Cable Airport To Host Safety Seminar & Fly-In May 11

     Cable Airport’s Safety Seminar and Fly-In is scheduled for this Saturday, May 11, 2013. The day kicks off with an Early Bird Pancake Breakfast between 7 and 11 a.m. T-6 rides are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Throughout the day, guests are invited to visit a warbird display and aviation art gallery. Also those present at the WINGS seminar will be eligible for raffle prizes. Live music will play throughout the day!

     The WINGS Safety Seminar, slated from 2 to 4 p.m., is themed “Uncensored Answers From the Tower.” Questions and answers in-the-round with retired SOCAL Tower Controller David Wittenburt, author of “Unwritten Rules,” will highlight the event. Eligible participants can earn FAASTeam WINGS Program credit.

     The suggest seminar donation of $10 will benefit the Cable Airport Foundation, a non-profit organization, for aviation-related scholarships.

     Cable Airport (KCCB) is located at 1749 W. 13th Street in Upland, Calif. (91786). The event takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with breakfast beginning at 7 a.m. For more information, call 909/917-5851.

Safety Committee’s Report Focuses on Loss-of-Control Accidents

By Dan Namowitz for AOPA

A work group of the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee, an FAA/industry panel dedicated to reducing fatal general aviation accidents, has completed its report on loss-of-control accidents in the approach and landing phase of flight, including recommendations for safety improvements.

AOPA’s Air Safety Institute co-chairs the joint steering committee, and AOPA participated in the working group. A second work group – focused on en route and departure loss-of-control accidents – is chaired by AOPA and the FAA.

The work group focused on loss-of-control accidents because an FAA overview of fatal general aviation accidents from 2001 to 2010 concluded that 40.2 percent of fatal accidents during that period had loss of control as a cause.

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EAA Says FCC Out of Bounds by Limiting/Banning 121.5 ELTs

EAA Sends Strong Comments to FCC Docket

By EAA Staff

EAA has strongly criticized the Federal Communications Commission for its latest attempt to curtail future use of 121.5 MHz emergency locator transmitters (ELTs), frankly telling the commission that it is infringing on aviation safety policy that rightly belongs to the FAA.

EAA’s comments came in response to the FCC’s third further notice of proposed rulemaking that invited comments on whether the FCC should prohibit the certification, manufacture, importation, sale, or use of 121.5 MHz ELTs.

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ELT Ban Threatens ‘Substantial Costs, Fleeting Benefits’ FCC Should Defer to FAA on Aviation Matters

By Dan Namowitz (AOPA)

The Federal Communications Commission should “immediately abandon” its bid to prohibit the certification, manufacture, importation, sale, or use of 121.5-MHz ELTs, AOPA said in a regulatory filing.

From its technological shortcomings to its costs – estimated by the FAA as $500 million – the proposal initiated by the FCC in January should be dropped, and the FCC should defer to the FAA on this and any future regulatory actions where aviation is concerned, AOPA said in extensive formal comments submitted April 1.

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Study Calls for Consolidating, Closing More Than 100 Air Traffic Control Facilities

Plan would save $1.7 billion initially plus $1 billion annually.

As the Federal Aviation Administration prepares to close 149 air traffic control towers as part of more than $600 million in spending cuts required by the sequester, a new Reason Foundation study shows how the FAA could save $1 billion a year by consolidating air traffic control centers and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facilities.

More than 45 percent of U.S. air traffic control centers and 39 percent of TRACONs are over 35 years old. Instead of spending money upgrading these old and often isolated air traffic facilities, the Reason Foundation plan shows how air traffic control operations could be merged into large hubs that would guide air traffic throughout regions of the country.

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