The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Inspector General (OIG) plans to start a lawmaker-requested audit of global pilot training standards and evaluate ways the FAA can better link its certification process with international regulations. 

FAA administrator Steve Dickson sounded a positive note on the Boeing 737 MAX recertification process, telling reporters the agency is “narrowing the issues” leading to an upcoming certification flight. 

Iran’s initial formal investigative update on the Jan. 8 downing of a Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 sheds little new information on the disaster and stops short of confirming what its government has admitted: anti-aircraft missiles fired at the aircraft, seemingly in error, brought it down.

The Trump administration has proposed a fiscal 2021 budget of $17.5 billion for the FAA, which includes new funding for safety oversight in response to the Boeing 737 MAX crashes, but falls below the budget enacted for the current fiscal year.

Eurocontrol—the organization in charge of air traffic management (ATM) in Europe—has conducted further tests to validate the secondary runway aiming point (SRAP), a concept aimed at increasing runway capacity.

FAA is advancing a construct based on third-party UAS Service Suppliers—rather than air traffic controllers—providing flight authorization, traffic deconfliction and other services.

EASA published an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) Feb. 6 requiring a liquid-prohibited zone in Airbus A350 cockpits, following two inflight engine shutdown incidents.

As the Wuhan coronavirus spreads throughout the Asia-Pacific region, some international manufacturers are pulling out of the Singapore Airshow, which runs from Feb. 11-16.