FAA Updates Lightning Protection Airworthiness Standards

Southern Region
Due to inclement weather, the FAA’s Southern Region Office in College Park, GA will be closed for normal business today, January 10, 2011.

Employees and contractors who work in that office should follow local procedures to obtain more information.

Central Region
The FAA’s Central Region office in Kansas City, MO dismissed non-emergency personnel due to inclement weather effective at 1 p.m. Central Time, today, January 10, 2011.

Central Region personnel should follow local procedures to obtain more information.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a civil penalty of $205,250 against Circor Aerospace, Inc., a Sylmar, Calif.-based aircraft repair station, for allegedly violating FAA drug and alcohol testing regulations.
The FAA alleges Circor failed to conduct required pre-employment drug tests and receive verified negative drug test results before hiring 29 people to perform safety-sensitive aircraft maintenance work.
The FAA also alleges the company failed to include two individuals in its random drug and alcohol testing pool.
The FAA discovered the alleged violations during a December 2011 inspection of Circor’s antidrug and alcohol misuse prevention program. The alleged violations took place between September 2010 and December 2011.

December 1, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today announced that Mexico complies with international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), based on the results of a November FAA review of Mexico’s civil aviation authority.

Under the leadership of Secretary Juan Molinar and Director General Hector Gonzalez Weeks, Mexico has made significant progress and is now upgraded from the Category 2 safety rating the country received in July to Category 1. At Mexico’s request, the FAA will continue to provide technical assistance to support and maintain the changes the civil aviation authority has made.

A Category 1 rating means the country’s civil aviation authority complies with ICAO standards. A Category 2 rating means a country either lacks laws or regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards, or that its civil aviation authority – equivalent to the FAA for aviation safety matters – is deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, recordkeeping or inspection procedures.

With the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Category 2 rating, Mexican air carriers could not establish new service to the United States, but were allowed to maintain existing service. Now with the Category 1 rating, Mexican air carriers can again add flights and service to the United States.

As part of the FAA’s IASA program, the agency assesses the civil aviation authorities of all countries with air carriers that operate or have applied to fly to the United States and makes that information available to the public. The assessments determine whether or not foreign civil aviation authorities are meeting ICAO safety standards, not FAA regulations.

Countries with air carriers that fly to the United States must adhere to the safety standards of ICAO, the United Nations’ technical agency for aviation that establishes international standards and recommended practices for aircraft operations and maintenance. IASA information is at www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/iasa/.