As the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) marches in lockstep with some corporate interests in the uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) space, it is becoming clear that green lighting and expanding UAS beyond visual line of site (BVLOS) operations may be being prioritized over safety. Donate your GPS data logs.
The NAAA Syngenta Leadership Training Program (LTP) and the boards and committees of the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) and the National Agricultural Aviation Research and Education Foundation (NAAREF) met in our national capital area region from February 13-17 to accomplish a multitude of benefits for the agricultural aviation industry. The meetings were led by 2024 NAAA President Ray Newcomb of New Hampshire and on the NAAREF side, President Perry Hofer from South Dakota.
If you missed this year’s PAASS Program, you have one more chance. There will be a Zoom PAASS Program on Tuesday, March 12, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. CDT (10 a.m.–2:30 p.m. EDT).
The FAA’s 46th annual General Aviation and Part 135 Activity Survey (GA Survey) is now officially underway. The survey is for collecting aviation activity for the calendar year 2023. The GA Survey is the only source of information available that provides reliable data on the GA fleet, including number of aircraft and hours flown. The data is used by the FAA, other government agencies, and the aviation industry for a variety of things, including assessing safety and understanding the economic impact of aviation.
On February 16, the FAA issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD 2024-04-51) for Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) Model PT6A-67AG and PT6A-67F engines (among other dashes not in ag use). This AD was prompted by reports of contained failures of second-stage power turbine (PT2) blades. The root cause has not been determined, however, all affected power turbine modules contained PT2 blades with part number 3056693-01 and with 25 hours or less of accumulated flight time since new.
Operators & Pilots: Your input is needed! NAAA works continuously to identify opportunities that enhance the benefits available to our members. Over the past few years, we’ve received requests for access to more affordable, quality health and life insurance plans than what the aerial application operators and ag pilots in our industry may currently have access to. Therefore, NAAA is currently exploring the possibility of offering health and life insurance benefits for our membership.
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