Rich Grouse as FAA Moves to Reroute Jets

Another controller nodded off in Nevada yesterday

(NEWSER) - The head of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization resigned today, amid a wave of reports of air traffic controllers sleeping on the job . Hank Krakowski submitted his resignation this morning to FAA chief Randy Babbitt, the Washington Post reports, who promised a “top to bottom” review of the air traffic control system he leaves behind. More»

TV show-inspired pilot makes risky landing after passenger becomes airsick

(NEWSER) - Landing a single-engine aircraft on a beach takes skill but the FAA isn't impressed with a young pilot who brought his plane down on New York City's Rockaway Beach on Monday night because of an airsick passenger. Wisecracking pilot Jason Maloney, 24, offered air traffic controllers a variety of excuses before telling them that he was going to land at the beach without declaring an emergency, reports the New York Times. (Sample comment to air traffic control: "Just let us know if we’re up in your grill, you know?") More»

No more emergency oxygen masks in airplane lavatories

(NEWSER) - The FAA recently ordered the emergency oxygen masks removed from the lavatories of all US commercial planes, a directive it says will protect the public from potential terror attacks—but which could also kill anyone who happens to be in the airplane lavatory during a rapid decompression event. The FAA believes terrorists could turn the oxygen generators into explosive devices, Click2Houston reports. Air Worthiness Directive 2011-04-09 was kept from the public until recently for reasons of national security, and had already been enacted in 6,000 planes by last Friday without the government or the airlines informing passengers, Gizmodo notes. More»

Chaos prompts terror fears; agency calls for re-registration

(NEWSER) - The FAA lacks key information on who owns some 119,000 private and commercial aircraft in the US, prompting concerns that terrorists or drug traffickers could use the paperwork mess to their advantage—something the latter group is already doing. The FAA is calling for all owners to re-register the country's 357,000 aircraft next year, fearful that criminals could now secretly buy aircraft or use other planes’ registration numbers to prevent tracking More»

(NEWSER) - The Federal Aviation Administration scrapped a Navy flight today that would have brought an anti-sub patrol plane into New York’s airspace, Bloomberg reports. The announcement came 30 minutes after a city email said the aircraft would be flying up and down the Hudson River. “I don’t know who is making the assumption they were going to fly up and down the Hudson,” a Navy spokesman said. More»