Aviation and Airport Development Law : Aviation Lawyer & Attorney : Dr. Barbara E. Lichman : Airport Development, Environmental Law

AAAE Urges Airport Provisions in FAA Bill. --- Aviation News Today, February 26, 2010
The American Association of Airport Executives is calling on Senate leaders to endorse a number of airport-related provisions in the upcoming Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill. The provisions would enhance aviation safety, increase capacity, improve small community air service, and save or create much-needed jobs.
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Runway Improvements Planned for PalomarAirport. --- SanDiego6.com, February 24, 2010
McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, California will close alternating weeks starting April 25, when work will begin to replace the 5,000-foot-long runway. Testing found that the supporting soils under the existing runway and the pavement surface are deteriorating. The $7.9 million cost of the project will be covered by Federal Aviation Administration funds.
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Airport Leaders Describe Plan to Allow For More Private Jets. --- Stephen Baxter, Community Neighborhoods, February 24, 2010
Airport officials at Mineta San Jose International Airport in California plan to ask the San Jose City Council to change the airport’s master plan and allow for the transformation of more space for private jets. Residents who live near the flight path express concern about noise, but private planes are often quieter than commercial jets, and certain loud activities could be restricted to specific operating hours.
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Somerset Windmills Would Not be Aviation Hazard, Feds Say. --- Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 25, 2010
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a “determination of no hazard” January 21, 2010 for the proposed Gamesa Energy USA wind energy project that would put 30 windmills atop an ecologically sensitive ridge on Shaffer Mountain in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Studies found the structures would not exceed obstruction standards or adversely impact air space and flight routes above the ridge. Local groups oppose the project because its proposed location places it in the watershed of two of the state’s highest quality native trout streams and on a major bat and bird migratory route.
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FAA Approves Wind Farm. --- Kathy Mellott, The Tribune-Democrat, February 25, 2010
Two months after voicing concerns that the proposed Shaffer Mountain Wind Farm would potentially create problems for local airports, the Federal Aviation Administration is giving its OK to the project. The only conditions set forth by the agency are that the proposed turbines must be marked and lit in accordance with FAA requirements, including white paint and synchronized red lights. The project has been delayed at the state level as the Gamesa, the energy company behind the plans, is seeking approval from the Department of Environmental Protection for a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit. Ray Jennings, manager of nearby single-runway Bedford County Airport, is also frustrated because he says the location of some of the turbines could force aircraft taking off from the airport to fly 400 to 500 feet higher than at present.
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U.S. Airline Pilots Skipping Sleep Targeted in FAA Data Search. --- John Hughes, Bloomberg, February 25, 2010
After last year’s plane crash near Buffalo, New York raised fatigue concerns, the Federal Aviation Administration will ask carriers to examine voluntary safety reports by flight crews to see how often pilots skip sleep the night before a flight. The agency has already asked the industry to restrict pilot commutes, because the risk of fatigue may be boosted by major carriers’ increasing use of regional jets with low-paid pilots who can’t afford motel rooms.
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AOPA: Why the User Fees Battle Isn’t Over. --- Glenn Pew, AVweb, February 25, 2010
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association says the user fees battle isn’t over, because the country’s fiscal woes and the Federal Aviation Administration’s shrinking general fund could lead legislators to seek alternate forms of funding, like user fees. The FAA reauthorization bill has not made it past the Senate, either, and user fees could be incorporated into that bill or through other legislative means.
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Airport to Seek Appropriation for Terminal. --- David Still, The Barnstable Patriot, February 26, 2010
Barnstable Airport in Massachusetts hopes to see its over-$21 million appropriation order for a new terminal on the docket for its March 4 meeting with the Barnstable Town Council. Airport Manager Bud Breault says the airport can show completion or progress on each of the 19 conditions placed by the town council in September 2007 that had to be satisfied before any funding request would be recommended. The Barnstable Municipal Airport Commission is planning to cover the cost through expected state funds, airport reserve money, a town-backed general obligation bond, and stimulus funds, and even has surplus land that it could sell if necessary.
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Expiration of Funds Leads to Rush on Runway. --- Christine Cullen, OceanCity Today, February 26, 2010
Ocean City in Maryland is rushing to reconfigure a runway at Ocean City Municipal Airport, to prevent losing $2.8 million from an account dedicated to airport improvements. The city will have to remit that money to the federal treasury if it is not used by December 2011.
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Court Rules Against Long-Term Protection of Aircraft Tail Numbers. --- Mike Mitchell, AvStop.com, February 28, 2010
A United States District Court judge has ruled that a list of private aircraft, whose aircraft tail numbers are blocked from the public view, must be released under the Freedom of Information Act. The National Business Aviation Association sued the Federal Aviation Administration to prevent it from releasing a blocked list to ProPublica, Inc., an independent, nonprofit organization that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. Anyone can go to the FAA website and look up an aircraft registration, but there are a select few who wish to keep their aircraft tail numbers anonymous, like corporations.
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Court Upholds Release of Corporate Jets List Sought by ProPublica. --- Michael Grabell, Herald de Paris, February 27, 2010
ProPublica will be able to obtain a list of which companies have been seeking to block their planes after a federal district judge ruled that the list should be made available under the Freedom of Information Act. Companies sometimes request that their flights and tail numbers be kept secret to protect the security of their executives and to prevent disclosure of business trips that could affect stock prices or give competitors an edge about potential deals. ProPublica has been seeking the list ever since the CEOs of the “Big 3" automakers flew to Washington, D.C. on corporate jets to ask Congress for financial help.
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Aviation Industry Jobs Entail More than Just Airlines. --- Nathan Phelps, The Northwestern, February 28, 2010
One of the biggest misconceptions about the aviation industry is that everyone must work for an airline. The industry extends well beyond the cockpit and hands-on jobs with aircraft to a number of other specialties like human resources, accounting, information systems, and marketing. The aviation industry is a business, and a compelling one at that, accounting for more than $1.2 trillion in economic activity in the U.S. in 2008, as well as being a much “bigger world” than just becoming a pilot or just working for an airline.
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Dassault Falcon Jet Joins EPA Partnership, Pledges Mercury and Lead Reduction. --- Environmental Protection Agency, March 1, 2010
Dassault Falcon Jet has partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency National Partnership for Environmental Priorities to set goals to eliminate mercury containing devices throughout its Completion and Service operations. The company is also in the process of identifying a viable replacement for lead plate utilized as ballast during initial “ferry” flight operations of Falcon business jets between France and the U.S. The NPEP is a voluntary program with 266 members from private and public organizations committed to the reduction, reuse, or recycling of 31 priority chemicals, long-lasting substances that can build up in the food chain and cause harm to humans and the environment.
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D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Sends Pasternack v. NTSB and FAA Back to Agency. --- Leagle, February 26, 2010
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted Fred Pasternack’s petition and remanded it to the National Transportation Safety Board for further proceedings. The Federal Aviation Administration revoked Mr. Pasternack’s airman certificates because he refused to take a mandatory drug test, and the NTSB upheld the revocation order, but the Court vacated the Board’s decision on the ground that a key finding on which the Board relied was not supported by substantial evidence.
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Taxes and Fees Grow for Air Travelers. --- Susan Stellin, The New York Times, March 1, 2010
Governments are increasingly turning to travelers to raise revenue in lean times, and there is little oversight over how the money is spent. Taxes and fees are small individually but can add up to a significant share of the price of a ticket. Carriers have been lobbying against proposals to increase these fees, but international travelers will likely feel the pinch most as governments around the world have increased passenger fees to pay for security, airport improvements, customs inspections, tourism promotions, and environmental concerns.
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TradeWind Energy Approved to Install 100-Meter Met Tower in Indiana. --- North American Windpower, March 2, 2010
Kentucky-based TradeWind Energy has received approval from local authorities to build a 100-meter meteorological tower in Pleasant Township, Indiana. The tower would be the fourth such tower erected by the project developer at project sites under development in the Midwest. Because of its height, however, it will require a Federal Aviation Administration permit.
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Hartsfield Airspace Plan Adjusted, More Changes Possible. --- April Hunt, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 2, 2010
The Federal Aviation Administration adjusted its proposal for how planes come in and out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, by changing the airspace above nearby Covington Municipal Airport. The proposed change removes the airspace above the Covington Airport from its Class B proposal, meaning an aircraft flying in and out of that airport would not be required to contact air traffic control. The change comes after concerns that pilots would abandon Covington because of the new restrictions, but the region’s smaller airports will be impacted with their planes being forced to fly lower and for longer.
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Wind Farm Proposed for PoorMountain in RoanokeCounty. --- WDBJ7.com, March 2, 2010
Invenergy, a private company, announced that it wants to build an electricity-generating wind farm on Poor Mountain in Roanoke County, Virginia. The project would set 15 turbines on about 2,000 acres of land and produce enough electricity to power approximately 8,000 households. The company says it will begin the permitting process soon by filing a hazard evaluation report with the Federal Aviation Administration, and the project will also have to be cleared by the State Corporation Commission and Roanoke County.
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Senator Grassley Announces FAA Grant for Sioux Gateway. --- Lynn Zerschling, Sioux City Journal, March 2, 2010
Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa announced that Sioux Gateway Airport will receive nearly $395,000 from the Federal Aviation Administration to help pay to install guidance signs, which will improve safety and efficiency of the airport. Sioux Gateway is one of six Iowa airports to be awarded $2.32 million in federal funds.
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South Bend, LaPorte Airports Among Federal Grant Recipients. --- South Bend Tribune, March 2, 2010
Seven Indiana airports, including South Bend Regional Airport, LaPorte Municipal Airport, and Starke County Airport, will receive Federal Aviation Administration grants totaling over $5 million.
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FAA Plans to Move Radar From WillardAirport in 2014. --- Michael Maione, Daily Illini, March 3, 2010
The Federal Aviation Administration plans to move the radar control rooms in the air traffic control tower at Willard Airport in Champaign, Illinois to its facilities in Elgin, Illinois, by 2014. The FAA cited the need for an updated tower as the impetus as the change, and said that putting the radar in one centralized location can save taxpayer money. The air traffic controllers union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, and even pilots have presented objections or concerns about the plan.
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Kid Directs Traffic at NY’s JFK Airport. --- CBS News, March 3, 2010
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating how a child was allowed to direct air traffic at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The first incident being investigated occurred February 16, when a boy was allowed to make at least five transmissions to commercial jets. The same air traffic controller also brought a different child, presumably his own, into the tower the following night.
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AA Flight Attendant Talks Continue Around the Clock. --- Scott Friedman, NBC DallasFort Worth, March 3, 2010
The union that represents American Airlines flight attendants continued around-the-clock meetings with airline management and federal mediators in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, the last day of scheduled negotiations. If an agreement is not reached this week, the union has said it may ask to be released from federal mediation, a move that would trigger a 30-day cooling-off period and could lead to a strike.
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AA, Flight Attendants End Talks With No Deal, Talk of Strike. --- Scott Gordon and Scott Friedman, NBC DallasFort Worth, March 4, 2010
Leaders of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants accused American Airlines of “walking out” of the contract negotiations talks in Washington on Wednesday and said they would discuss setting a strike vote this weekend. Airline managers countered that they did not walk out of the talks and concluded them at the end of business on Wednesday as scheduled, and said the airline looks forward to continuing to bargain when the federal mediators establish the next round of dates. The union announced that it would seek to be released from mediation.
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FAA Tells Dartmouth to Lower Height of South Turbine by 5 Feet. --- Curt Brown, SouthCoast Today, March 5, 2010
The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered the town of Dartmouth, Massachusetts to lower the height of its 462-foot south turbine by 5 feet, saying its proposed height presents a hazard to aviation at New Bedford Regional Airport. The agency said the maximum allowable height for the south turbine is 457 feet, and in an earlier decision found the town’s planned north turbine was also a hazard to aviation and set its tallest allowable height at 417 feet. The chairman of the town’s Alternative Energy Committee said the town’s engineers will conduct ground surveys and file new applications with the FAA for both the north and south turbines.
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State Statistics on General Aviation Pilots, Aircraft, Airports. --- Scripps Howard News Service, February 18, 2010
The Scripps Howard News Service, drawing on information from the Federal Aviation Administration and other sources, has released state-by-state statistics on total general aviation pilots, aircraft, and public and private airports.
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FAA Rules Wouldn’t Stop IRS Attack. --- Des Moines News, February 18, 2010
Despite a “huge compilation” of rules and regulations, the Federal Aviation Administration could not have prevented the incident on Thursday, February 18, in which a man flew a small plane into an Austin, Texas Internal Revenue Service building. The regulations are designed to protect people in the skies and on the ground, but could not have stopped the pilot from intentionally flying into the building. The FAA attempts to prevent situations like the February 17 incident from occurring by requiring every pilot to have regular flight physicals and requiring pilots to be in contact with a control tower before takeoff and later with air traffic control, as well as mandating minimum distances that pilots must stay away from the ground.
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Keeping Watch Over Private Planes Difficult. --- Ben Wear, American-Statesman, February 19, 2010
Federal agencies regularly make attempts to monitor general aviation pilots and planes, particularly after 9/11, with various pilot requirements and background checks, but none of that would likely have made a difference in stopping Andrew Joseph Stack III and the Piper Cherokee plane he is suspected of purposely flying into an office building on Thursday, February 18. Little can be done about a “deranged” person who wants to do damage, and even if Stack had been required to file a flight plan and thereby trigger some scrutiny by air traffic controllers, nothing would have prevented him from veering off path and hitting his target. Jay Carpenter, former president of the Texas Aviation Association, also noted that Stack chose possibly the “least-effective” weapon he could have used, pointing to the relatively light weight of most private aircraft, including Stack’s plane, and the relatively low number of people killed and hurt.
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FAA, Los Angeles Clash Over Airport. --- Andy Pasztor, The Wall Street Journal, February 19, 2010
The Federal Aviation Administration wants Los Angeles International Airport to reconfigure its two northern runways to prevent airliners from blundering onto the wrong strip, but a recent report commissioned by the city from outside experts determined that it was not necessary to relocate one of the runways. The FAA maintains that increasing the distance between the runways is the surest way to reduce the likelihood of planes mistakenly rolling into the path of other aircraft, a significant issue at LAX, which led major U.S. airports in serious near-collisions on the ground. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and airport leaders balk at what would be a roughly $500 million project, and such construction plans would also face neighborhood opposition.
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NASA Study: LAX’s North Runways are Safe. --- Associated Press, February 19, 2010
A NASA study finds that chances of a collision are so low that a project to reconfigure two runways at Los Angeles International Airport would only marginally increase safety. In response, the Federal Aviation Administration contends that conclusions that the north airfield is “safe enough now” are not an argument against doing everything possible to make it safer. City Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says that barring other findings that would indicate safety issues, the city will not move the runway.
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Redefining Safety at LAX. --- The Los Angeles Times, February 22, 2010
The recent NASA study finding that a runway relocation project would not be worth the cost, despite Federal Aviation Administration concerns about the runways’ design flaws, should not be the last word on improvements at Los Angeles International Airport. Although the study convincingly assessed that the risk of a deadly accident at the north airfield is very low, it also found that adding 100 feet of separation between the runways would reduce the risk of fatal collisions by 40%, while adding 340 feet would lower the risk by 55%--with the FAA and airlines putting up the $500 million needed for the project, it could be worthwhile.
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GE Faces $1.2 Million Fine for Jet-Engine Repair Procedures. --- Angela Greiling Keane, Associated Press, February 19, 2010
The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a $1.2 million fine against General Electric’s GE Caledonian unit for “improper” aircraft-engine maintenance procedures at a repair station in Scotland. The agency said that GE used a procedure to remove parts from engine mounts that deviated from the process outlined by the manufacturer’s manual.
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FAA Proposes to More Icing Regulations for Part 121. --- Aviation News, February 20, 2010
The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing additional standards for Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 that would require either the installation of ice detection equipment or changes to the flight manual to ensure timely activation of the airframe ice protection system. The new rules are intended to stop accidents when the flight crew is unaware of the ice.
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Small Airports Play Crucial Role in Aviation Security. --- Ted Strong and Chase Purdy, Daily Progress, February 20, 2010
Regional airports have a less visible but not less essential role in aviation security, because people who board planes at regional airports can work their way to any major airport in the country, and from there can board an aircraft without confronting another checkpoint. Steve Elson, a former Federal Aviation Administration counterterrorism team member said security weaknesses are consistent at airports large and small, and charged the Transportation Security Administration’s “thick bureaucracy” with preventing simple, necessary changes from taking place. Elson praises small airports, however, for their efficiency, because smaller airports allow for more hands-on security since the level of technology at such airports is usually low compared with the equipment found at international airports.
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8 Jobs Lost as FAA Unit Consolidates. --- Rome Sentinel, February 22, 2010
The Federal Aviation Administration is consolidating the radar approach control center at Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York with the operations at Syracuse’s airport. Eight jobs at Griffiss will be affected, but the air control tower that handles landings and takeoffs will continue to operate as usual.
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GAO Issues Preliminary Report on Aircraft Icing and Winter Operations. --- Government Accountability Office, February 24, 2010
The Government Accountability Office has released a preliminary information report on aircraft icing and winter operations, as part of its testimony before the House Subcommittee on Aviation and Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The report provides preliminary information on the extent to which large commercial airplanes have experienced accidents and incidents related to icing and contaminated runways, the efforts of the Federal Aviation Administration and other aviation entities to improve safety in icing and winter weather conditions, and the challenges that continue to affect winter weather aviation operations.
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Investigators Call for More Pilot Training on Icing. --- Jerry Zremski, The Buffalo News, February 24, 2010
The Government Accountability Office says that federal regulators could do much more to guarantee that icing will not lead to a fatal plane crash, like ensuring that pilot training is thorough, relevant, and realistic. A GAO representative, testifying at a House Aviation Subcommittee hearing on aircraft icing, said there was data on hundreds of accidents that occurred between 1998 and 2007 that revealed that icing and contaminated runways pose a substantial risk to aviation safety, and that pilots are likely to encounter icing conditions beyond their aircraft’s capabilities at least once in their career. The GAO recommended a closer look at pilot training and urged the Federal Aviation Administration to speed up its efforts to write rules governing the use of aircraft in icy conditions.
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FAA: Willis Airport Decision is on Hold. --- Pat Murphy, Idaho Mountain Express, February 24, 2010
Actor Bruce Willis has proposed to build a single, 8,500-foot, jet-friendly runway for a privately operated field east of Fairfield, Idaho, but the Federal Aviation Administration will not finalize a decision on his plan until a separate study on possible sites for a replacement for Friedman Memorial Airport is completed. The proposed airport’s operational air space would “have an impact” on Visual Flight Rules operations in the air space of an alternative site being studied as Friedman’s replacement. Until the environmental impact study of that alternative site is complete, no resolution on Willis’ proposal will be reached.
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NTSB Wants to Monitor Pilots’ Cockpit Conversations. --- Catherine Holland, Azfamily.com, February 24, 2010
The National Transportation Safety Board is asking that airlines and unions be allowed to use black-box recordings to regularly listen in on pilots’ conversations, but the pilots’ unions are calling the proposal intrusive. The NTSB says the recommendation is not intended to invade privacy, but to monitor what’s happening in the air and make sure cockpit crews are doing their jobs, as well as promote safety by reducing misbehavior and inattention.
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Alaska Airlines to Offer Gogo Internet Service. --- Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 24, 2010
Alaska Airlines will offer Aircell’s Gogo Inflight Internet service on all of its aircraft. The Gogo service is currently being installed on a Boeing 737-800 and will begin testing to secure certification from the Federal Aviation Administration; once the equipment has been certified for the 737s, the airline will start outfitting its entire fleet.
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Airport Dispute Continues. --- Sophia Aldous, The Statesman Examiner, February 24, 2010
The City of Colville in Washington is looking to relocate Colville Municipal Airport. A committee on the airport relocation process agreed that a new airport is needed, but no single airport site has been selected yet. The goal of the relocation is to improve safety in the air and on the ground, and to provide opportunity for expanded service and stimulate economic development, but there are many in the community who are opposed to a new airport.
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