FLYERS RIGHTS v. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (cont’d)

We are moving forward! The court just issued a new scheduling order and rejected the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) proposal to “process” (but not necessarily release) the relevant 86 documents of 10,000 at 500 pages per month. Boeing and the FAA by 3/20/20 will now have to identify any documents it claims are exempt from… Read More

DOT Refusal To Regulate International Change Fees Upheld By Appeal Court

  The DOT’s refusal to regulate international change fees is upheld by Appeal Court. The law mandates that fees be “reasonable”,  but can now exceed $1000. The court deferred to “Agency Discretion”. This will require legislation to overturn, and may be cited to allow DOT and other agencies discretion to not enforcing many other laws.… Read More

Kobe Bryant did not have to die

  Kobe Bryant and his group traveled on a helicopter that did not have a warning device installed. This warning device most likely could have saved 7 lives in this helicopter crash in Southern California. Similarly, six tourists died on the Island of Kauai a few weeks ago. Several deadly helicopter crashes had made headlines… Read More

Boeing’s problem was not engineering. It was a loss of corporate empathy

By Gregory Travis – a software architect, aircraft owner and writer. His first article identifying the issues with the 737 Max appeared in the May 2019 issue of IEEE Spectrum magazine. Boeing’s most recent attempt to demonstrate a fix for its troubled MCAS system is another demonstration of just how deep the problem is. Most… Read More

Helicopter Safety Features Avoided By FAA Loopholes – Kobe Bryant Tragedy

Re-post following the Kobe Bryant tragedy. In 2018 we called on the FAA to step up and regulate helicopters after delaying for two years to study the issue. Safety features are avoided by loopholes in regulations, including structural elements, impact-resistant seating, and systems to prevent fuel from igniting on impact. Bryant’s helicopter was a Sikorsky… Read More

FAA “Lowered The Bar” In Approving SWA Hawaii Flights

After months of bad 737 MAX revelations, now this. The U.S. government’s Office of the Special Counsel announced last week they are investigating the Federal Aviation Administration on how it handled the approval process to let Southwest Airlines fly between California and Hawaii, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Special Counsel’s office that found… Read More