Free Republic

The FAA finally confirmed this afternoon that model aircraft registrants' names and home addresses will be public. In an email message, the FAA stated: "Until the drone registry system is modified, the FAA will not release names and address. When the drone registry system is modified to permit public searches of registration numbers, names and addresses will be revealed through those searches." I've been trying to get to the bottom of whether names and home addresses of model aircraft or hobby drone owners - including children as young as 13 - will be made available by the FAA to the...

On Monday, the FAA will launch its online registry for drone operators with the aim of collecting personal information from the owners of these unmanned aircraft. But according to a report from Forbes, all those names and addresses will eventually be publicly available. Which seems... kinda scary? Over at Forbes, John Goglia says he’s been poking the FAA for answers ever since the FAQ about registration went up. Of particular concern are two contradictory statements from the FAA and DOT. The FAA says only their agency and a contractor will have access to the personal information collected. The DOT says...

DENVER - Thousands of potential FAA air traffic control trainees, with College Initiative Training (CTI) degrees or previous military experience, have been told by the federal agency they are no longer eligible for job interviews. Instead, the FAA has decided to accept less qualified applicants, apparently to satisfy concerns that the agency needs a more diverse workforce.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, NATCA, has called for an investigation of the FAA’s hiring practices following the FOX Business investigation “Trouble in the Skies” first telecast on May 20th. A just released statement from the union which represents the nation’s air traffic controllers says, “NATCA believes these allegations must be thoroughly investigated. The FAA should carefully examine its hiring practices to ensure the highest quality candidates are selected for the training process. The flying public deserves nothing less.” FOX Business uncovered cheating on a key exam to become an air traffic controller as well as serious questions about...

Air traffic controllers are well paid, averaging $136,000 per year. However you have to be under 31-year-old to start, training takes years. ... A major part of the problem is the FAA changed the way it hires controllers about two years ago. They have recently been hiring more of them off the street, instead of candidates with military or college aviation training. Now many of them don't make it through training.

If you own a drone, you must register it with the Federal Aviation Administration's Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) registry. A federal law effective December 21, 2015 requires unmanned aircraft registration, and you are subject to civil and criminal penalties if you do not register. More info and FAQ at the link

The Federal Aviation Administration, responding to heightened concerns about rogue drone flights near airports, unveiled a pre-Christmas rule on Monday requiring drone hobbyists as young as 13 to register their unmanned aircraft. The new online registry will require current drone owners to register by Feb. 19 while anyone who acquires aircraft after Dec. 21 would need to register before their first outdoor flight. After registering, drone owners will receive an FAA identification number that they must display on aircraft weighing between 0.55 pounds (250 grams) and 55 pounds (25 kgs). The FAA's online registration site, which will be launched next...

The Federal Aviation Administration ruled Friday that Santa Monica Airport must stay open at least until 2023 -- a decision that could frustrate the city's efforts to reduce flight operations and then shut down the historic facility in the near future. Santa Monica elected officials and anti-airport activists insist that the airport can be closed well before 2023 because, they say, all obligations to the federal government already have expired. Some have even claimed it could have been shuttered earlier this year, ending what they contend are the airport's noise, pollution and safety hazards.

The aerospace newspaper Space News recounted an exchange that took place at the International Astronautical Conference in Jerusalem, Israel recently that proved to be cringe-worthy for observers of space policy. During a panel discussion at the conference, European Space Agency’s new director-general, Johann-Dietrich Woerner presented an idea he has been touting for some time called a “moon village.” The idea is that various countries would come together to establish a lunar base, each bringing in “their special ideas, their special competence.” The moon village would be a center of science and commerce, developing techniques for resource management and testing technology...

As investigators search for the cause of a plane crash that killed 224 people over the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday and Russia suspends all flights to Egypt, U.S. officials said they are taking unspecified precautionary measures to enhance the security of flights from the Middle East. “While the facts and circumstances surrounding the tragic October 31 crash of Metrojet Flight 9268 on the Sinai Peninsula are still under investigation, Transportation Security Administrator (TSA) Peter Neffenger and I, out of an abundance of caution, have identified a series of interim, precautionary enhancements to aviation security with respect to commercial flights bound...

