Aviation Administration’s own review confirmed the allegations, according to the Office of Special Counsel, the agency charged with investigating complaints …

Science Panel Says FAA is Overly Tough on Drones

Science advisers to the federal government say safety regulators should do more to speed the integration of commercial drones into the nation’s airspace. The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine said in a report Monday that federal safety regulators …

Report: NJ Transit Has Far to Go to Meet Safety Deadline

New Jersey Transit had installed a federally mandated emergency braking system on less than 10 percent of its fleet of locomotives nine months before the deadline, according to a progress report covering the first quarter of this year. The report …