This Week at the Federal Aviation Administration — week of July 13, 2026

This week, the FAA issued several safety directives for specific aircraft and engines, proposed new inspection requirements for helicopters and airplane parts, updated airspace around hospitals and airports, and accepted new industry standards for light-sport aircraft.

New safety directives for specific aircraft

• Corrected a formatting error in a previous safety directive for certain Boeing 737s—an administrative update to ensure aircraft manuals contain all required technical documentation.
• Updated an existing safety directive for specific Bombardier models, changing which aircraft must follow new maintenance and inspection rules.
• Issued a new airworthiness directive for certain Textron Aviation Model 408 airplanes, requiring inspections of structural components after the manufacturer changed its maintenance manual.
• Issued a directive for Diamond Aircraft DA 42, DA 42 NG, and DA 42 M-NG models to prevent mechanical interference with flight controls.
• Required inspections of the cyclic stick on certain Bell 407 helicopters to prevent mechanical failure of flight controls.
• Mandated replacement of defective fuel hoses on certain General Electric GEnx engines to prevent fuel leaks.

Proposed safety rules

• Proposed updating a safety directive for Leonardo AB139 and AW139 helicopters so operators use the correct placards and manuals based on which medical stretcher version is installed.
• Proposed a new directive for Rolls-Royce Deutschland BR700 engines requiring more frequent replacement of certain parts before they can fail.
• Proposed replacing an existing rule for Bell 407 tailboom inspections, changing inspection intervals and replacement requirements to prevent structural failure.
• Proposed a new directive for certain Bombardier BD-700-2A12 airplanes to check for leftover manufacturing film that could obstruct electrical components.

Airspace and navigation updates

• Created new airspace around Franciscan Health Crown Point Hospital Heliport in Indiana, allowing medical transport flights to use more precise navigation tools when landing.
• Proposed new airspace rules around OSF St Francis Medical Center Heliport in Peoria, Illinois, to support more precise navigation in poor weather.
• Updated airspace classifications around Boire Field Airport in Nashua, New Hampshire—an administrative change that does not fundamentally alter how pilots fly into the area.
• Amended Class D and Class E airspace boundaries near New Bedford, Massachusetts, extending the northwest side of the existing Class D airspace by 0.7 miles in length and 3.6 miles in width.
• Issued two rules updating Standard Instrument Approach Procedures, takeoff minimums, and obstacle departure procedures at various airports, keeping navigation data current with physical conditions and technology.

Light-sport aircraft standards

• Accepted several new ASTM International technical standards for light-sport aircraft, giving builders and manufacturers established industry standards to follow when meeting FAA safety requirements.

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This weekly agency digest is generated from federal records (the Federal Register and Congress.gov) and summarized in plain English. It may simplify or omit detail — follow the linked official sources before relying on any item. Part of The Boring Parts.