As the nation deals with an air traffic controller shortage, some qualified candidates are not getting hired to fill those positions. Officials said Arizona State University’s air traffic management program has seen its enrollment numbers drop 50 percent. That is due to new hiring procedures put in place last year by the Federal Aviation Administration. Until recently, students who attended an FAA-approved college training initiative program like the one at ASU were shown preference in the controller hiring process. Now, those students are in the same applicant pool as anyone from the general public who applies for a controller job....

Weather Conditions for: Burlington/Mount Vernon, Skagit Regional Airport, WA. Time (PDT) 16 Sep 5:35 am PDT Temp.(f) 82

An American Airlines plane that was not cleared to undertake long flights over water was flown from Los Angeles to Hawaii by mistake, violating US Federal Aviation Association regulations. The incident took place last month, when an A321 plane was accidentally flown to Honolulu, despite not being certified to take extended flights over sea.

FBI special agent T. Scott Hendricks has filed an affidavit explaining why Southwest Airlines diverted a San Diego-Chicago flight to Amarillo late Monday and booted six passengers off the flight. The six, said to be members of a San Diego area soccer team, were subsequently arrested and charged with “interference with a flight crew and abetting.” Basically, according to Hendricks per Southwest, the passengers –Khalid Yohana, 19; Wasim Imad Shaker, 23; Essa Solaqa, 20; Ghazwan Assad Shaba, 21; Jonathan Khalid Petras, 20; and Saiman Hermez, 19– were refusing orders from the flight attendants, challenging their authority and being mean to...

Washington (CNN)The Federal Aviation Administration has delayed creating a critical database, which Congress mandated, to help keep track and weed out poorly trained pilots.

FAA says problem that caused flight delays has been resolved WASHINGTON (AP) -- Air traffic was snarled and passengers' tempers frayed on Saturday as many flights to and from airports throughout a large swath of the Northeast stretching from New York down to the Carolinas were delayed or cancelled. The Federal Aviation Administration blamed the problem on "technical issues" at an air traffic control center in Leesburg, Va. Around 4 p.m., the agency said the problem had been resolved, and that officials were working to lift any remaining orders to hold planes on the ground. Delays began building about...

Washington area airports and others along the East Coast are reporting flight delays due to an issue with the system that routes air traffic, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control Web site. “The FAA is diagnosing an automation problem at an air traffic center in Leesburg, Va.,” according to a statement from the agency. “Some flights into and out of the New York and Washington, DC metro area airports area may be delayed.”

A father shot was arrested after shooting down an $1,800 drone that was hovering over his sunbathing daughter. William H. Merideth, 47, from Kentucky was charged with first degree criminal mischief and first-degree wanton endangerment. The owner of the drone claims he was only trying to take pictures of a friend's house, when Merideth shot at the device, sending it crashing into a field near his yard last weekend.

OK, raise your hand if you’ve ever had the kind of night out that stretches into the next morning, the kind where you don’t greet the new day as much as you just try not to barf on its shoes? And keep those hands up if you’ve ever stumbled into work still drunk, taken your shirt off and then passed out facedown in your own office? Just you, Philip Maschek? The 50-year-old Arkansas air traffic controller was arrested after one of his coworkers found him unconscious on the floor of the control tower at the Springdale Municipal Airport last Thursday...

Three navigation coordination points above Palm Beach International Airport that had been named in honor of Donald J. Trump will be renamed, the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday. “In general, the F.A.A. chooses names that are noncontroversial,” said an agency spokeswoman, Laura Brown. A growing number of businesses have been severing ties with Mr. Trump since the Republican presidential candidate made derogatory remarks about Mexican immigrants in a campaign speech. That includes NBC, which aired Mr. Trump’s show, “The Apprentice.” In 2010, an air traffic controller who was a fan of Mr. Trump’s reality show and its catchphrase, “You’re fired,”...