Free Republic

America’s tech and economic future depends to a great extent on our ability to lead the world in 5G wireless technology, and that future is being threatened by some needless concerns coming from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA says they are worried that 5G wireless, specifically a portion of the middle band spectrum (referred to as the C-Band), will interfere with the ability of radio altimeters to measure and relay a plane’s altitude to pilots. Unfortunately, the information on which the FAA bases its fears is wrong, as it is the result of a poorly designed and conducted...

Authorities investigating a series of possible jetpack sightings over Los Angeles believe they may have identified an explanation for the mysterious reports - one that requires no fuel, no engines, and no high-flying technology. "One working theory is that pilots might have seen balloons," the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Federal Aviation Administration said in statements, after NBC Los Angeles obtained police video and photos that appear to show a human-shaped inflatable toy floating thousands of feet above Beverly Hills. The crew aboard an LAPD helicopter captured the images last year, about two weeks after the second reported sighting of...

HT Aero plans to follow up its basic two-seat multicopter with an auto-folding, twin-rotor flying carXPeng / HT Aero VIEW 6 IMAGES XPeng affiliate HT Aero has unveiled an outrageous flying car design that it claims is "planned for roll-out in 2024." It looks like an electric Bugatti hypercar with a pair of huge, auto-folding props in the style of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey. Xpeng is a seven-year-old Chinese electric car company that's growing fast, pulling in somewhere around US$2 billion in revenue this year and shipping somewhere around 50,000 cars. It's investing heavily in autonomy and charging infrastructure, while...

BROOKSHIRE, Texas – An aircraft with 21 people onboard ran off a runway Tuesday in a field near an airport in Brookshire, injuring one person, authorities said. The McDonnell Douglas MD-87 rolled through a fence and caught fire in a field while attempting to depart from Houston Executive Airport in Brookshire near Katy, the Federal Aviation Administration said. All 21 people aboard -- 18 passengers and three crew members -- evacuated safely. Officials said two people were transported from the scene. “Anytime you have plane that doesn’t make a landing on the runway like its supposed to, we’re always expecting...

The Dallas-based airline blamed the disruptions on air traffic control issues in Florida and bad weather but other airlines in the region reported far fewer cancellations. Southwest did not immediately comment on whether staffing shortfalls contributed to the cancellations this weekend.

KINGSLAND, Ga. (AP) — A federal agency said Wednesday it's once again delaying a final decision on whether to permit construction of a launchpad for commercial rockets on the Georgia coast. The Federal Aviation Administration now plans to issue a decision on Spaceport Camden by Nov. 3 “due to ongoing consultation efforts,” agency spokesman Steve Kulm said in a statement. Previously, the FAA had said it intended to make a final determination on the project by the end of July, then shifted its target date to the end of September. Camden County in Georgia’s coastal, southeast corner has spent nine...

...two months after it first discovered an issue with some of the valves in the spacecraft’s service module, the company still doesn’t know with 100 percent certainty what caused 13 of those valves to remain shut when they should have been open... ...the company might even have to swap out the spacecraft’s service module for a new one... “We got very close to launch without having identified the valve problem,” said George Nield, a panel member who previously oversaw the Federal Aviation Administration’s office of commercial space transportation. “Are there any changes to hardware inspection, testing, vehicle processing or checkout...

Yesterday the Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] invoked a Temporary Flight Restriction [TFR] after Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin aired footage showing 10,000 illegal immigrants camped out under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas. The FAA claimed the TFR was invoked for a “security” reason. After being grounded for over 12-hours, the Texas Department of Safety offered to take Melugin and his crew up to continue their coverage of Biden’s catastrophic border crisis. Shortly after the trip, the FAA reopened the airspace. While 10,000 illegal immigrants wait under a bridge to enter the U.S., 10,000 more are on the way. Border...

CNN, MSNBC and the alphabet networks have all have ignored the massive invasion of illegal aliens touched off by the Biden administration's welcome mat. They, and their Democrat colleagues, do not want the public to see evidence of the 200,000 a month arriving. Fox News, to its everlasting honor, is covering the invasion thoroughly, and has been using drones to show the magnitude of the problem. Until just a few hours ago. On Tucker Carlson's top-rated program, news broke that the FAA has grounded the drone Fox was using at Del Rio to show at least 10,000 Haitians sheltering under...

WASHINGTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday barred Virgin Galactic from flying its SpaceShipTwo until the agency approves its final mishap investigation report from its July flight or determines the issues do not affect public safety. The FAA confirmed on Wednesday it was investigating a deviation in the descent of the flight of the Virgin Galactic rocket plane that carried British billionaire Richard Branson to the edge of space on July 11....

