Posts Tagged ‘FAA’
Flying car one step closer to reality
by Adam Hadhazy – Terrafugia’s Transition flying car and its chase plane during testing in May, 2009.
The Terrafugia, a small airplane that can drive on roads and has been billed as the first “flying car,” is now one step closer to becoming street- and sky-legal.
The vehicle has cleared a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulatory hurdle for craft classification by weight. A full-fledged production prototype might be just around the corner, according to multiple reports.
At issue was Mass.-based company Terrafugia wanting its Transition vehicle to be classified as a “Light Sport Aircraft” by the FAA so people eager to fly it would need only 20 hours of flying time.
Yet the two-seater vehicle came in 110 pounds (50 kilograms) overweight in accommodating roadworthy-assuring safety items such as crumple zones. The FAA said that so long as customers are advised about this extra weight, the car-plane hybrid can be sold.
The Terrafugia completed its maiden voyage last March in upstate New York. According to its maker, the Terrafugia can transform from a roadable vehicle that can hit a highway speed of 65 mph to a winged aircraft in 30 seconds.
The plane version can cruise at about 115 mph (185 kph) and cover about 400 miles (644 kilometers) worth of turf before needing a refill of regular unleaded gas.
The price of a Terrafugia is expected to be around $200,000 and deliveries could start next year, assuming the vehicle passes crash tests. The company has envisioned its vehicle as finding a home with amateur pilots who live near air fields, but as any Jetsons’ fan knows, flying cars might well be the wave of the future.
US to allow pilots to fly on antidepressants
Pilots will soon be allowed to fly if they are taking antidepressant medications under new a US government policy that takes effect today.
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it was lifting a ban on antidepressants for pilots with mild to moderate depression. To be cleared to fly, pilots who take the drugs must pass screening tests to show they have been successfully treated for at least a year.
Officials said they believed the ban had caused pilots to forego treatment or hide the fact they were taking medication to treat depression. The FAA is offering a six-month grace period for pilots to come forward without penalty if they are currently suffering from depression or are under treatment.
“We need to change the culture and remove the stigma associated with depression. Pilots should be able to get the medical treatment they need so they can safely perform their duties,” FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said.
Officials said they did not know how many pilots would be affected but noted that about 10 percent of the population suffers from depression.
Pilots who take antidepressants will be monitored for the length of their careers, the FAA said.
The policy applies to four antidepressants — Eli Lilly and Co’s Prozac, Pfizer Inc’s Zoloft, and Celexa and Lexapro from Forest Laboratories Inc.
Dr. Fred Tilton, the FAA’s federal air surgeon, said other medications may be allowed if pilots are being effectively treated with them.
Tilton said antidepressants were originally banned because older medications carried risks such as sedation that were considered unacceptable in the cockpit. Newer medications have side effects that can be manageable, he said.
Reuters
Airport Security
The Department of Homeland Security has spent $40 billion rebuilding the aviation security system since the terror attacks of 2001. Congress pulled responsibility for aviation security out of the Federal Aviation Administration and created the Transportation Security Administration, which also assumed control of security for other modes of transportation. Much work that was formerly done by the airlines or private contractors is now done by federal employees.
The years of effort have created a security net that is much stronger in key areas, from simple things like secure cockpit doors to the routine inspections now done on checked baggage.
But a self-proclaimed terrorist’s attempt to bring down a passenger jet headed to Detroit on Dec. 25, 2009, exposed gaps in the system. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian charged in the attempted attack, was able to board a plane even after his father was so alarmed by his son’s radical talk that he contacted U.S. officials after his son disappeared while studying abroad.
The incident led to an immediate increase in security efforts at airports. Less than two weeks after the attempted attack, the Obama administration mandated extra scrutiny – including full-body pat downs – for people flying into the United States from 14 mostly Muslim countries. Under the new rules, all citizens of Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen must receive a pat down and an extra check of their carry-on bags before boarding a plane bound for the United States, officials said. Citizens of Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria – nations considered “state sponsors of terrorism” – face the same requirement.
A330 is first airliner to be certified for ETOPS – beyond 180 minutes
Direct routings to reduce CO2 emissions, shorten flight times , and open new routes.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has approved all Airbus A330 models for ETOPS (Extended-Range Operations for two-engined aircraft) beyond 180 minutes.
“This award makes the A330 the first aircraft type to receive such approval, either from EASA or the FAA. The new capability will be available as a customer-selectable option which extends the diversion distance potentially up to 1,700 nm. This distance corresponds to a maximum ETOPS diversion time for the A330 of approximately 240 minutes (at one-engine-inoperative speed under standard conditions).
Operators with two-engined aircraft who choose this option will now be able to serve new routes which are presently not flown within the existing ETOPS rules (i.e. up to 180 minutes diversion time). For the A330, examples include new routes over South Atlantic Ocean, Mid- and South Pacific Ocean, and Mid-Indian Ocean. Operators flying on existing routes will benefit from the new regulation, since it will allow them to fly more directly and eco-efficiently. Some estimates show a fuel saving potential of up to 10 percent for some long range routes (with consequent reductions in CO2 emissions).
The granting of this latest ETOPS extension, to around 1,700nm and 240 minutes, has been made possible in part due to the proven reliability and robust systems of the aircraft and its engines, as demonstrated over 14 million A330 flight hours and 3.5 million flights.
ETOPS, is an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rule permitting two-engined commercial aircraft operators to fly routes that are up to a specified flying time from the nearest airport. Since 1995 all Airbus A330 models have been approved by EASA and FAA for ETOPS up to 180 minutes, and with this they have since accumulated more than five million ETOPS flight hours in more than 800,000 ETOPS flights.
Today Airbus has won more than 1,000 orders for the A330 and more than 600 are in service worldwide with more than 80 customers and operators.
