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.

FAA Safety Alert Addresses Pop-Up ATC COVID Closures

The FAA has issued a safety notice telling pilots something many have already found out the hard way. It’s warning that air traffic control facilities can suddenly close for cleaning after the discovery of COVID-19 infection in staff members. In some cases that means crews have to fend for themselves in maintaining separation in some […]

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FAA Clamps Down On Airport, Airborne Misbehavior

Flight attendants are applauding a new zero-tolerance stance by the FAA for bad behavior by passengers. The agency has announced that misbehaving passengers will no longer get a warning before they face significant punishment. The action, which is in force until the end of March, stems from a rash of airborne confrontations between unruly passengers […]

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Civilian Controller Spots Snag, Prevents Osprey Crash (Corrected)

An  FAA air traffic controller has been recognized for preventing the crash of a CV-22 Osprey by noticing a maintenance snag from the tower. The student crew was taking off on a challenging night brownout landing training mission at Kirtland Air Force Base/Sunport International Airport in Albuquerque when Wendy Smith, who’s been watching Ospreys take […]

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Don’t Fear The Light—Respect It

We have all come to fear and respect thunderstorms. Probably the one element that visibly strikes fear in pilots and passengers alike is the lightning associated with thunderstorms. When not in IMC, it’s easy to see where the lightning is emanating from, and if you are a safe distance away. However, once in the clouds, […]

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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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FAA Streamlines Supersonic Testing

The FAA will allow supersonic flights over the U.S. to make it easier for testing of the next crop of proposed supersonic business aircraft. “The renewed interest in development of supersonic airplanes caused FAA to review its application procedures that allow for flight tests of these aircraft,” the agency said in its final rule. “This final […]

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Two Killed In Citation 560 Crash (Corrected)

The pilot and passenger on a Cessna 560 were killed when the aircraft struck mountainous terrain on the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon on Saturday. Aerial photos from the scene suggest the aircraft hit the ground nose down at high speed. The crash occurred at about 2:30 p.m. and occurred in rugged terrain in the […]

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Airline Crews Deal With Capitol Violence Aftermath

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson says people who disrupt flights will pay a heavy price after a series of incidents aboard aircraft leaving Washington on Thursday and Friday. “The FAA will pursue strong enforcement action against anyone who endangers the safety of a flight, with penalties ranging from monetary fines to jail time,” Dickson said in […]

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Indonesian 737-500 Recorders Found (Updated)

Searchers have found the flight data and cockpit voice recorders from a second generation Boeing 737 that went missing Saturday off the coast of Indonesia. Divers are expected to recover the devices on Monday. UPDATE: The 737’s flight data recorder has been recovered and given to accident investigators. A search for the cockpit voice recorder […]

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NTSB To FAA: Watch Those CFIs

The National Transportation Safety Board has issued a set of recommendations to the FAA intended to increase scrutiny on flight-instructor performance. Using the 2019 crash of a parachute-jump Beech King Air in Hawaii as the impetus, the NTSB’s latest recommendations ask the FAA to more closely watch pass/fail rates of students from any given instructor […]

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