Airplane News Update

Welcome to your weekly General Aviation news update, and this week we have 5 stories for you; small airplane crash, New Piper M700 Fury, FAA tells congress not to increase pilot retirement age, FAA advises to use analog NAVAIDs, and comments close for the 25 hour CVR rule.

First up this week is a crash of a Grumman GA-7 Cougar. While we don’t normally talk about small aircraft accidents, this one was recently rebuild by a popular YouTube channel called Rebuild Rescue. The aircraft departed Coatesville-Chester County Carlson Airport in Pennsylvania and crashed shortly after takeoff. Based on a map provided from Aviation Safety Network, the crash appears to have occurred less than 2 miles from the airport. The pilot and only occupant of the Cougar was killed in the crash. As usual, we’re not going to speculate on the cause of the accident. We’ll wait until the NTSB report is released, which may take a few years. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/351359 https://www.fox29.com/news/coatesville-plane-crash-chester-county-school-board-president-killed-in-small-plane-crash Second up this week is the new Piper M700 Fury! Piper has unveiled their new M700 Fury, a single engine turboprop with a 301kts max cruise speed, 3400 foot per minute rate of climb, and take off and landing distances under 2000’. The M700 Fury comes with a Pratt and Whitney PT6A-52 Engine, Garmin G3000 Avionics Suite with HALO Safety System, Garmin PlaneSync, and Garmin Auto land. The Fury has a useful load of 2,220lbs, a maximum rage of 1852NM, and a maximum approved altitude of 30,000’. At 4.1 million, I’m not sure your flight school is going to be picking one up but for those who can afford it, the M700 is a cool new turboprop airplane! https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/290413/ https://www.piper.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2024_M700_SpecSheet.pdf Next up this week is the FAA and Congress discussing the potential of raising pilot retirement age to 67. The new FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker has asked congress to leave the current mandatory retirement age in place until the agency has had more time to study the increase. The pilot retirement age is now part of negotiations towards a 5 year FAA reauthorization act. Without another extension or a reauthorization act, the FAA’s reauthorization will expire on March 8th, 2024 . We’ll keep you up to date if we see any reauthorization updates or changes to pilot retirement ages. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/age-67-pilot-retirement-back-in-legislative-spotlight/ Third up this week is guidance for anyone experiencing GPS spoofing or other anomalies. The FAA is advising that pilot use analog NAVAIDs such as VOR or NDB if pilot notice issues such as: Report Link: https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/nas/gps_reports SAFO: https://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/airline_operators/airline_safety/safo/all_safos/SAFO24002.pdf Last up this week is that comments have closed of the 25 Cockpit Voice Recorder rule. If you’re unfamiliar, the NPRM aims to increase Cockpit Voice Recorders from 2 hours of recording to 25 hours. This would allow the FAA and NTSB to better investigate incidents. Reactions to the NPRM have been mixed, with a number of comments expressing concern that the 25 hours of CVR will be used to listen in on pilot conversations or used to punish pilots with certain viewpoints. ALPA addressed this in their comments, suggesting that there should be restrictions on the use of recording or transcripts for administrative or disciplinary proceedings including by both Federal Agencies and by a pilot’s employer. We’ll keep you updated when we see the final rule. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/mixed-reaction-to-25-hour-cvr-rule/ https://www.regulations.gov/document/FAA-2023-2270-0001/comment Alright, that’s it! Have a great week and we’ll see you next week.

Welcome to your weekly General Aviation news update, and this week we have 3 stories for you; FAA Reauthorization appears close, Vitol disputes NATA Claim, and a class action lawsuit against the FAA.

First up, congress appeared this week to agree on language for a long term FAA authorization. The reauthorization is over 1,000 pages, with topics including fine increases for consumer violations, legislation over near collisions, quality control for large aircraft manufacturers, and FAA staffing. Congress now will need to vote in favor of the bill before it heads to the President’s desk. We’ll keep you updated when we see more. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/bipartisan-congressional-approval-for-long-term-faa-reauthorization/ Next up is Vitol aviation and GAMI G100UL. Vitol Aviation has more than 1,000,000 gallons of GAMI G100UL for sale that the National Air Transportation Association says is not ready for sale. NATA says that without a fuel specification from ASTM International, furl suppliers and retailers “lack assurances that the unleaded fuel they are selling will not expose them to liability” and therefore cannot be commercially available. Vitol says it has had no issue getting insurance for the GAMI G100UL and that the fuel has an FAA approved specification. We’ll have to see if NATA’s claim hinders Vitol’s ability to bring the G100UL to market. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/g100ul-maker-refutes-nata-claim-that-its-not-ready-to-sell/ Last up, the FAA is getting sued! A class action lawsuit filed this week states the FAA turned away more than 1000 qualified air traffic controller applicants due to discrimination. The lawsuit doesn’t state that incompetent controllers were hired, but rather that particular demographics of controllers were never given a chance to demonstrate their competency. The suit continues, stating that certain minority candidates were given “Buzz words” to bring their resumes to the top. Questions were also alleged to have been placed in the biographical questionnaire that were weighted to give certain candidates advantages, such as playing more than 4 sports in high school giving a candidate 5 points, while an applicant holding a pilot certificate only gave them 2 points. The questionnaire also omitted relevant experience as a military air traffic controller. We’ll keep you up to date with what we see from this lawsuit. https://simpleflying.com/faa-air-traffic-controller-applicants-lawsuit/ Alright, that’s it! Have a great week and we’ll see you next week.

