Also: Spirit Pilot Honored, ATC is Ready, Crash Lawsuit, FAA Threatens Drone Fines The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is locking down its upcoming Annual Meeting—and raising VERY serious questions about transparency in the process. According to rules released for the May 12th gathering, attendance will be limited strictly to verified members and proxies—effectively barring non-member journalists from the room. Those who do get inside won’t have much voice. Just 20 members will be allowed to speak… for two minutes each… on a first-come basis. The NTSB is investigating a Sunday afternoon incident in which dashcam video shows United Airlines 767 hitting a light pole and a tractor-trailer during its approach to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). All 221 passengers and 10 crew were unharmed as the aircraft landed safely and taxied to the gate. The Regional Airline Association (RAA) has expressed disappointment with the Department of Education’s decision, as part of its RISE rulemaking, not to increase federal student-loan caps for FAA-certified Part 141 flight-training programs by reclassifying them as graduate or professional programs. Effective July 1, 2026, this decision keeps flight training within standard undergraduate borrowing limits rather than elevating them to “professional” status, which would have allowed for higher loan caps. All this — and MORE in today’s episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
