The US Congress has passed a bill to give the FAA operational stability and to enable it to modernize how it handles planes in the air. The provisions of the bill will accelerate the migration from radar-based to GPS-based air traffic control. The act also makes it easier for unmanned drones to take to the skies.
An examination of the FAA's rules demanding shutdowns of electronic devices during takeoff and landing has cast more doubt on the ban. The New York Times found through EMT Labs tests that the electromagnetic interference from current devices, such as an Amazon Kindle and a Sony voice recorder, was around 30 microvolts, or well under the 100 volts per meter limit the FAA demands. While iPads weren't measured, they too would be well under the limit.
An apparent leak on Tuesday maintained that the FAA has already approved the iPad for all purposes. The ZDNet tip had American Airlines being the first whose cockpits would use iPads at every stage of the flight, not just logbooks. The first flight would come on Boeing 777 aircraft, where Apple's tablet would also handle charting and flight manuals.
Delta Air Lines is now using 22 iPads as part of a test to communicate with its pilots. The tablets are used as electronic flight bags (EFBs) during trips, with all loaded with an identical software suite that can be further customized with other apps. Pilots also have access to their Delta e-mail account and calendar.
Alaska Airlines on Friday had the distinction of being the first large US carrier to use iPads as flight manuals on all flights and routes. All pilots will be receiving the Apple tablet loaded with the GoodReader app and PDF copies of all the aircraft manuals, reference charts, and other content they would need for their flights. Moving to the iPad not only saves a large amount of weight, dropping from 25 pounds to 1.5 pounds, but has active links between documents and color that normally wouldn't reach the printed copies.
JetBlue has become the latest airline company to announce it will bring Wi-Fi to its fleet. The company, which flies across the US, will partner with ViaSat to install hardware that will enable broadband Internet and TV service on its 160 aircraft by the end of 2012. Before this happens, however, the FAA needs to test and approve all the gear.
Within days, air travellers will no longer be able hold loose lithium batteries in their luggage, the US Department of Transportation says. As of January 1st, batteries will either have to be inserted into a phone, notebook or other electronic device, or else dropped into a plastic bag, and bundled along with carry-on baggage in a limit of two batteries per passenger.
The issue, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, is that if a lithium battery catches fire while in a cargo hold, current extinguishing systems are unable to stop the blaze. The National Transportation Safety Board insists that it cannot rule out lithium as the source of a plane fire at the Philadelphia International Airport in 2006.