This week in airplane news, a 737 has crashed claiming the lives of 132 people, RedBull pilots to attempt a mid-air plane swap, Embraer has announced a training program, and Textron will be purchasing Pipistrel.

A 737-800 operated by China Eastern crashed on Monday.

The aircraft was carrying 132 people. Currently, there are no survivors.

ADS-B tracks of the 737 show that the airplane was in the cruise phase of flight and lost nearly 30,000’ of altitude in 3 minutes.

The aircraft was delivered to China Eastern by Boeing in 2015.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-plane-crash-eastern-airlines-boeing-737-guangxi-wuzhou-guangzhou/

Two red bull pilots will attempt to jump out of their planes and into the others where they will regain control and fly the other’s plane

This stunt is sponsored by Redbull and will use a pair of C182s with custom air breaks.

The airplanes will dive from 14,000 feet and the event will air live on Hulu on April 24th.

https://www.redbull.com/us-en/events/plane-swap#:~:text=Skydivers%20Luke%20Aikins%20and%20Andy,and%20attempt%20to%20switch%20planes.

Embraer has launched a new program that will offer grants, internships, and scholarships.

Embraer will be choosing six aviation training programs to partner with in order to train their students.

As part of EPP, Embraer will send representatives to each school to assist with academic support and advise on curriculum.

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/embraer-launches-educational-partnership-program

Purchase Agreement to acquire Pipistrel in Q2 of this year, developer of the Velis Electro aircraft

This will lead to the creation of Textron eAviation.

This will allow Textron to start developing urban air mobility aircraft, GA and cargo aircraft.

Hopefully, this doesn’t mean the death of the Velis since Textron has a history of canceling GA programs like the Skycatcher or the Corvalis.

https://www.flyingmag.com/textron-to-acquire-pipistrel-in-bid-to-position-in-electric-airplane-market/

This week in airplane news; the AN225 Mryia has possibly been destroyed, PG&E has been cited for use of a heli-saw, the FAA is seeking an end to leaded GA emissions, and a 9-year-old snuck onto a 1500 mile flight.

Have you experienced PSI testing troubles? If so:

This is not acceptable. I need you to do 3 things:

Email PSI to let them know your experience: https://www.psionline.com/contact/form?tab=support

Email the FAA Testing Branch to let them know about your experience as well at [email protected] so they can follow up.

Email me at [email protected] so I can compile the data and email both of these entities.

There are reports that the AN225 Mriya was destroyed in a fire due to the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe.

There are pictures from what is reported to be military unmanned aircraft showing a possible fire in the hangar.

There are also satellite images that show the tail of the aircraft still intact.

We’re hoping this is not the sad end to the world's largest plane by weight.

avweb.com/aviation-news/an-225-destroyed-in-Ukraine-battle/

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/satellite-photos-give-hope-an-225-might-have-survived/

PG&E in California has been cited by CalFire for deploying a heli-saw over a park.

A Heli-saw uses 30-inch blades to trim back branches in and around power lines, preventing wildfires.

This trimming luckily resulted in no injuries, but CalFire estimates that branches up to 8 inches in diameter fell from altitudes as high as 150 feet.

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/pge-cited-after-deploying-heli-saw-in-san-mateo-county-park/2824027/

The FAA has announced the launch of a new initiative to eliminate leaded fuel.

The initiative, dubbed “EAGLE” ( - Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions), includes development of Unleaded fuel infrastructure, Commercial viability, Research, and Policy creation.

A 9 year old boy from Brazil was reported missing on Saturday morning by his mother.

Searching revealed the boy had snuck out and traveled to a nearby airport, where he boarded a plane without a ticket.

The boy traveled from Manau to Guarulhos, approximately 1677 miles.

The boy reportedly decided to travel and see family located in the other city.

https://nypost.com/2022/03/01/boy-9-sneaks-onto-plane-and-travels-almost-2000-miles/

This week in airplane news: Boeing has invested another half a billion dollars into eVTOLs, a taxiing China air ran into some parked baggage carts, the FAA is looking to curb illegal charters and part 135 operations, and a new app that shows PIREPs.

Boeing has invested 495 million into Wisk Aero Wisk is a collaboration of Boeing and Kitty Hawk. The Cora electric aircraft is in its 6th iteration and is flying regularly. The Cora has flown 1500 times. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/boeing-invests-another-495-million-in-evtol/

A China Airlines 747 hit parked baggage carts while taxiing at Chicago O’Hare. There were no injuries reported. https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/taxiing-airplane-crashes-into-baggage-cart-at-ohare

The FAA is facing an increase in illegal flights that involve compensation for the transport of passengers. Unauthorized part 135 operations are “putting the flying public in danger, diluting safety in the national airspace system, and undercutting the business of legitimate operators.” Sharing of expenses clarification. Only if the purpose of the flight is “common purpose”. Also, remember that CPL certificate is not the same as Part 119 or part 135 certificate.

An app called Virga is looking to simplify PIREPs. Virga allows a pilot to open and view PIREPs, including pictures. Virga also allows pilots to file PIREPs and include a picture. Alerts can be created to notify the user about changes in weather at a certain area. https://generalaviationnews.com/2022/01/31/what-if-filing-pireps-were-easy/

An app called Virga is looking to simplify PIREPs. Virga allows a pilot to open and view PIREPs, including pictures. Virga also allows pilots to file PIREPs and include a picture. Alerts can be created to notify the user about changes in weather at a certain area. https://generalaviationnews.com/2022/01/31/what-if-filing-pireps-were-easy/