Flight Safety

The FAA says that it referred at least 17 cases involving allegedly unruly airline passengers to the FBI for criminal prosecution review during the first quarter of 2023. The referrals continue a partnership between the agencies that was stepped up in 2021 in response to a dramatic increase in reports of violently unruly passengers that […]

Aviation groups are asking the FAA to overhaul a proposed rule requiring safety management systems for charters and tour operators. NBAA and the National Air Transportation Association have filed comments on the proposed rule, saying the one-size-fits-all approach by the agency unfairly burdens smaller, less complex operations. “For any SMS to be truly effective, it […]

The FAA says water from leaky bathroom faucets in Boeing 787s has been found in the avionics bays below and has ordered repetitive inspections until a permanent fix is found. The agency says one unidentified airline found “multiple” leaky faucets in its 787 fleet and in one case a wet carpet on the flight deck. […]

The FAA has created its own version of an internal affairs office with the Office of Investigations and Professional Responsibility. The new department is charged with ensuring all FAA employees straighten up and fly right. “We protect the national airspace system (NAS) and the flying public by initiating and conducting administrative investigations and special inquiries […]

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 […]

The FAA is being asked to reconsider its decision to close the remote air traffic control tower at Virginia’s Leesburg Executive Airport (JYO) on June 14, 2023. Parties expressing concerns over the upcoming closure include the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., Senators Mark Warner, D-Va., […]

A Minnesota man whose laser attacks distracted and affected the vision of a Delta Air Lines crew was sentenced to two years in jail in a Wisconsin court last week. Nicholas James Link of Rochester, Minnesota, pleaded guilty in January to shining a blue laser into the flight deck of the Delta aircraft and to […]

Just about every authority imaginable will likely be involved in the investigation of a collision between a vehicle and a medevac helicopter on a New Mexico highway on Friday morning. The helicopter had landed on Route 60 south of Albuquerque to take a patient injured in a head-on collision between a semi and a pickup […]

As we sift through the NTSB accident reports each month, we’re consistently finding landing gear mishaps that might have been avoided if the pilot spent a little extra time inspecting the gear during the preflight, or simply knew how to recognize potential problem areas before launching. In this quick-hitter tech article, we’ll look at the […]

The owner of a Falcon 900 probably thought the worst thing that could happen on April 2 was a runway excursion at Aspen Pitkin Airport, but he or she would have been wrong. The bad day got worse when, in an attempt to clear the only runway, the nosegear was torn off the top-of-the-line business […]