Accidents/NTSB

One crew member has been rescued and another is missing after a cargo plane ditched about 14 miles off the coast of Florida on Friday.The rescued first officer has been identified as Rolland Silva and he is recovering in a hospital in Florida. The missing captain is Robert Hopkins. The search was suspended on Saturday. […]

Drone Hysteria V2.0 I thought the article was well written and informative, thank you. One sector of aviation that seems to be mostly overlooked when Discussing drones is the Helicopter Air Ambulance industry. As a Helicopter Air Ambulance pilot drones have become a big concern. Consider my daily scenario. We land/take off and fly between […]

Today’s reality quiz: You’re in an airport boarding lounge and the gate agent announces your flight has been delayed because a drone was sighted near the airport. In the improbably fantastical world I’ve created for this blog, the agent asks for a vote: Go or stay on the ground? How do you vote? How do […]

The National Transportation Safety Board released its 2019-2020 Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements and, among the broad recommendations of eliminating distractions, reducing fatigue-related accidents and full implementation of positive train control is this: Improve the safety of Part 135 flight operations. According to the board, “Most of the organizations that conduct Part 135 […]

I recall an instructor, who before signing students off for the commercial checkride, would explain a few things he felt were critical when exercising commercial privileges. First, commercial pilots had to be smooth. After all, paying passengers would not be impressed if we could not fly the airplane well. Second, commercial pilots had to be […]

Five people were killed and three injured in the crash of a Cessna 414A in a neighborhood in Yorba Linda, California, east of Los Angeles. Early reports and video from the scene show aircraft parts on a street in front of two houses on fire. Fire officials confirmed the casualties and said only the pilot […]

A New York Times investigation of the Oct. 29, 2018, Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX crash suggests marketing considerations were at least partly behind Boeing’s and the FAA’s joint decision to not specifically train pilots in the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) that may have played a role in the crash. The Times story quotes […]

As I’ve stated before, airshow flying is risky. So is practicing to fly in an airshow. Thankfully, not all years include the death of a civilian or military pilot practicing for or flying in a show. But sadly, 2018 was not a good year at all, resulting in the deaths of civilian and military performers, […]

Three people were killed in the crash of a Bell 407 medical helicopter in Vinton County, Ohio, approximately 75 miles southeast of Columbus, on Tuesday. The helicopter, which was operated Survival Flight Inc., departed from Mount Carmel Grove City hospital and was en route to pick up up a patient from Holzer Meigs hospital in […]

An unoccupied Beechcraft V35B Bonanza crashed at California’s Modesto City-County Airport (MOD) after an unplanned engine start on Wednesday afternoon. It has been reported that two people had been working on the aircraft’s electrical system and manipulating the propeller. The engine accidently engaged, sending the Bonanza into a parked car and through the airport fence […]