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SpaceX allegedly used an “unapproved launch control room” and “did not conduct the required T-2 hour poll” for the June 2023 Falcon 9 flight for the PSN SATRA Mission, which involved launching an Indonesian communication satellite. In July, SpaceX then allegedly used an unapproved, newly constructed “rocket propellant farm,” or a specialized facility to fuel the EchoStar XXIV/Jupiter mission. SpaceX now has 30 days to respond to the civil penalty.
The proposed fine is raising speculation that the FAA wants to get tough with SpaceX, which is also facing allegations that it violated environmental regulations with Starship rocket launches. Last month, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket also failed to stick its landing, resulting in a fiery explosion. It's unclear what caused the malfunction, but the FAA has cleared the company to continue Falcon 9 flights in the interim. //
Last week, SpaceX also blasted US government regulations for pushing back the next launch of Starship to possibly late November when the vehicle is ready to fly for its next test. “The narrative that we operate free of, or in defiance of, environmental regulation is demonstrably false,” the company said at the time.
In response, the FAA told PCMag it's conducting a more in-depth review of the next Starship flight due to changes made by SpaceX. "In addition, SpaceX submitted new information in mid-August detailing how the environmental impact of Flight 5 will cover a larger area than previously reviewed. This requires the FAA to consult with other agencies," the agency said.
In February 2023, the FAA also fined SpaceX $175,000 for failing to submit pre-launch data to the agency for an earlier Starlink mission. SpaceX later paid the fine in October 2023.
The Terminal Procedures Search application allows searching, viewing, and downloading of the U.S. Terminal Procedure Publications (TPPs) as PDF files
While American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have used all their lobbying might to try to get the federal government to shut down competitor JSX - because JSX offers a product that consumers prefer to their own - the origin of the fight against JSX stems from the big pilot union. And it wasn't even JSX they were really concerned with. //
That triggered the Air Line Pilots Association, which fought hard to make it more expensive and take longer to become a pilot. They didn’t want an expansion of flying outside of rules meant to limit the supply of pilots.
To go after SkyWest Charter – which fully complies with current rules, but DOT has simply sat on the application for no valid reason – they had to go after JSX which is a bigger scheduled charter operation. There are others, like Contour, but they saw the space growing.
Once the union started going after Dallas-based JSX, they were able to get Dallas-based Southwest Airlines and American Airlines on board for the fight. //
Nonetheless, the FAA plans to issue regulations cracking down on part 135 carriers and then investigate whether there are actual safety issues. This is a solution in search of a problem, because no one wants to talk about the real reason lobbyists have been pushing this.
There is simply no legitimate safety concern with JSX operations.
The Federal Aviation Administration is the subject of a massive class action lawsuit alleging that since 2013, thousands of qualified applicants have been denied employment as air traffic controllers based on race. //
These programs, run in cooperation with the FAA since 1991 to train and test future air traffic controllers, were the entry point for the overwhelming majority of the ATC workforce.
In 2013, the Obama Administration ended the program to increase diversity in ATC hiring. The screening test stopped being ATC-specific coursework and became a "biographical questionnaire." Allegedly, this questionnaire was based on the personality traits of successful ATCs. But its real purpose was to increase the number of "underrepresented" demographics. As if to underscore the point, the FAA provided the correct candidates with a list of buzzwords to use on the questionnaire. Minority applicants were also coached on how to format their job applications so friendly selection board members could recognize them. //
For reasons that aren't all that clear, this racially discriminatory hiring program continued under Donald Trump, but it really hit high gear under Joe Biden. I swear I'm not making any of this up.
The Secretary of Transportation has set a hiring goal of three (3) percent per fiscal year for individuals with targeted (severe) disabilities. //
In 2023, the situation had deteriorated to the point that even the New York Times had noticed.
They were part of an alarming pattern of safety lapses and near misses in the skies and on the runways of the United States, a Times investigation found. While there have been no major U.S. plane crashes in more than a decade, potentially dangerous incidents are occurring far more frequently than almost anyone realizes — a sign of what many insiders describe as a safety net under mounting stress. //
It is difficult to see how this policy survives a legal challenge. The American Bar Association cautions that under current Supreme Court precedents, diversity hiring cuts two ways.
Diversity initiatives should not be a zero sum game. Lawful diversity initiatives should be designed to expand opportunity for underrepresented groups without also negatively impacting opportunities for those in the majority.
Q1. What kinds of batteries does the FAA allow in carry-on baggage (in the aircraft cabin)?
Q2. What kinds of batteries does the FAA allow in checked baggage (including gate-checked bags)?
The Federal Aviation Administration is actively recruiting workers who suffer “severe intellectual” disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website.
The Federal Aviation Administration is actively recruiting workers who suffer "severe intellectual" disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website.
"Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the Federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring," the FAA’s website states. "They include hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism."
The initiative is part of the FAA’s "Diversity and Inclusion" hiring plan, which claims "diversity is integral to achieving FAA's mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel across our nation and beyond." The FAA’s website shows the agency’s guidelines on diversity hiring were last updated on March 23, 2022. //
At what, precisely, does the FAA plan to put these people to work doing? It's safe to assume that by "severe intellectual disability," one means at best a substandard IQ, if not an outright inability to function in any organized workplace; //
The FAA - who I remind you, is responsible for ensuring safe air travel - is planning to ramp up hiring of those with "psychiatric disabilities." What kind of psychiatric disabilities? Sociopathy, I would posit, is a psychiatric disability, as is schizophrenia or "other psychotic disorders," bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive disorder. Surely the FAA isn't going to be hiring people with these kinds of disorders to do, well, anything the FAA needs done?
Has our federal government gone absolutely bonkers?
Air Traffic Plans and Publications