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.
It’s not every day a pilot gets a police escort for takeoff but a Cessna 172 owned by the East Tennessee Pilots Club had motorcycles and cars with lights blazing for its short hop to Island Home Airport near Knoxville on Wednesday morning. The pilot reportedly made a precautionary landing on I-640 because he was […]
A pilot has been sentenced to a year in prison for lying to federal investigators following the August 2014 crash of a Ryan Navion A during a Part 135 sightseeing flight near Coldfoot, Alaska. The instrument-rated commercial pilot, identified as Forest Kirst, and three passengers were seriously injured in the accident. One passenger died of […]
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has announced that it will meet next Wednesday to consider proposed legislation including the Aircraft Safety and Certification Reform Act of 2020. According to bill sponsors Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the Aircraft Safety and Certification Reform Act is designed to “improve aviation […]
Engine failures are the stuff of nightmares. Maybe not quite so agita-inducing as your mechanic calling with a compression report, but worrisome nonetheless, even if aircraft engines are designed with reliability in mind. So are they reliable? Well, yes, if you let them be by slaking them with gas and oil, following the procedures written […]
The FAA has introduced an aviation maintenance technical workforce development grant program aimed at recruiting students and increasing interest in aviation maintenance careers. The program is designed to support projects such as establishing new educational programs, providing scholarships or apprenticeships, supporting career outreach efforts and enhancing aviation maintenance technical education. It is funded via $5 […]
If the primary yardstick determining what constitutes a “bad” landing is the number and magnitude of its bounces, my worst landing ever was in a Cessna 182 at a beachside airport in North Carolina, with all the seats filled. I dropped it in pretty good, and the airplane’s eloquent reflection of my ineptitude resulted in […]
The FAA needs to improve oversight of BasicMed to ensure pilots who use it are actually entitled to do so, a new government report says. The Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General issued a report to Congress on Friday saying the agency needs better verification of the very foundations of the program: drivers licenses […]
For the want of a good fitting cup holder, Airbus had to reengineer the center console of its new flagship A350 long-range twin (with apologies to Ben Franklin). As we reported in February, the use of the conveniently flat and accessible center console as, well, a coffee table prompted the costly diversion of at least […]
Many years ago as an instrument rated private pilot, I had the opportunity to take a mountain flying course in the Colorado High Country. Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport, known today as Northern Colorado Regional Airport, was home to a Designated Pilot Examiner who knew every mountain peak and valley south of Cheyenne. After several days […]
Just because the chances of dealing with a forced landing are relatively slim doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan for one—on every flight, and especially on every takeoff. Flying in IMC poses an even greater risk for the complacent because there’s less time to assess what lies below. Knowing the immediate steps to take by memory […]
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