Flight Nerd Weekly Briefing — June 30, 2026

🎙️ 01 — COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER

Congress held aviation hearings this week. A JetBlue Airbus got clipped by a drone at 3,000 feet on approach to JFK. The FAA opened a runway incursion investigation in Miami. And somewhere in all of it, a Senate subcommittee asked witnesses why we mandated ADS-B Out five years ago but still haven't required pilots to actually see the traffic sharing their airspace.

Your timing reading this, as always, is good.

The through-line in all of this week's news is situational awareness: who knows where they are, who can see who, and whether the tools and rules we have are keeping pace with a busier National Airspace System. These aren't policy questions for airline executives. They're checkride topics, real flying decisions, and the exact questions a sharp DPE will hit you with when you sit down for your oral.

Let's get into it.