News
There are always legal and technical innovations in private aviation - even if these are sometimes well hidden and not always obvious.
Here we try to give you an overview of the turmoil of the NfL (Nachrichten für Luftfahrer), current notifications from the LBA (Luftfahrtbundesamt) and exciting reports from the aviation sector.
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NFL 2026-1-4035 – Visual Departure: New Rules for Visual Departures under IFR
The Federal Supervisory Authority for Air Navigation Services has republished the German rules for so-called visual departures. These are IFR departures where a pilot may deviate wholly or partially from a published instrument departure procedure under visual meteorological conditions. Among other things, the prerequisites are that the pilot can maintain visual contact with the ground up to a specified altitude and can ensure obstacle clearance themselves. The new NfL 2026-1-4035 replaces the previous regulation from 2025 and applies
16 August 2026
NFL 2026-1-4027 – Self-separation reorganised: When pilots become responsible for spacing themselves
The Federal Supervisory Office for Air Navigation Services has republished the German rules on self-separation. The procedure allows ATC, under clearly defined conditions, to temporarily transfer responsibility for the separation between two aircraft to the pilots. This is only permitted during the day, below FL100, in airspace D or E, and during a climb or descent. Both pilots involved must agree.
16 August 2026
IFR clearance via app: FAA brings Mobile Clearance to general aviation
With „Mobile Clearance“, the US aviation authority FAA is testing a new procedure that allows pilots to receive their IFR departure clearance directly via flight planning apps such as ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot. Long clearances no longer have to be copied down and read back exclusively via radio or telephone. This is intended to avoid transmission errors, relieve congestion on frequencies and at the same time reduce the workload for pilots and air traffic controllers. Following initial tests in the Houston area, the system is currently being expanded to further airports. For
16 August 2026
From round dial to glass cockpit: How to make the safe transition to EFIS
The transition from traditional round dials to a modern glass cockpit seems at first glance like an enormous simplification: instead of many individual displays, a single large screen bundles almost all important flight information. In fact, however, an Electronic Flight Instrument System, or EFIS for short, changes not only the display, but the entire way of working in the cockpit. Pilots must develop new scanning patterns, understand system states and learn to filter out the currently relevant data from a significantly larger amount of information. A
16 August 2026
Water in the fuel: How an overlooked contamination led to the fatal accident
A fatal accident involving a Rockwell Commander 112 TCA in Scotland demonstrates just how dangerous water in the fuel system of a piston-engine aircraft can be. Shortly after takeoff, the engine apparently began to stutter, and a short time later the aircraft spun out of control. The UK AAIB found significant amounts of water in the fuel system and severely damaged seals on the fuel filler caps. The case highlights why fuel checks must be carried out thoroughly and critically – especially after long periods of inactivity
16 August 2026
EASA simplifies noise certification of light propeller-driven aircraft
The EASA has released ENCODE, a new free tool for the noise certification of light propeller-driven aircraft. The Excel-based tool evaluates measurement data in accordance with the specifications of ICAO Annex 16, checks individual measurement flights for plausibility and performs a large proportion of the required calculations. For manufacturers and design organisations, this can significantly simplify the preparation for noise approval. However, the actual noise measurements and the prescribed test report are still required.
16 August 2026
