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.

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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General Aviation Accident Bulletin

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 […]

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Families Settle Kobe Bryant Crash Suit

The often-tortuous post-crash litigation process has been cut short in the Kobe Bryant accident aftermath after the families of the deceased passengers settled their suit against pilot Ara Zobayan and aircraft operator Island Express Helicopters. The families, including Bryant’s widow and mother of their teenage daughter who was killed in the crash, alleged it was […]

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FAA Says 777X Not Ready For Certification

The FAA has told Boeing not to expect certification of the 777X until possibly the end of 2023, citing numerous design and test issues including an “uncommanded pitch event” last December. The Seattle Times got to read a letter sent to Boeing on May 13 in which the local FAA manager Ian Won said there […]

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