Features

White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security Final Report to President Clinton Vice President Al Gore, Chairman February 12, 1997 Introduction Change. That one word sums up both the challenges in aviation safety and security, and the means by which government and industry must respond. Change is nothing new in this field. The first […]

PB97-910401 NTSB/AAR-97/01 NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 20594 AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT WHEELS-UP LANDINGCONTINENTAL AIRLINES FLIGHT 1943DOUGLAS DC-9 N10556HOUSTON, TEXASFEBRUARY 19, 1996 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On February 19, 1996, at 0902 Central Standard Time, ContinentalAirlines (COA) flight 1943, a Douglas DC-9-32, N10556, landedwheels up on runway 27 at the Houston Intercontinental Airport,Houston Texas. The airplane slid […]

I must take issue with Mr. Ponder’s guesteditorial. There is little doubt that the B737 rudder PCU has known rudder problems-but they should not upset the aircraft. Until the recent tests at very extreme conditions, no one could demonstrate any rudder malfunction that could have rolled USAir in Pittsburgh or United in Colorado Springs into […]

The FAA has just issued an Airworthiness Directive for Boeing 737 aircraft that incredibly does not offer to solve known problems with the aircraft’s rudder Power Control Unit (PCU), but instead mandates crew training so pilots can attempt to survive sudden control problems. NTSB investigators remain unsure why two Boeing 737s crashed, one near Pittsburgh […]

January 30, 1997 Dear Mr. Marbach, The National Business Aircraft Association recognizes the significant role single and light twin piston-engine aircraft play within business aviation. We encourage operators of all types of general aviation to participate in NBAA Membership and the various informational programs offered by the Association to the entire business aviation community whether […]

This year’s National Business Aircraft Association meeting in Orlando, Florida, was judged by most of the press as a success. It sure looked like it: Lots of heavy metal on the spacious conventions site floor (more at the static displays at the airport), and lots of suits walking around looking like they had money to […]

AirworthinessDirectives have been with us since the 1940’s, butit seems as if the industry’s attitude toward them has changeddramatically in recent years. Twenty years ago, manufacturerswould often brag in their sales literature that their airplanesor engines “have never had an AD issued against them.”Issuance of an AD was considered a black mark against a manufacturer,suggesting […]

I have always been envious of my friends who are skiers. WhileI dread the upcoming winter, they actually are anxious to see the temperaturedrop below freezing. The feeling of accomplishment that skiers feel at theend of a difficult run that has been well executed must be exhilarating.The sense of control, the rush of traveling at […]

As much as we might like to carp about the occasional circuitousrouting or ground delay, this much is certain: The U.S. air trafficsystem is arguably the best in the world. What’s less certainis how it got that way. How did we advance from the tenuous airmailroutes of the early 1930s to the sophisticated IFR system […]

U.S. Department of TransportationFederal Aviation AdministrationOffice of the Administrator800 Independence Ave., S.W.Washington, D.C. 20591 LETTER TO PlLOTS Several recent occurrences at non-towered airports (either airports without control towers or airports where control towers do not operate continually) have given rise to concerns about operations at airports without operating control towers. The loss of life from […]