Federal Aviation Administration

Up to half the aircraft that land at Los Angeles International Airport each day now use an arrival technique that saves fuel and reduces noise and air pollution in neighborhoods along the eastern approaches to the nation's fourth-largest airport, the Federal Aviation Administration has announced. Officials said Thursday that the technique also increases the safety of landings, one of the most critical phases of a flight.

Prompted by testimony last week about the crash of a commuter plane near Buffalo, N.Y., four senior senators have called for an independent investigation into federal oversight of regional carriers. In a letter released Tuesday, members of the Senate aviation safety subcommittee told the Transportation Department's inspector general, Calvin L.

The Federal Aviation Administration revoked the licenses Tuesday of the two Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot a Minneapolis airport by 150 miles, saying that they "were on a frolic" that endangered the lives of others. The revocation report, released Tuesday, harshly condemned the two pilots and barred them from flying. "You engaged in conduct that put your passengers and your crew in serious jeopardy," FAA officials wrote in the report. The pilots -- Capt. Timothy B. Cheney, 53, of Gig Harbor, Wash.

For 15 minutes on Wednesday, I stood theoretically in the tower at Los Angeles International Airport and learned a little about how it feels to be an air traffic controller at the nation's third-busiest airport. Had it been for real, I would have been very, very worried. With about 1,400 commercial takeoffs and landings a day, LAX controllers have one of the most stressful jobs in aviation as they labor to keep a major transportation hub moving while staying at least one step ahead of disaster.

Federal officials on Monday dealt a serious blow to a decades-long effort to restrict nighttime flights at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, asserting that to do so would harm the national air transportation system. The Federal Aviation Administration rejected a proposed curfew that would have banned flights by airlines, cargo operators, charter services and private pilots between 10 p.m. and 6:59 a.m. with some exceptions, including emergencies. The airlines now operate under a voluntary agreement not to fly between those hours.

Four months after a fatal commuter plane crash that pointed to holes in pilot competency, the federal government Tuesday launched an investigation of the nation's smaller airlines. The Federal Aviation Administration's vow to step up inspections of how regional airlines train -- and work -- their pilots was issued under the pressure of congressional hearings that begin today. The hearings will explore pilot workforce issues at regional carriers and the FAA's scrutiny of airline safety standards.