Safety Steals the Show at 2010 Sun ’n Fun

Last week in Lakeland, Florida, there was plenty of sun and fun, but, importantly, in the middle of all that fun something bigger was happening. This was something that might not have seemed obvious to many, but which underscores the importance of events like Sun ’n Fun—education. 
 
As FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said in his remarks at the Meet the FAA forum, everyone who attends events like Sun ’n Fun walk away having learned something, whether it’s through a safety seminar, a hands-on workshop, or just exchanging stories with fellow airmen. As evidence of this thirst for safety knowledge, more than 6,000 aviation enthusiasts attended the hundreds of available programs at Sun ’n Fun. The event also marked the FAASTeam’s first Safety Stand Down, an initiative designed to improve your flying safety culture. At the Stand Down, flight instructor and aviation author Rod Machado offered some good advice:  “You can fly as safely as you want to fly because flying is not a matter of luck. It’s based on choices you control.” The key to safety, said Machado, is developing these choices into safety habits, which over time become life-long values that will help keep you safe.

Paper Pilot Certificate Policy

Did you meet the March 31, 2010, deadline for the expiration of paper pilot certificates? If not, the FAA’s Civil Aviation Registry Airmen Certification Branch says that an airman can call or contact the Registry to request a temporary authority so they can have more time to send in for or request an on-line replacement (plastic) certificate. The temporary authority is valid for 60 days. Here is how to contact the Airmen Certification Branch:
By telephone: (866) 878-2498 or (405) 954-3261
By e-mail: Go to  http://registry.faa.gov/Airmenemail/Airmenemail.asp
By fax: (405) 954-4105
By U.S. Mail: Federal Aviation Administration, Airmen Certification Branch, AFS-760, P.O. Box 25082, Oklahoma City, OK 73125-0082.
 
Replacement (plastic) airmen certificates may be requested from the FAA Airman Certification Website at:  www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airme … lacement/. 

Maintain Your Way To Greater Safety

An important question that pilots often ask is what type of maintenance can I perform on my airplane?  In “Maintaining Your Way to Greater Safety” in the March/April 2010 FAA Safety Briefing, the topic of preventive maintenance is explored, revealing what tasks a pilot can and cannot do. Pilots who help maintain their aircraft can gain a better working knowledge of their aircraft’s systems and components. Armed with this additional technical know-how, pilots can also improve communication with their mechanics. To learn more about owner-performed preventive maintenance, check out the article on page 23 of the March/April issue of FAA Safety Briefing.
Produced by the editors, FAA Safety Briefing, http://www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/
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