A bill proposing to set a two-year deadline for the US Federal Aviation Administration to enact a sweeping reform of airworthiness certification rules for small aircraft has now moved to the floor of the House of Representatives.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure committee has recommended the full chamber pass the bill, dubbed the Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013 and proposed by Wichita, Kansas-based lawmaker Mike Pompeo.
The US system requires such legislation to be approved by both houses before it can be submitted to the US president to become law, and a similar bill is making its way through the Senate committee system.
The proposals would legally require the FAA to implement the recommendations of the agency's Part 23 Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking Committee by 31 December 2015.
The committee was established by the FAA in 2011 under pressure from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), which has long criticised the Part 23 regulations as too cumbersome and stifling innovation in the category of aircraft below 5,720kg (12,600lb).
The goal of the committee is to recast the airworthiness standards on performance and complexity criteria, rather than on arbitrary weight standards.
"The bill will help industry and FAA develop and adopt more effective, consensus-based compliance standards that would spur manufacturers' investment in aircraft design and help put critical life-saving equipment in the existing fleet of airplanes," says Pete Bunce, president and chief executive of GAMA.
Source: Flight International
