The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced a final rule aimed at enhancing the professional development of air carrier pilots. The Pilot Professional Development rule requires specific training for newly-hired pilots and supplemental training for captains.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is calling for a comprehensive effort to improve aviation safety in Alaska, a region with a higher accident rate than the rest of the country. The NTSB issued a safety recommendation to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) seeking the formation of a safety-focused working group to better review, prioritize and integrate Alaska’s unique aviation safety needs into the FAA’s safety enhancement process.

Pipeline safety, helicopter emergency medical service flight operations safety and emergency response to railroad hazardous materials events were recently improved with the latest implementation of eight more safety recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) 2019-2020 Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements.

Employers grapple with the coronavirus, flight attendants cheer a proposed comfort animals on planes rule and indoor air quality affects construction workers, too. These were among the top occupational safety and health, environmental health and safety and regulatory stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Flight attendants are applauding the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) bid to restrict the types of animals allowed in cabins, saying emotional support animals have threatened the safety and health of crew members as well as passengers. Amid a surge in passengers claiming that their emotional support animals – of many species – must fly with them in the passenger areas of planes, the DOT has released a notice of proposed rulemaking that seeks to amend the definition of a service animal in air transportation.

Terrain awareness technology that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been pushing for since 2006 may have helped prevent the helicopter crash that killed nine people on Sunday – including NBA legend Kobe Bryant – but the FAA refused to make it mandatory.

A harness intended to keep helicopter passengers safely in place was the cause of the aircraft losing power and ending up in New York City’s East River, in which all five passengers drowned. The pilot sustained minor injuries. That’s the conclusion of the NTSB's investigation into the March 11, 2018 incident involving a doors-off sightseeing helicopter.

With the increasing popularity of vaping, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working with other federal agencies and organizations to remind airline passengers that electronic smoking devices like vaporizers (vapes) and e-cigarettes are considered hazardous materials when transported on aircraft. Electronic smoking devices contain lithium batteries that pose a fire risk.

A hiker was about a mile and a half up the Nualolo Trail in the Koke State Park in Hawaii, struggling with rain and fog and hampered by a visibility of about 20 feet, when he heard what sounded like the high-pitched whine of a helicopter in distress. Knowing that something was wrong, he tried to find the helicopter but couldn’t due to the adverse weather conditions and fading daylight.

It’s not just a football game; it’s a designated National Security Special Event. That’s why the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is announcing restrictions for both manned and unmanned aircraft for Super Bowl LIV, which will take place on Sunday, Feb. 2 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. And the rules don’t just cover the day of the game.