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Category Archives: Aviation Law

Union Chief Says American Pushing Pilots to Speed Up Flights

By The Associated Press The pilots’ union president said Thursday that American Airlines is reducing its safety margin by “manipulating” flight plans with tactics that include faster speeds. The union official suggested that American is trying to avoid canceling flights when crews push the limits of their legally allowed work shifts. American did not respond… Read More »

MEDICAL REFORM BECOMES LAW

President Barack Obama on July 15 signed third class medical reforms into law as part of an FAA authorization extension passed by the House and Senate days earlier. With the president’s signature, which came just hours before the FAA’s authorization was set to expire at midnight, medical reforms became law and the clock started ticking… Read More »

SENATE PASSES MEDICAL REFORM BILL, AWAITS PRESIDENT’S SIGNATURE

By Elizabeth A. Tennyson, AOPA The Senate has passed a 14-month FAA funding extension, H.R. 636, which includes third class medical reforms. The 89-to-4 vote means the legislation now goes to the president for his signature. “This is the most significant legislative victory for general aviation in decades,” said AOPA President Mark Baker. “These reforms… Read More »

White House Clears Small Commercial Drones for Takeoff

By Joan Lowy, Associated Press Routine commercial use of small drones was cleared for takeoff by the Obama administration Tuesday, after years of struggling to write rules that would both protect public safety and free the benefits of a new technology. The Federal Aviation Administration announced the creation of a new category of rules for… Read More »

FAA Finalizes First Set of Operational Rules for Routine Commercial Use of Small Drones

WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration has finalized the first operational rules for routine commercial use of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or “drones”), opening pathways towards fully integrating UAS into the nation’s airspace. These new regulations work to harness new innovations safely, to spur job growth, advance critical scientific research and… Read More »

SC Air National Guard F-16 fighter pilots collide over Georgia, eject safely

By Susanne M. Schafer, The Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two South Carolina Air National Guard F-16 fighter pilots ejected safely after a midair collision overnight in eastern Georgia, the Guard said. The collision happened Tuesday night around 9:15 p.m. during routine night-flying operations over a military operating area in Jefferson County, Georgia, the Air National… Read More »

Challenge To FAA Drone Authority Quietly Playing Out In Connecticut Federal Court

By John Goglia With little media attention, a hard fought battle is being waged in a federal district court in New Haven, Connecticut over whether small drones – so-called model aircraft – are indeed aircraft subject to FAA jurisdiction. This would be the first judicial decision regarding FAA authority to regulate small hobby drones. While… Read More »

FAA Releases Drone Registration Location Data

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today posted a large database showing the city, state and zip code of each registered drone owner. Release of the database responds to a number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests submitted since the new unmanned aircraft registration system began operating on December 21, 2015. The FAA is not… Read More »

FAA Tests FBI Drone Detection System at JFK

The FAA and its government partners are expanding research on ways to detect “rogue” drones around airports. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its government, industry and academia partners have joined forces to evaluate drone detection technology at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York. Over the last two years, the FAA has… Read More »

FAA Expands Drone Detection Pathfinder Initiative

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expanding the part of its Pathfinder Program that focuses on detecting and identifying unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) flying too close to airports.  Today the FAA signed Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRDAs) with Gryphon Sensors, Liteye Systems Inc. and Sensofusion. The FAA will evaluate procedures and technologies designed to… Read More »