CNBC reports that as SpaceX faces a standard practice FAA grounding of its “Starship Super Heavy launch program pending results of a ‘mishap investigation’” over the explosion of its vehicle last week, researchers also “are scrambling to assess the impact of the explosion on local communities, their health, habitat and wildlife including endangered species.” The primary issue “is the large amount of sand- and ash-like particulate matter and heavier debris kicked up by the launch. The particulate emissions spread far beyond the expected debris field,” which SpaceX “did not accurately predict.”
Full Story (CNBC)
Tag: FAA
Experts Discuss Challenges, Opportunities Around AAM
Aviation Today reported that a panel of experts hosted by AUVSI and the FAA “discussed the challenges and opportunities associated with cooperating internationally on advanced air mobility, or AAM.” Panel moderator Jessica Orquina, Manager of the Implementation Branch for the FAA’s Safety & Integration Division in the UAS Integration Office, “noted that many of the FAA’s current regulations allow AAM aircraft to meet strict safety standards through innovative means.” Further, she “added that the FAA is working with international partners to adopt common certification and integration standards from other countries as AAM is being defined.” Meanwhile, Pulkit Agrawal, Principal Certification Engineer (UAS/UAM) at Honeywell, “spoke about some of the opportunities in the AAM industry” and how the company “believes in the vision of efficient air transportation – electric air taxis that can complete a 100-mile trip in 45 minutes – as well as same-day package delivery via drone.”
Full Story (Aviation Today)
FAA Seeking to Balance Rocket Launches with Air Traffic
USA Today reports that the Federal Aviation Administration “announced new guidelines for space launch approvals to ensure that air traffic controllers aren’t stretched too thin,” as private space launches are increasing and the FAA continues to deal with staffing issues. The FAA said in a statement, “The agency will rely on a set of objective factors to better balance the needs of launch licensees, as well as airlines, general aviation and the military to minimize disruptions.” USA Today adds, “With many space flights taking off on the Eastern Seaboard, an already-crowded sector of the airspace for commercial flights, those closures can create major headaches for air traffic controllers.”
Full Story (USA Today)
SpaceX Awaits FAA Approval for Starship Orbital Test Flight
The Miami Herald reports that after “running through a successful test fire this month, SpaceX is set to fly its massive Starship and Super Heavy rocket, and is just waiting on the Federal Aviation Administration for the green light, according to one company official.” The company said the static fire test in which 31 of the rocket’s 33 engines performed as expected was the first and only necessary step towards an orbital test flight.
Full Story (Miami Herald)
As US Air Operations Return to Normal, FAA Links Outage to Procedural Error
The AP reports that US air travel “returned mostly to normal Thursday,” a day after the Federal Aviation Administration’s Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system “broke down and grounded traffic from coast to coast.” According to the AP, Thursday afternoon saw only about 150 flight cancellations and approximately 3,700 delays – “much lower figures than on Wednesday, when more than 1,300 flights were scrubbed and 11,000 delayed.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
FAA Estimates $26M to Update All Aircraft to Prevent C-Band 5G Interference
FierceWireless reports on the Federal Aviation Administration’s “new directive requiring airplanes in the U.S. to install 5G C-band tolerant radio altimeters or compatible RF filters by February 24, 2024.” The directive “estimates that the total price-tag to make these modifications to airplanes is just $26 million.” FierceWireless reports, “That’s a small price to pay to put an end to what amounted to a multi-year battle between the U.S. airline industry and wireless operators.” The US aviation regulator “estimates that out of 7,993 airplanes on the U.S. registry[,] only about 180 airplanes will need radio altimeter replacements and about 820 will need radio altimeter filters” in order to “eliminate potential 5G transmissions in the C-band spectrum from interfering with airplane altimeters.” Tantra Analyst Principal Prakash Sangam said, “Clearly, if the FAA and FCC were working more cordially and put out this estimate much earlier, the issue would have been resolved without fanfare or public hoopla. … In my view, the direct and indirect cost of all resources, including from the government, stakeholders, and media spent on the issue, is far higher than the paltry $26 million.”
Full Story (FierceWireless)
FAA Publishes Archer Air Taxi Airworthiness Criteria
Aviation Today reports that the Airworthiness Criteria for the electric aircraft designed by Archer Aviation “have been published by the Federal Aviation Administration.” This is an “important achievement for the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) developer on the path to beginning commercial urban air mobility operations in the U.S.” The Airworthiness Criteria are “part of the FAA’s process of type certification for special class aircraft.” Once the brief period “for comments has concluded, on January 19, 2023, the Airworthiness Criteria will be finalized by the FAA.” Archer is working “towards certification of its eVTOL aircraft, Midnight, in late 2024.” The team plans “to launch its network of operations in 2025. Adam Goldstein, Archer’s founder and CEO, remarked in the announcement, ‘Today’s publication of our Airworthiness Criteria in the Federal Register is further validation of our strategy and our leadership position in the market.’”
Full Story (Aviation Today)
Gulfstream Notifies FAA of Soot at Rear of G500 and G600 Jets
Reuters reports that Gulfstream Aerospace “has notified owners of its G500 and G600 jets and the Federal Aviation Administration that it has discovered soot at the rear of some of those business jets, possibly because of the way a small engine vents gas in flight.” The FAA and Gulfstream both “said they did not consider the issue to be a safety risk.” The FAA told Reuters, “While it is not a safety-of-flight issue, we are working with Gulfstream to ensure the company addresses it.”
Full Story (Reuters)
FAA Will Add Powered-Lift Aircraft to Air Carrier Category
BBC News reports that the FAA said on Monday that “it was proposing to expand its definition of the machines it considered air carriers from airplanes and helicopters, adding ‘powered lift’ to the list.” This is a big step forward in the regulation clearance for commercial air taxis, but the rules “now face a period of public comment before they can go into effect.” The agency also “said it expected to publish proposed rules for operating such aircraft in summer 2023. Those rules will outline in more detail the criteria that firms will need to meet to license pilots and launch their operations.”
BBC News (BBC News)
FAA Selects Five Universities to Examine Drone-Based Disaster Assistance
ExecutiveGov reports that the Federal Aviation Administration “has selected five universities to examine drone-based approaches government organizations can apply when responding to manmade or natural disasters.” The grantees are the University of Vermont, the University of Alabama Huntsville, New Mexico State University, North Carolina State University, and Kansas State University.
Full Story (ExecutiveGov)