Av Hazard publicizes safety and operational concerns to help prevent accidents but it works only if we hear from you. Use the postage-free Av Hazard card to describe the hazard and return it to Pro Pilot. To obtain an official FAA review send NASA an ASRS form. For immediate action, call the airport, FBO, ATC, FSDO or the 24-hour FAA Safety Hotline at 800-255-1111. Note: Telephone numbers for all US Towers and ARTCCs are published in Ac-U-Kwik and Pilots Express Airport/Heliport/FBO directories. To report safety concerns outside the US, contact ICAO HQ at 514-954-8219 or via fax at 514-954-6077. ICAO has worldwide telephone and fax numbers to expedite Av Hazard reports to civil aviation authorities.

Paper or plastic

The time has come and gone for exercising your pilot privileges with an FAA issued paper pilot certificate. According to CFR Part 61.19(g) (under “duration of pilot certificates”), “the holder of a paper pilot certificate issued under this part may not exercise the privileges of that certificate after Mar 31, 2010.” FAA began issuing plastic pilot certificates in Jul 2003 as a result of the Sep 11 attacks and the resulting Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. The original law would have required plastic pilot certificates to have pictures on the actual certificate, but was later changed. Currently, a pilot must have with their pilot certificate an acceptable form of photo ID in his/her physical possession or readily available in the aircraft when exercising the pilot privileges. Acceptable forms of photo ID while flying can be found in CFR Part 61.3(a)(2).

NTSB updates “wanted” list

Recently, NTSB met for the annual review of its “Most Wanted List” and the new top item was a direct result of the Colgan accident near Buffalo NY. NTSB expects FAA to take action on improving oversight of pilot proficiency for Part 121 carriers. One of the findings in the above accident was that Colgan Airlines was not aware of the captain’s failure of previous check rides. Other top items still on the NTSB hit list (graded as unacceptable progress by FAA) are NTSB’s recommendations for requiring image recorders in the cockpit, reduced dangers to aircraft flying in icing conditions and improved safety requirements for EMS. NTSB actually downgraded (from unacceptable to acceptable, progressing slowly) progress on improving runway safety and acknowledged some progress by FAA on this issue.

Resetting circuit breaker hazard

After lengthy research, FAA issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) on Dec 23, 2009 recommending new practices on resetting circuit breakers in flight. In the past, most pilots have been trained to push any circuit breaker in once while in flight, should one pop. Now, the SAIB advises pilots, owners, operators and maintenance personnel to reconsider resetting the circuit breaker procedure for GA aircraft. According to FAA, only circuit breakers for essential equipment needed at the time should be reset in flight.