Aviation

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) dismissed the idea that allowing airline passengers to use electronic devices during takeoffs and landings could distract them from hearing safety announcements on Tuesday.

After being pressured by McCaskill and other lawmakers, the FAA began studying easing its restrictions on electronic devices, which are currently banned completely when airplanes are below 10,000 feet.

The Missouri lawmaker said Tuesday that she doubted passengers would be less likely to pay attention to safety announcements if they had use of their electronics. 

"I've never had a flight attendant say 'put down your copy of War & Peace,'" McCaskill said during a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. 

All American Airlines flights are being held on the ground because of a system-wide computer error, the company said Tuesday.

The company said the earliest it expected the computer problems to be resolved was late Tuesday afternoon.

"American's network system is experiencing intermittent outages," the company said in a statement. "At this time, we are in a system-wide ground delay that will last until 4:00pm [Central Time] as we work to resolve this issue as quickly as we can. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience." 

A terminal at New York's LaGuardia Airport has been evacuated after the discovery of a suspicious package, according to reports.

The evacuation follows a day of heightened security at major transportation centers following the explosion of two bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Boston officials have said three people were killed in the explosions, and more than 100 people were injured.

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded commercial flights at Boston's Logan International Airport, after two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Airport officials said Monday afternoon that the agency placed a "ground stop" on Logan, which means no flights can land or take off.

The FAA also placed a "temporary flight restriction" on the air space over the area where the two blasts went off Monday afternoon.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is restricting air space over parts of downtown Boston in the wake of a pair of explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon Tuesday.

The FAA issued the order Tuesday after reports emerged of two explosions in the area of the finish line of the race.

The agency's directive prohibits the operation of aircraft of any kind other than police activity in an area with a 3 nautical mile radius up to 3,000 feet in the air.

The federal government extended a research program to develop biofuels for use in commercial airplanes by five years on Monday.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the agreement at a conference outside Washington, D.C.

"By continuing to work together to produce American made 'drop-in' aviation fuels from renewable feedstocks, we will create jobs and economic opportunity in rural America, lessen America's reliance on foreign oil and develop a thriving biofuels industry that will benefit commercial and military enterprises," Vilsack said in a statement.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate will take up a bevy of transportation issues this week as hearings are scheduled on topics ranging from water to rail to aviation.

In the Senate, the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold hearings Tuesday and Thursday on the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) progress on implementing safety initiatives and proposed budget for the 2014 fiscal year.

The panel will also hold a hearing on Wednesday about Amtrak service in the northeast United States.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate are calling on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to explain its rationale for closing nearly 150 air traffic control towers.

The FAA has said it has no choice but to close 149 air towers where it contracts with private companies to monitor flights because of the sequester.

A bipartisan group of House members and senators said they disagreed on Friday that the flight tower closures were unavoidable.

"We are profoundly disappointed with the decision of the FAA to target 149 FAA contract control towers for closure on June 15," the leading Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate Transportation committees wrote to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.

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