FAA Withdraws Proposal on Plastic Pilot Certificates The Aviation Weblog

The FAA has withdrawn a proposed rule that would have required pilots to replace their paper certificates with upgraded, counterfeit-resistant plastic certificates. Just before the 90-day Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review period expired, the FAA pulled back the proposal, saying it needed to reevaluate the plan because of a "new" congressional requirement for a picture on the pilot certificate. Personally, I really like the new certificates. But, I can [...] Read More


Aviation Expert John Nance on Private Pilot Entering Washington DC Airspace The Aviation Weblog

In a column on ABCNews.com, expert aviation analyst John J. Nance gives a more measured response to the incident involving the two pilots who veered into restricted airspace twice above Washington DC. In his column Nance asks the question how could a pilot just "stumble" into restricted airspace. His response... It seems bizarre, but the truth is that from the air, downtown Washington, the White House, the Capitol building, and all our [...] Read More


Be A Pilot Nets Nearly 33,000 Pilot Prospects in 2004 The Aviation Weblog

What will $49 buy you? How about an hour in the air for your first flying lesson? That's an offer Be A Pilot makes to first-time students at over 2,000 flight schools, and almost 33,000 prospective pilots took them up on it last year. Neither of the FBOs in my small town, both of which offered flight instruction, had this offer available, so I payed full-fare, though that was only [...] Read More


Some Restaurants in Sweden Will Soon Bear 'Allergy-Free' Certificates Allergies

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Dag Sjöstrand Sweden's Asthma and Allergy Association announced last week that people with food allergies can soon dine without worries in Swedish restaurants bearing 'allergy-free' certificates. The said allergy-free certificates will be awarded to restaurants whose staff undergo a special training course that will enable them to better advise patrons of their food options, thereby avoiding the risk of allergic reactions. According to Mats Hulth, the head of [...] Read More


RFID to battle out fake certificates in Indian corporate world The RFID Weblog

When I came across this news I was reminded of an incident which occurred a few years back in India when employees in some of the reputed IT companies out there were fired as they had forged the certificates they had submitted to the company for getting the job and some of them had been working in the companies for a couple of years too. Though the incident was not [...] Read More