Virgin Galactic

Virgin's Spaceship Two was preforming a test flight on Halloween of this year when an unexpected incident occurred. Spaceship Two was flying at about FL500 when it started to break up due to a malfunction.  The NTSB original thought that this was caused by fuel issues but then later discovered that the accident was more so related to "Wing Booms".

Virgin Galactic which is owned by Richard Branson has been heavily investing into space travel.  Through the years, Virgin Galactic has made headline after headline with its progression and sale of tickets into space. For about $20,000 one can purchase a ticket which climbs you into space and gives you a brief idea of the atmosphere.

Space travel is such a new design that the FAA along with other agencies world wide have not had the knowledge enough to create rules and regulations for such thing. As of right now, space travel happens to be untouched uncharted territory.

I believe that within  the decade space travel will be more prominent and more readily available to commercial clients. With the rate of progression that Virgin Galactic is proving, space travel might be here sooner than we think. Though this accident is a major set back, it is also a learning curve. All virgin can do from here is learn and progress.

For a business position within Virgin Galactic one must accrue the following:

Qualifications

•    8 plus years of financial and contractual management experience is required

•    Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration or related field; MBA is desired
•    Strong budget/forecast and financial analysis skills
•    Strong understanding and abilities in procurement processes
•    Business Management experience supporting aerospace/newspace companies are
      highly preferred

•    Exemplary written and oral communication skills
•    Familiarity with ITAR regulations and compliance

•    Solid negotiation and influencing skills
•    Strong administration/time management skills

•    Familiarity with FAR financial requirements are a plu

Sources:
http://www.virgingalactic.com/statement-from-virgin-galactic/
http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/human_space_flight_reqs/

New FAA Regs vs. Cargo Operations

Before the Colgan disaster, companies such as Colgan would hire pilots right out of flight school.  Most with only 250 hours, they would be put in the right seat of a passenger airliner. After the disaster regulations changed drastically. Minimum flight hours jumped to a whopping 1500 hours which really clamping down on the industry. Only tightening the reins even more, new rest requirements came about as well. A pilots off duty time begins when he or she enters their hotel room.  This is quite different than before when a pilots off duty time starts when the engines shut down.

As for cargo operations, they still adhere to old regulations. This is still a problem due to the fact that both settings for cargo and commercial operation still require you to fly a plane. Whether that plane is carrying passengers or cargo, the same regulations should adhere to both. Cargo operations off time begins when they exit the aircraft until the start the engines again in eight hours.

I truly feel that the reason cargo and commercial have different flight rules is because one carries passenger while the other one just carries boxes.  Less lives are at stake when flying cargo versus commercial.  Two lives versus 100 or even 400 lives should not make a difference at all. All operations should operate equally if that aircraft is for hire.

If both operations had the same rules, I think that for 1.) It would improve the lives of the pilots by having more rest. 2.) Companies would need more staff to cover the flights. 3.) This could reduce the risk of further accidents in the future.

http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/recently_published/media/2120-AJ58-FinalRule.pdf

http://airfactsjournal.com/2014/03/double-tragedy-colgan-air-flight-3407/