The US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has sent the Small Airplane Revitalization Act to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
HR.1848 passed the committee this week and is set to implement recommendations that will cut aircraft certification costs for GA aircraft in half and double safety standards.
In the preamble to the Act, congress acknowledges several challenges faced by the general aviation industry in the USA including the loss of 10,000 active pilots every year and that regulatory barriers have contributed to the lack of investment in new designs resulting in a 40-year-old fleet.
To correct the situation, the US Congress will direct the FAA to:
- Create a regulatory regime for small airplanes that will improve safety and decrease certification costs
- Set broad, outcome driven safety objectives that will spur innovation and technology adoption
- Replace current, prescriptive requirements contained in FAA rules with performance based regulations
- Use FAA-accepted consensus standards to clarify how the Part 23 safety objectives may be met by specific designs and technologies.
The bill has been widely praised in the industry.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association President Pete Bunce was pleased with the news. “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 into the existing fleet of airplanes.”
"It is gratifying to see the broad, bipartisan support for this measure in the House," said Doug Macnair, EAA's vice president of government relations. "The unanimous vote in the House committee acknowledges how this bill will revitalize the lighter end of general aviation, which has faced significant challenges in recent years."
The full text of the Small Airplanes Revitalization Act can be read here.