One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, East Hill Flying Club, has been unable to sign up any new students since the law took effect.
Another plaintiff, American Flyers, is not accepting any new students at its Westchester County Airport facility and will close that flight school as soon as its current students complete training, in part because of the New York law's requirements.
Five other plaintiffs have also experienced--or anticipate experiencing--significant economic losses because of the law.
AOPA believes that this burdensome law is impossible to implement. The law requires the state to run a criminal background check on any flight school applicant through the FBI. But the FBI will not allow New York to access its criminal database when the information is to be provided to a third party.
So the state would only be able to examine criminal histories contained within its own records, "severely constraining any effectiveness the new screening measure otherwise might have had." Any criminal history in another state would not be revealed by the New York check.
"Bottom line, nothing in this law makes New Yorkers any safer, but it sure will make some of them poorer," said AOPA President Phil Boyer.
AOPA has vowed to take the issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if needed. The association fought a similar law in Michigan and won.
AOPA offers deal to flight schools
When flight schools asked for new ways to attract and retain students, AOPA responded with a unique marketing opportunity. What better way to encourage a prospective or new student pilot to become a pilot than to give them the resources they need for training?
On a flight school's behalf, AOPA will provide prospective and current student pilots with six free issues of AOPA Flight Training and a six-month free membership. The first issue will boldly highlight the school's name and contact information to remind students and prospective clients that you are supporting their desire to learn to fly. For details, e-mail Lauren Otto.
Get weather wise
What two conditions are aviation's most deadly killers? Ceilings and visibility. You might wonder why these conditions are so deadly. After all, most of the flying you done during your primary flight training has probably been in day VFR, with clear skies below 12,000 feet and at least 10 miles' visibility.
But as you embark on dual and solo cross-country flights, you'll learn more about how the weather changes, and how quickly ceilings and visibility can deteriorate.
Learn how you can minimize the risk these conditions pose with the AOPA Air Safety Foundation's online course Weather Wise: Ceiling and Visibility. The self-paced course should take you 45 to 60 minutes to complete, and successful completion can qualify for the ground training requirement of the FAA Wings program.
ASF releases 2006 Nall report
The AOPA Air Safety Foundation's just-released 2006 Joseph T. Nall report shows a decline in the number of fatal weather-related accidents for 2005.
The foundation targeted weather- and thunderstorm-related accidents after a spike in the number of those accidents in 2004. The foundation rolled out an online course, Weather Wise: Thunderstorms and ATC , to educate pilots about these accidents.
While weather-related accidents decreased, the overall 2005 accident rate increased to 7.2 accidents per 100,000 flight hours, compared to 6.5 the year before.
The rate of fatal accidents also increased in 2005, from 1.3 to 1.4 per 100,000 flight hours.
"While the sky certainly isn't falling, the record that we chalked up in 2005 could stand some improvement," said Bruce Landsberg, executive director of the AOPA Air Safety Foundation. Because pilot education is the best way to help reduce the number of GA accidents, ASF will be producing a new online course about maneuvering flight in 2007 to combat an increase in the number of fatal maneuvering accidents.
You can download the Nall Report at AOPA Online. To request a paper copy, call 800/USA-AOPA.
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