FAAST Blast — New Rule Addresses Logging Flight Time in Public Aircraft, How to Become a Hot Air Balloon Pilot

FAAST Blast — Week of Oct 14 - Oct 20, 2024
Biweekly FAA Safety Briefing News Update
 

New Rule Addresses Public Aircraft Logging of Flight Time

A new final rule published by the FAA in early October allows pilots conducting public aircraft operations to credit their flight time towards FAA civil regulatory requirements. Additionally, consistent with the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, this final rule will amend the operating rules for experimental aircraft to permit certain flight training, testing, and checking in these aircraft without a letter of deviation authority. For more information, you can view the rule at www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-22009. The rule is effective Dec. 2, 2024.

How Do You Become a Hot Air Balloon Pilot?

Ever wonder what it takes to become a hot-air balloon pilot? In a recent episode of the FAA’s Air Up There podcast series, you’ll hear from Kim and Adam Magee, founders of The Balloon Training Academy and FAA Safety Team representatives, on how to make that dream a reality. The Magees share how they got started in ballooning, the training process for balloon pilots, and advice for aspiring aeronauts. Tune into the episode here faa.gov/podcasts/the_air_up_there/how-do-you-become-hot-air-balloon-pilot or go to faa.gov/podcasts to see the entire episode list.

Striving for a Safer Surface

The FAA and the aviation community are pursuing a goal of zero serious close calls and have fast-tracked three initiatives — Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI), Approach Runway Verification (ARV) and Runway Incursion Devices (RID) — as part of its Surface Safety Portfolio. These technologies are agile, efficient, and cost-effective, and the initiatives represent important improvements made by the FAA to swiftly address close calls on the runway. The recent FAA Safety Briefing article “Striving for a Safer Surface” at https://medium.com/faa/striving-for-a-safer-surface-998e796d4892 outlines the basics behind each technology and also promotes some of the more popular pilot aids available to help improve situational awareness in the airport surface environment. See the entire Airport Surface Safety issue at www.faa.gov/safety_briefing.

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