Features

I was talking to New York Approach when I heard the following: GrayRider 5 (NY State Police): “Albany Approach, GrayRider 5. Change of mission. That plane in the water, well it’s confirmed as a float plane, so it’s now direct to Deer Park for Gray Rider 5.” Apparently they were under the mistaken impression that […]

Part 91 gives us lots of discretion when it comes to choosing an approach, deciding if it’s legal (and safe) to continue, and then if it’s legal and safe to land. The caveat is that personal judgment, often in the heat of the moment, becomes the catchall for critical phases of flight. This makes us […]

AVweb’s General Aviation Accident Bulletin is taken from the pages of our sister publication, Aviation Safety magazine. All the reports listed here are preliminary and include only initial factual findings about crashes. You can learn more about the final probable cause on the NTSB’s website at www.ntsb.gov. Final reports appear about a year after the […]

Time To Listen Up Paul, your story reminded me of one of the best controller reactions to a wayward aircraft/pilot that I have ever witnessed in my 50 years of flying. It was early 70’s and I flew a friend into KIND in a Mooney to pick up his Bonanza that he had left there […]

Product development has many mothers. Sometimes you create a new airplane for a particular set of missions. Sometimes you take that design and tweak it based on customer feedback, advances in manufacturing capability or simply to crank up your market share and get your brand some juicy press coverage. And sometimes necessity is the driver. […]

There are reasons for high owner satisfaction among Grumman Tiger owners. A sliding canopy alone lends to decent ramp appeal, plus with snappy handling and 180 horsepower it easily runs with Piper Archers and Cessna Cardinals. With plenty of approved aftermarket retrofits for avionics and speed mods, reliable engines and enthusiastic owner groups to help […]

I was with my instrument student in his plane, (an Alarus CH2T that is not a speed demon), and he was flying a five‑mile final to my home airport, Gwinnett County Airport Briscoe Field. Itwas a busy weekday afternoon, with lots of traffic in the pattern and also straight in for Runway 25. All of […]

Unusual attitude recovery is a standard part of the FAA checkride for nearly every rating, plus flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks. Pilots dutifully don a hood, put their heads down as an instructor or examiner puts the airplane through a few gyrations and then says, “You’ve got it.” The pilot looks up to see […]

Editor’s note: For our July 2021 Accident Probe, Oshkosh Or Bust, we explored an accident involving a non-instrument-rated pilot who took off into dark night IMC and crashed into an open field near the airport, killing himself and his passenger. This month’s accident is eerily similar, except both occupants were instrument-rated commercial pilots. The underlying […]

Devotion: Made Like They Used to Make Them My father, Capt. Walter F. Madden, USN (RET) was CAG (Commander Air Group) of Air Group 3 on board the USS Leyte when this incident occurred. Like most combat veterans he talked very little about the Korean War (or WWII in which he also fought) but he […]