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Arizona midair collision raises questions about air traffic control towers

Tens of thousands of planes take off, land and perform touch-and-goes at the Marana Regional Airport in southern Arizona every year. Without an air traffic control tower, it's a calculated dance that requires communication by pilots. Two small planes collided in midair over one of the runways on the outskirts of Tucson last week. One hit the ground and caught fire, sending up a plume of black smoke. The remains of two people were found in the charred wreckage. The other plane was able to land, with those occupants uninjured. The collision was the latest aviation mishap to draw attention in recent weeks. The circumstances vary widely with each case, however, and experts who study aviation accidents say they don't see any connection between them. Chatter over the airwaves has provided some clues about what happened in Arizona. A chief flight instructor who was in the air with a student that day heard the commotion over the radio: One plane was attempting a touch-and-go when another ..

Trump begins firings of FAA staff just weeks after fatal DC plane crash

The Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees, upending staff on a busy air travel weekend and just weeks after a January fatal midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Probationary workers were targeted in late-night emails on Friday notifying them they had been fired, David Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union, said in a statement. The impacted workers include personnel hired for FAA radar, landing and navigational aid maintenance, one air traffic controller told AP. The air traffic controller was not authorised to talk to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity. A Transportation Department official told AP late on Monday that no air traffic controllers were affected by the cuts, and that the agency has "retained employees who perform critical safety functions". In a follow-up query the agency said they would have to look into whether the radar, landing and ...

Boeing needs cultural shift to prioritise safety over profits: FAA head

A year after a panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max during flight, the nation's top aviation regulator says the company needs "a fundamental cultural shift to put safety and quality above profits. Mike Whitaker, chief of the Federal Aviation Administration, said in an online post Friday that his agency also has more work to do in its oversight of Boeing. Whitaker, who plans to step down in two weeks to let President-elect Donald Trump pick his own FAA administrator, looked back on his decision last January to ground all 737 Max jets with similar panels called door plugs. Later, the FAA put more inspectors in Boeing factories, limited production of new 737s, and required Boeing to come up with a plan to fix manufacturing problems. Boeing is working to make progress executing its comprehensive plan in the areas of safety, quality improvement and effective employee engagement and training, Whitaker said. But this is not a one-year project. What's needed is a fundamental cultural shift at

Boeing still not producing MAX planes after strike, says FAA administrator

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker this week met with Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and toured Boeing's 737 plant in Renton, Washington, as it boosts oversight following the strike, which ended Nov 4

FAA will not require urgent 737 MAX engine action after bird strikes

FAA Corrective Action Review Board reviewed the CFM LEAP-1B engine bird strikes which led to smoke entering two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft

US FAA finalizes pilot training, certification rules for air taxis

Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt said the rule "will ensure the U.S. continues to play a global leadership role in the development and adoption of clean flight."

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket wins approval for return to space, says FAA

SpaceX engineers were able to determine the root cause of the issue mere hours after the botched flight

Boeing begins long-delayed 777-9 certification flight testing with US FAA

The company said it conducted its first flight on Friday night after receiving Type Inspection Authorization (TIA)

FAA orders inspection of 2,600 Boeing 737s over oxygen mask issue

The FAA said it was requiring the inspections of 737 MAX and NG airplanes after multiple reports of passenger service unit oxygen generators shifting out of position

FAA, EASA vow to boost collaboration on new airplane certification

Since two Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed a combined 346 people, aviation regulators around the world have tightened oversight of new airplanes

FAA was too 'hands-off' in its oversight of Boeing, says agency head

The top US aviation regulator said on Thursday that the Federal Aviation Administration should have been more aware of manufacturing problems inside Boeing before a panel blew off a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. FAA's approach was too hands-off too focused on paperwork audits and not focused enough on inspections, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker told a Senate committee. Whitaker said that since the January 5 blowout on the Alaska jetliner, the FAA has changed to more active, comprehensive oversight of Boeing. That includes, as he has said before, putting more inspectors in factories at Boeing and its chief supplier on the Max, Spirit AeroSystems. Whitaker made the comments while his agency, the Justice Department and the National Transportation Safety Board continue investigations into the giant aircraft manufacturer. The FAA has limited Boeing's production of 737 Max jets to 38 per month, but the company is building far fewer than that while it tries to fix

WATCH: Boeing 737-800 plane engine cover falls off during takeoff in US

The Southwestern Airlines aircraft rose to 10,300 feet and was forced to return to the Denver International Airport, where it made a safe landing

FAA audit finds issues in Boeing 737 MAX production after midair blowout

In the wide-ranging investigation, Boeing failed a check which dealt with the component that blew off the jet, known as a door plug, the report said, citing an FAA presentation viewed by NYT

Boeing needs to cooperate with probe, says Buttigieg as pressure mounts

With Boeing facing multiple government investigations, the company needs to make a serious transformation around its safety and manufacturing quality, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday. The comments came one day after Buttigieg said the aircraft builder is under enormous scrutiny by his department since a panel blew off a Boeing 737 Max jetliner in midflight. Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into the Jan. 5 blowout on an Alaska Airlines jet. That followed the company's admission that it couldn't find records that the National Transportation Safety Board sought for work done on the panel at a Boeing factory. The Federal Aviation Administration, part of Buttigieg's department, is also investigating Boeing. Obviously we respect the independence of DOJ (the Department of Justice) and NTSB (the National Transportation Safety Board) doing their own work, Buttigieg told reporters Monday, "

Boeing must develop plan to tackle quality issues in 90 days: FAA

Whitaker said Boeing's plan must incorporate forthcoming results of the FAA production-line audit and findings from an expert review panel report released earlier this week

Boeing's safety management 'inadequate and confusing': FAA report

"We will carefully review the panel's assessment and learn from their findings, as we continue our comprehensive efforts to improve our safety and quality programs," Boeing said in a statement

FAA head pledges to hold Boeing accountable for safety violations

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker is expected to face a barrage of questions Tuesday about FAA oversight of the company since a door panel blew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner over Oregon last month

FAA to boost oversight of Boeing, sees more manufacturing problems

The incident was the latest in a series of events that have shaken confidence in the aircraft manufacturer as it tries to recover from a pair of MAX 9 crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 350 people

US wants to require drug testing for foreign aviation-repair stations

The proposed rule would impact approximately 977 repair stations in 65 countries, ensure "employees are held to the same high level of safety standards regardless of where they are physically located"

US FAA clears Boeing to flight certification tests for 737 MAX 10

The 737 MAX 10 is Boeing's answer to the A321neo made by European rival Airbus, which has dominated the lucrative top of the single-aisle market in battles against Boeing's MAX 9