Flight Safety

AVweb’s Flight Safety section offers in-depth coverage of aviation safety topics, including accident analyses, risk management strategies, regulatory updates, and pilot training insights. Designed for pilots, instructors, and aviation professionals, this section provides timely information to enhance situational awareness and promote best practices in flight operations.

Ditched 737 Broke Into Three Pieces

Based on underwater photos of the wreckage, the pilots of a first generation Boeing 737 that ditched off Hawaii a couple of weeks ago used up all their bad luck with the double engine failure that preceded the water landing. The 45-year-old 200-series aircraft broke into three main pieces before settling to the bottom in […]

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Nine Killed In Skydiving Crash

A DHC-2 Turbo Beaver crashed shortly after takeoff from Sweden’s Örebro airport on Thursday, killing all nine people on board. The aircraft was carrying a pilot and eight skydivers, all members of a local skydiving club. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven declared a day of mourning for the victims, whose names have not been released […]

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Transport Canada, FAA Issue Emergency ADs After Bell 212 Crash

Transport Canada and the FAA have issued emergency airworthiness directives (ADs) grounding some Bell 212, 204B, 205A-1 and 205B helicopters pending replacement of certain outboard main rotor hub strap pins. The ADs stem from an investigation into the fatal crash of a Bell 212 helicopter in Edmonton, Canada, last week, which found that the outboard […]

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AOPA High School Curriculum Earns STEM.org Accreditation

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Foundation has announced that its You Can Fly High School Aviation STEM Curriculum has received accreditation from STEM.org. The independent credentialing and education research organization evaluated the curriculum on standards including its ability to help students develop critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills and how well it promotes […]

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Accident Probe: In A Hurry To Get Down

Fly long enough, and you’ll eventually find yourself on top of a broken or solid undercast, wanting to be beneath it. To get there, you either need to obtain an instrument clearance, find a hole, wait for one to appear or divert, perhaps far out of your way, to an area with better weather. If […]

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Lack Of Paperwork Behind Most COVID Medical Denials

The FAA’s Federal Air Surgeon says pilots who have had COVID-19 have to come clean with their AMEs or risk losing their medicals. Dr. Susan Northrup wrote in a safety bulletin AMEs have been told to use their own judgment in determining the fitness to fly for those who have recovered from the disease but […]

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Soldiers Jump From Crashing Philippine C-130

At least 50 people, including 42 combat soldiers, were killed in the crash of a Philippine Air Force C-130 in the southern part of the country on Sunday. Three of the dead were civilians on the ground. Initial reports suggest the aircraft, an ex-USAF Herc that was recently transferred to the Philippine military, overran the […]

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Legacy 737 Ditches Off Honolulu, Pilots Rescued (Updated)

Both pilots are reported to be safe, but seriously injured, after they ditched their Boeing 737 cargo plane off Honolulu early Friday. The FAA has confirmed that a Rhoades Express 737 (operating as Transair Flight 810) hit the water about 2:30 a.m. local time shortly after leaving Honolulu. “The pilots had reported engine trouble and […]

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NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt Retires

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt retired from government service on Wednesday after nearly 15 years with the Board. NTSB Member Jennifer Homendy has been nominated to succeed him in the position. Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg will serve as the Board’s acting chairman pending Homendy’s confirmation by the U.S. Senate. “The NTSB’s role […]

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Stupid Pilot Tricks 2020

This maze of hallways is the archives of aviation’s greats—not the Stupid Pilot Tricks Repository. We’re awed by images of the Montgolfier brothers and their good sense to launch the world’s first flyable aircraft with a sheep, rooster and duck before stocking its basket with humans (who weren’t themselves). While they were brilliant, Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier […]

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