"A Boeing 747 pilot reported seeing an object that might have resembled a jet pack 15 miles east of LAX at 5,000ft altitude," the Federal Aviation Administration told CBS. "Out of an abundance of caution, air traffic controllers alerted other pilots in the vicinity." The FAA has not yet responded to a request for further comment from The Sun. A man in similar garb and get-up was spotted nearly a year ago just miles from the airport. Video captured from the event shows the "jet pack guy" flying through the air, at that time, only 3,000ft in the air.

Texas Democrats split the state this week to prevent a quorum from being reached and thus block (or “filibuster” if you will) passage of a bill by the duly elected majority in the Texas legislature. Upon arriving in D.C., the vacationers broke out in a spontaneous performance of “We Shall Overcome.” Then they spontaneously did it again the next day, coincidentally following little media coverage of the first show. Performance one began during an on-the-tarmac presser late Monday night. The Democrats, arriving as they were from many hours on the beer bus and the maskless private and/or chartered flight (in...

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Tuesday that it had fined a passenger $10,500 for refusing to wear a face mask during a February flight. In a press release, the agency said that a passenger had taken an Allegiant Air flight on Feb. 27 going from Provo, Utah, to Mesa, Ariz., and allegedly refused to wear the mask properly over both his nose and mouth. "Flight attendants instructed him seven separate times to wear his facemask properly, and each time he moved it off of his nose after the flight attendant walked away," the release said. "When told that he...

The letter cites numerous concerns about lack of data and the lack of a preliminary safety assessment for the FAA to review. “The FAA will not approve any aircraft unless it meets our safety and certification standards,” the agency said in a statement Sunday.

Officials today would not disclose why three missile-armed Hawaii Air National Guard F-22 fighters were scrambled Sunday afternoon for an “irregular air patrol” requested by the Federal Aviation Administration. “The 154th Fighter Wing launched two F-22 Raptors from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam at approximately 4 p.m.,” Pacific Air Forces said in an email. “A third was launched at approximately 5 p.m.” The Hickam-based Air Force command added that the FAA requested that U.S. Indo-Pacific Command “conduct an irregular air patrol and the situation resolved, prompting the fighters and a KC-135 Stratotanker (a refueling plane) to return to base. We cannot...

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is demanding U.S. airlines submit plans with updated weight averages they will use for passengers and baggage moving forward by Saturday. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Airlines officials say the weight estimates used for passengers and baggage are going up between 5 percent and 10 percent.” “That will affect some flights, possibly requiring that more passengers get bumped or more baggage left behind,” the Journal reported. Airline officials say the weight requirements used for passengers and baggage are going up about 10% or more. That will affect some flights, possibly requiring that more passengers...

On a Southwest flight Sunday from Sacramento to San Diego, an unruly passenger attacked a flight attendant, knocking out two of her teeth and bloodying her face. Video below: Twitter LinkThe police arrested Vyvianna Quinonez, and charged her with battery causing serious bodily injury. San Diego authorities charged a 28-year-old woman with felony battery after an attack on a Southwest Airlines plane in which a flight attendant lost two teeth and suffered other injuries to her face. The incident marked an escalation in unruly behavior by airline passengers and led the president of the flight attendants’ union to ask for...

HONOLULU, Hawaii – A federal judge today sentenced Joelyn DeCosta, 48, of Honolulu, Hawaii, to two years of probation and a $5000 fine for willfully and maliciously interfering with the working and use of a communication system operated and controlled by the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1362.According to documents and information presented in court, DeCosta was an Airway Transportation Systems Specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration, and had worked for the F.A.A. for approximately 26 years. On January 4, 2019, she willfully and maliciously severed communications between Air Traffic Control in Honolulu and...

New president is making his space policy increasingly clear: America will remain grounded for the time being Sadly, the visionary goal of getting Americans to Mars first came crashing down when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) which, under the Trump administration had allowed for SpaceX to conduct their important test flights, ordered Mr. Musk to cancel the Starship prototype test. The FAA did not cite its reasoning behind ordering the cancellation of the launch.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will take over the investigation into an explosion that destroyed a SpaceX rocket during a test flight on Tuesday, the agency said. CNN reported that an FAA spokesperson confirmed the investigation and said it would identify the "root cause" behind the craft's explosion upon landing in Texas. "The FAA's top priority in regulating commercial space transportation is ensuring that operations are safe, even if there is an anomaly," the agency spokesperson said, according to CNN. "The FAA will oversee the investigation of today's landing mishap involving the SpaceX Starship SN9 prototype in Boca Chica, Texas....