Accidents/NTSB

The pilots of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 that crashed on March 10 appear to have inconsistently applied Boeing recommendations to disable the MCAS stall-protection system. But they failed to recover the aircraft for reasons still unclear. The Wall Street Journal, relying on sources who have seen the flight data recorder readout, reported that […]

The pilot who died in the crash of a Piper Navajo in Madeira, Ohio, had previously snagged a persistent fuel leak in the aircraft but flew it again a week later before the leak had been diagnosed and repaired. It’s not clear from the report whether pilot David Sapp was aware the aircraft had not […]

Adding to the FAA’s look-see into Boeing and an ongoing FBI investigation into the certification of the Boeing 737 MAX 8, the Senate Transportation Committee is launching its own investigation. This time is has to do with whistleblower complaints claiming the FAA improperly trained its safety inspectors to review the MAX 8 design and certification. […]

It will likely be more than a month before Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are cleared for flight after the FAA announced it will be weeks before Boeing finishes testing its proposed software update. Boeing had earlier said it hoped to submit the proposal to the FAA this week but has put that off. “Time is […]

New York’s Senator Chuck Schumer wants the FAA to exclude Boeing from the agency’s standing advisory committee on rulemaking. Schumer said that companies involved in active investigations shouldn’t also be involved in regulation writing. Schumer was, of course, referring to the aftermath of two crashes of Boeing 737 MAX 8 airliners, now the subject of […]

The NTSB says a simulated engine failure on takeoff that turned into the real thing led to the crash of a STOL Aircraft UC-1 Twin Seabee into a house in Winter Haven, Florida, Feb. 23. The crash killed instructor James Wagner while student pilot Timothy Sheehey was slightly injured and a young woman in the […]

The NTSB is urging the FAA to back off on its one-size-fits-all approach to potential wing spar cracking in 20,000 Piper singles, saying the cure may be more dangerous than the condition in some cases. According to the Piper Owners Society, the board says many of the aircraft swept up in the AD are likely […]

A faulty angle-of-attack sensor appears to have incorrectly activated the MCAS stall-protection system on the Boeing 737 MAX 8 that crashed in Ethiopia on March 10, according to sources briefed on the flight data recorder readout. If confirmed in the final report, that would make the accident a repeat of the October 2018 crash of […]

Non-fatal accident/incidents bring easy derision from those of us who’ve never been caught screwing up. Which is why each year IFR magazine runs Stupid Pilot Tricks, a jolly romp through NTSB accident reports, from which we present the best of the worst offenders for sanctimonious ridicule. If you think that’s sophomoric, it is. But I […]

Seems as though the Boeing 737 MAX can’t get a break. Southwest Airlines had one of its out-of-service 737s commit an emergency landing in Orlando today when the crew reported an engine problem. The ferry flight, SWA 8701, had only the cockpit crew on board and landed safely 10 minutes after departing MCO. According to […]