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U.S. Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick has proposed new legislation [H.R. 1775] to require secondary cockpit safety barriers on Part 121 airliners. The metal barrier would be lowered between the first row of seats and the existing hardened cockpit door whenever a pilot leaves the flight deck.

The extra-barrier idea evolved from a study conducted by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) at the request of the FAA, the Air Line Pilots Association and other industry stakeholders to provide more specific guidance on securing the flight deck.

Steve Charbonneau, a pilot and chairman of the corporate flight operational quality assurance (C-FOQA) Centerline program created by Austin Digital, is leading a team to develop best practice standards for data gathering from the digital flight data recorders (DFDR) that are now standard on most new large business jets. “The goal is to analyze and share data to give operators both the qualitative and quantitative boost they need to develop their organization into world-class operations,” he said.

The investigation into the April 29 crash of a National Air Cargo Boeing 747-400 at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan is being aided by a video caught by a witness in a nearby vehicle that shows the aircraft in a steep climb shortly after takeoff, followed by wing rolling and an eventual stall before the aircraft struck the ground. Seven people aboard the Boeing died in the crash.

Local changes in magnetic variation demanded that Runway 9L/27R at Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale Airport (FLL) be renumbered 10L/28R. On May 3, the airport also began a number of other construction projects that will continue through September next year, including the permanent decommissioning of the airport’s crosswind Runway 13/31 as well as significant new taxiway construction in advance of the opening of a new Runway 10R/28L. For the next 17 months, FLL’s only operational runway will be 10L/28R.