Another contentious issue potentially blocking passage of a long-term FAA authorization bill was dropped by its sponsor.
Senator John Thune (R-SD), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, apparently withdrew a controversial provision from the Senate version of the FAA funding legislation that would have reduced the amount of training needed for pilots to become first officers for US airlines. Thune's proposal would have allowed pilots to count activities other than actual flight hours towards the 1,500-hour requirement for an airline job. Elon Musk told an audience at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, TX that he expects to be flying "short" excursions to Mars by next year ... but hedged his remarks saying that the timeline might be "optimistic". Musk said that getting to Mars is all about getting the appropriate spaceship built. And while Musk acknowledges that there are skeptics who don't think such a voyage is currently possible. "So if we show them that it is, they’ll up their game and build interplanetary transport vehicles, as well,” he said. An aviation fuel shortage in Canada caused
by a reported possible quality control issues at Imperial Oil is grounding many GA pilots in Canada, and affecting some businesses as well. The problem was reported by Imperial Oil to Transport Canada on February 13. 100LL avgas produced at the company's Strathcona refinery near Edmonton since Dec. 28 was reported to have an issue with electrical conductivity, which could lead to improper fuel levels being indicated by an aircraft's instruments. Transport Canada issued a NOTAM for the fuel, which led to airports across the country to suspend its sale and quarantine stocks on hand. Some fuel stocks have been tested and approved for use, but many airports are still refraining from selling the gas. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!
Airborne 03.14.18 is chock full of info in this Daily News Episode, Monday, March 14th, 2018... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Hosts Brianne Cross, Christopher Odom, and Laura Hutson, and is supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, and Aero-Journalist Tom Patton, this episode covers:
- Senator Thune Drops Pilot Training Provision From Proposed FAA Bill
- SpaceX Plans 'Short' Mars Flights As Early As 2019
- Aviation Fuel Shortage Causing Problems In Canada
- FAA Revokes AeroBearings’ Repair Station Certificate
- Gogo Appoints Oakleigh Thorne As President And CEO
- 'Out of this World' First-Ever Space Festival Coming To Las Cruces, NM
- Daher Names TBM Sales Representative For India
Get Comprehensive, Real-Time, 24/7 coverage of the latest aviation and aerospace stories anytime, at aero-news.net. And be sure to join us again tomorrow, for the next edition of "Airborne Unlimited" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, tomorrow!
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