Aeromedical

Lightning strikes are relatively common on aircraft but not many show up on cockpit video. A Kuwait air force F/A-18 Hornet pilot was on a training flight when his glareshield cam caught a bolt from the blue hitting the canopy next to his head. He was shaken up by the noisy encounter but landed safely, […]

Fuel Strainer Lottery A significant omission from Jeff Parnau’s very interesting article is the Decathlon’s fourth fuel drain point under the rear fuselage aft of the rear seat that is easily overlooked. It is there because the gascolator is not the lowest point in the fuel system when the aircraft is parked. The plumbing to […]

Eighteen months after a serious fatigue-related close call at San Francisco Airport involving an Air Canada airliner, Canada has announced it’s tightening crew rest requirements. Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Wednesday the new regs will bring Canada in line with most other countries in applying rest requirements that vary according to the time of day […]

It was to have been a quiet Friday evening at home. The weather was that chilly, misty, rain-threating mix that seems to define November, there was a crackling hot fire in the wood stove and the idea of going anywhere wasn’t the least bit inviting. The bed with its thick comforter was starting to call […]

Time to quit worrying about flying inverted yield curves and stay awake long enough to reignite virtuous ire over the Piper Navajo pilotwho allegedly fell asleep on a November trip between Tasmania and King Island, two places that, if you’re like me, you had to Google. The backstory in a conch shell: The pilot drifted […]

A skydiving instructor who fell to his death in a tandem jump in Lebanon, Maine last September committed suicide according to the Maine Medical Examiner’s Officeas reported by WBZ in Boston. As we reported in September, Brett Bickford became separated from the customer during the tandem jump. The medical examiner’s office has ruled Brett Bickford’s […]

Australian authorities are investigating after a sleeping pilot overflew his destination by 30 miles before waking up and turning around. The Vortex Air Navajo was on an early morning flight from Devonport, Tasmania, to King Island, which is between Tasmania and the Australian mainland. The Navajo was on autopilot and assuming a direct track from […]

Advancing age has its benefits when it comes to flying—wisdom and experience are two, and perhaps greater financial security to allow us to indulge our aviation passion. But despite increasing longevity, much as we fancy achieving the ripe age of 969 years as Methuselah, we’re a long way from that (50 is the new 70). […]

Japan Airlines has tightened its rules regarding alcohol consumption by employees in the wake of series of incidents that have caused flight delays and led to the arrest of one pilot. Pilots are now banned from any alcohol consumption within 24 hours of flying a company plane and the airline is also extending its mandatory […]

The FAA has increased controller staffing at Las Vegas’s McCarran International Airport tower after the only controller on duty late Wednesday apparently became incapacitated at her position. Confused pilots on the ground stopped where they were for about eight minutes and talked among themselves about the issues in the tower before a second controller returned […]