Just before Thanksgiving, President Obama signed the Small Airplane Revitalization Act into law. This means big changes for the FAA, which will be required to reform certification regulations by Dec. 31, 2015.
The required changes will affect Part 23 general aviation airplanes — that is, most light civil aircraft weighing less than 12,500 pounds. The new act means that Part 23 regulations, which are decades old, will need to be rewritten. There will also be additions to Part 21, which covers aircraft parts, among other things.
The new certification regulations are intended to benefit airplane safety and reduce certification costs. Under the law, the FAA needs to create consensus-based, design-specific standards. The new standards will not be based on existing aircraft weight and propulsion type method like the current regulations, but instead on aircraft and systems-specific parameters. These new standards should speed up adoption of new aircraft designs and lower costs overall.
Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo, who authored the bill, is thrilled with the progress that has been made. “This is an enormous achievement for general aviation across the nation,” Pompeo said in a press release on his website. “By reforming and modernizing these regulations, this law unleashes small airplane manufacturers to do what they do best: Build airplanes and get them in the air.”
Pompeo is far from the only one who is excited to see the act put into law. “This law is a win for the government as well as general aviation airframers and suppliers,” Pete Bunce, president and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), said in the same press release. “But more importantly, for the general aviation pilots and passengers who will be able to benefit more rapidly from new safety-enhancing technologies.”
Insiders are sure that the law will benefit everyone, from manufacturers to pilots to passengers. Judging by the fact that the act passed both the Senate and the House unanimously this past fall, it looks like just about everyone is excited to see how the new certification regulations can streamline the aircraft business and improve safety and cost.