Res Communis

AOPA, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), and the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) sent a letter to Congressional leaders May 13 requesting support for a provision in the House FAA reauthorization bill that would preserve the congressionally enabled Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program.  The House and Senate are working out the differences in a long-term FAA bill, and the Senate FAA bill does not include the provision preserving the BARR program.

The BARR program gives aircraft owners and operators the ability to “opt out” of having their aircraft’s movements electronically broadcast to nongovernment entities by commercial flight-tracking services.  In the letter, the associations pointed out that under the BARR program, the FAA, Department of Homeland Security, and law enforcement agencies always retain their ability to track general aviation aircraft movements, but GA operators are provided the ability to “opt out” of having their real-time private movements disseminated beyond the government to unknown third parties throughout the world. [Full story]

SAO PAULO – A Brazilian federal judge has convicted two American pilots for their role in an airline crash that killed 154 people, but ordered them to perform more than four years of community service in the U.S. instead of going to prison.

Federal Judge Murilo Mendes said in his ruling that pilots Joseph Lepore of Bay Shore, New York, and Jan Paladino of Westhampton Beach, New York, were negligent for not verifying that anti-collision equipment and a device that would have alerted controllers to their location were functioning in the Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet they were flying. They have both denied that accusation. [Full story]

China’s tightly controlled skies and cumbersome regulations have stifled the development of a market for private jets. Now, regulatory changes and new infrastructure are feeding hopes among jet manufacturers that the market is finally poised for takeoff. [Full story]

The Texas House of Representatives late on Thursday approved a bill that would make invasive pat-downs at Texas airports a crime, after a former Miss USA said she felt “molested” at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport last month.

Transportation Security Administration agents could be charged with a misdemeanor crime, face a $4,000 fine and one year in jail under the measure.

The measure’s author, Republican David Simpson, said: “Indecent groping searches when innocent travelers are seeking access to airports and public buildings would be outlawed under this bill.”

The bill needs a final vote from the House before it would go to the Senate. [Full story]

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to phase out the “Essential Air Service” program. This program helps smaller airports stay afloat. It offers carriers a financial incentive not to drop lightly traveled routes. [Full story]