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04/03/03 - FAA GOAL: ANNOUNCE SPORT PILOT RULE AT EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH 2003
April 3, 2003 - Lakeland, Florida—FAA’s goal is to announce the new sport pilot/light-sport aircraft rule at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2003, according to Peggy Gilligan, FAA’s Deputy Associate Administrator for Regulation & Certification. She made those comments Thursday, April 3, during the annual “Meet the FAA” session at the Sun ’n Fun EAA Fly-in in Lakeland, Fla.
“It is our very best effort to get it in by Oshkosh,” she said. “Administrator Marion Blakey will either announce the rule or have an explanation as to why it isn’t announced.”
Gilligan mentioned that there were some 4,900 comments on the notice of proposed rulemaking that had to be reviewed, creating “some changes but nothing dramatic. This has resulted in a very large document, and the decisions are being made at the most senior levels.”
Larry Burke, of the Light Aircraft Manufacturing Association and secretary of the ASTM manufacturing standards committee, questioned how the rule could be issued in time for Oshkosh given the fact that the final rule still needs to be approved by the Department of Transportation and the White House Office of Management and Budget. Each has up to 90 days to approve the final rule.
“We are aware of the 90-day approval requirement,” Gilligan answered, “but they are both very familiar with the process, and we are preparing detailed briefings to accelerate the process.”
Also speaking at the meeting was Steve Brown, FAA’s Associate Administrator for Air Traffic Services, who commented briefly about the closing of Chicago’s Meigs Field.
“I, like everyone else, was shocked and dismayed,” he said upon learning what Chicago Mayor Richard Daley had done to the lakefront airport under cover of darkness Monday morning. “That is certainly not the way we want the FAA and cities to work on such issues. There seems to be a universal feeling that this was a surreptitious activity by city leadership and the mayor.” He added, however, that there were no legal alternatives from FAA’s perspective.
Brown also touched on FAA’s administrative focus to add more capacity in the national airspace system, including the addition of about a dozen more commercial runways; nondiscriminatory access for all without artificial constraints; safety and working toward ever-lowering fatalities and accident rates; and international leadership, working towards common standards to promote safety and security.
Also appearing at the meeting from Washington, D.C. were Ron Wojnar, Aircraft Certification; Woody Woodward, Airports; and Dr. Jon Jordan, Aeromedical Certification. |
