New Drone Regulatory Effort Initiated

In the light of recent issues surrounding the status/legality of various regulatory models overseeing the Unmanned Vehicle industry, it was only a matter of time before new regulatory models were put forth by industry players. ADS Infrastructure Partners has announced that it will serve as a catalyst and lead a national campaign to help fund and establish a Drone/Unmanned Aircraft Systems Regulatory Association as a first step to unlock the full economic value of the sector.

House Democrats Introduce FAA Reform Bill to Counter Air Traffic Control Privatization Plan

While Republicans in Congress craft a bill to move the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control services into a private nonprofit organization, Democrats on the House Transportation Committee have already introduced their own measure to reform the agency. The Aviation Funding Stability Act has goals similar to those laid out in a statement of principles signed by President Trump last week : upgrade air traffic control technology faster and stabilize the FAA's funding.

Blue Sky Network Upgrades Cloud Based SkyRouter 3

This upgrade includes a targeted set of FAA aeronautical chart basemaps and real-time weather data now accessible on the SkyRouter 3 platform "SkyRouter 3, v.2.6.0 is the most innovative and important feature release Blue Sky Network software engineers have introduced so far this year," said marks a significant increase in our integrated map overlay offerings and a meaningful integration of our overlay system which makes flight planning easier, safer and most cost efficient for our customers. With the new aviation weather overlays, SkyRouter 3 users can view current weather conditions at thousands of airports around the globe."

FAA calls for comment on proposed use of Runway 34

The Federal Aviation Administration is conducting an analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act to determine the environmental effects of a westerly heading for turboprop aircraft departing from Runway 34 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport . The heading would only be used when the airport is landing and departing to the north .

Project Wing drone tested with Intel drone, DJI drone. Photo: Project Wing

Larry Page, co-founder of Google and CEO of Google's parent company Alphabet, promised in his annual shareholder's letter that there would be exciting things happening with Project Wing this year. Project Wing is the company's drone delivery project.

Trump infrastructure push faces cold shoulder from Congress

Repairing the nation's crumbling roads and bridges was supposed to be an area ripe for bipartisan compromise between congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump. Instead, Democrats are panning Trump's proposed $1 trillion overhaul, the White House is signaling plans to go it alone, and even Republicans are balking at some aspects of the emerging plan.

White House tries to regroup, but Trump isn’t helping

President Donald Trump pauses Monday as the audience stands and applauds as he speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington to announce plans to privatize the nation's air traffic control system. Dismissing the current system as an anachronism, Trump said the air traffic control operations needed to be separated from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Trump proposes privatizing US air traffic control

In the first salvo in a week-long push to overhaul America's infrastructure, President Donald Trump on Monday announced a plan to privatize the nation's air traffic control system. In what he called an "air travel revolution," Trump promised the "really monumental reform" would deliver "cheaper, faster, and safer travel" as well as an economic boost that could be worth $25 billion to the economy.

Trump lays out plan to privatize air traffic control system

President Donald Trump outlined a plan on Monday to privatize the U.S. air traffic control system to modernize it and lower flying costs, but his proposal drew immediate criticism from Democrats who said it would hand control of a key asset to special interests and big airlines. Trump's proposal to spin off air traffic control from the Federal Aviation Administration was part of a weeklong White House focus on infrastructure.

American Airlines plane veers off Texas runway, stuck in mud

Authorities say an American Airlines plane veered off of a runway at the San Antonio airport during takeoff and is stuck in the mud. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford says American Airlines Flight 2214 veered off the edge of the runway at San Antonio International Airport Saturday morning shortly after beginning its takeoff roll.

Report: Plane headed to Dallas from San Antonio veers off runway

A plane headed to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport from San Antonio International Airport has veered off the runway, according to NBC-DFW. The station is reporting that an American Airlines flight veered off the edge of a runway at 9:45 a.m. according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Spirit Airlines pilot and wife overdosed, report confirms

A toxicology report confirmed a drug overdose as the cause of death for a Spirit Airlines pilot and his wife, who were found dead in their southwest Ohio home on March 16. Brian J. Halye, 36, and 34-year-old Courtney A. Halye died as a result of "cocaine and carfentanil intoxication," said Dr. Kent Harshbarger, the Montgomery County coroner, in a report released Tuesday. The painkiller carfentanil, a version of fentanyl, is 10,000 times stronger than morphine.

AMA Drone Report 05.25.17: Court Kills FAA Model Drone Registration, DJI Spark

Score one for us little guys... As you may have heard, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. has ruled that the FAA violated the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 when it required the registration of model aircraft, including drones, that are flown strictly for recreational purposes, and has vacated the Registration Rule for those aircraft. In Section 336 of the law, Congress specified that the FAA "may not promulgate any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft."