John Sheridan

Among the operational topics for the technical committee at the triennial ICAO Assembly were significant safety issues. One paper from the Russian delegation provided a description of extensive studies of wake vortices, and the development of a wake vortex safety system that would use outputs from ADS-B, Swim and two Aviation System Block Upgrades 1 elements, with pilot alerts transmitted over the anticipated datalinks in that period–that is, by 2018. The Russian presenter suggested that the uncertainty of wake turbulence today causes unnecessarily large longitudinal approach spacing that could be significantly reduced if real-time wake measurements could be provided to pilots, thereby increasing capacity and airport throughput. Better wake-turbulence forecasting at high cruise altitudes would also allow more flexibility in planning future trajectory operations. 
A separate Russian paper discussed training to prevent of loss-of-control accidents stemming from undetected high-altitude stalls caused by icing, IAS failure, incorrect weight entry or lack of angle-of-attack information, particularly during autopilot operation, where the classic symptoms of stick shaker, warning horns and buffet may actually lag the actual stall itself, with the aircraft already descending in a high pitch attitude and possibly rolling. Currently, according to the presenters, even advanced flight simulators cannot adequately simulate high-altitude stalls and are only moderately able to simulate “traditional” lower-altitude ones.

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

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2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

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Business aviation group seeks reform of the emissions trading scheme

EBAA Presses for European Aviation Policy Reboot

Curt Epstein

New developments at airports including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

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Fee imposition may affect the airport’s improvement grants

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Robert Sancetta

It’s better to self-disclose your medical history before the FAA discovers it

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Michael Grande pleads guilty to theft of government funds and failure to pay trust fund taxes

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Deputy administrator updates NATA forum on a range of issues

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Policy update encourages pilots, controllers to seek counseling when needed

FAA Updates Policy To Foster Use of Counseling Services

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Flights allegedly mislabeled between November 2023 and August 2024

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News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

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