April/May 2020

New FAA Video Series Aims to Reduce Runway Incursions

While high-profile runway safety incidents involving commercial (part 121) aircraft make the headlines, safety data shows that general aviation (GA) pilots are involved in a vast majority of these events. One of the common contributing factors to these pilot errors is a lack of awareness or misunderstanding of local runway and taxiway configurations.

To help reduce the occurrence of wrong surface incidents, runway incursions, and other high-risk events at U.S. airports, the FAA has developed the “From the Flight Deck” YouTube video series that is targeted to GA audiences.

Each 4-5 minute video will focus on approach, landing, and taxi scenarios at selected U.S. airports. The videos will feature high definition footage along with professional graphics, animations, runway diagrams, and narration to help identify and illustrate airfield hazards and hotspots.

All “From the Flight Deck” videos are available at FAA.gov/go/FromTheFlightDeck and hosted on the FAA YouTube Channel (@FAANews).

The first season of 10 airport videos features large and small mixed-use airports with a variety of traffic types, including Bedford, Mass., (KBED), Boeing Field, Wash., (KBFI), Boise, Idaho (KBOI), Long Island Mac Arthur, N.Y. (KISP), Lincoln, Neb., (KLNK), Kansas City, Mo., (KMKC), Philadelphia, Pa., (KPHL), Sonoma, Calif., (KSTS) and Teterboro, N.J. (KTEB). New locations will be released throughout the year. Subscribe to the FAA YouTube channel to see the full series and get notified about new locations (youtube.com/FAAnews).

Revised AC Provides Important Details for ADS-B Operations

On December 30, 2019, the FAA published its latest revision to Advisory Circular (AC) 90-114 (Revision B), Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Operations, which provides comprehensive guidance on ADS-B operations in the National Airspace System (NAS) in accordance with ADS-B regulations (14 CFR sections 91.225 and 91.227). Of note in this revision is the clarification of certain operational policies:

• Aircraft that are exempt from 91.225 (Section 3.2)
• ADS-B Out operations during formation flying activities (Section 4.3.1)
• Owner/operator responsibilities to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements (Section 4.3.2.5.1)
• Public ADS-B Performance Report (PAPR) information and purpose (Section 4.3.2.5.6)
• ADS-B performance requirements during aerobatic flight (Section 4.3.2.6.2)
• Inoperative ADS-B procedures (Section 4.3.4.2) including a new section on the ADS-B Deviation Authorization Preflight Tool (ADAPT) (Section 4.3.5)
• Flight planning and ICAO flight plan codes (Section 4.4)
• Privacy ICAO Address (PIA) program (Section 4.4.5)
• Call sign mismatch (Section 4.6.2)

The AC also provides a helpful overview of the ADS-B system architecture, the various forms of available equipment, broadcast services available to ADS-B users, and operational considerations with regard to equipment performance requirements and airspace restrictions. In addition, five appendices in the AC cover ADS-B In-Trail Procedure operations, Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) Assisted Visual Separation (CAVS) operations, aircraft qualification and maintenance associated with ADS-B In operations, definitions, and relevant regulations and reading material.

To access AC 90-114B, go to go.usa.gov/xd375.

Important Charter Guidance for Pilots and Passengers

Today, booking a charter flight can be as easy as tapping a few buttons on your mobile device. But that doesn’t mean the flight is legal or safe.

If you pay for a charter flight, you are entitled to a higher level of safety than is required from a free flight from a friend. Among other things, pilots who transport paying passengers must have the required qualifications and training, are subject to random drug and alcohol testing, and the aircraft used must be maintained to the high standards that the FAA’s charter regulations require.

The FAA sent a letter about this issue to a company called Blackbird Air, which created a web-based app that connects passengers with pilots. The letter emphasizes an FAA policy about the requirements for pilots who are paid to fly passengers. The policy states that in addition to holding the required commercial or airline transport pilot certificate, pilots who are paid to fly passengers must also be employed by the company operating the flight. That company must hold a certificate issued under 14 CFR part 119, or the pilots themselves must hold a part 119 certificate.

Any pilot who provides charter flights without complying with the part 119 certificate requirement is violating the regulations — even if they possess a commercial or airline transport pilot certificate. Federal courts have upheld the FAA’s determination.

For more information on safe air charter operations, as well as a current listing of FAA-licensed charter providers, go to bit.ly/SafeCharterOps.

2019 Aviation Statistics

The mission of the FAA’s Aviation Safety organization is to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world through a data-driven, risk-based, systems approach for standards, certification, and oversight. Above is a snapshot of our aviation environment.

Procedure Following Cards Available for Printing

Before-and-After Procedure Following Task Cards are tools to help improve safety culture in the aviation maintenance field. These cards remind maintenance personnel of important steps to complete before, during, and after performing tasks. The cards are laminated and designed to hang from a lanyard. The FAA's Aerospace Human Factors Research Division has a small number of cards available for distribution; however, larger organizations may choose to print cards for their AMTs, supervisors and managers, and procedure writers.

Printing specifications are available in the PDF download at HumanFactorsInfo.com — just follow the Training and Tools link in the left margin and scroll down to download the three card types.