Flight Safety

While pilots in many places are taking advantage of the COVID-19 downtime and getting some flying done, the U.K. is strongly suggesting that recreational pilots hang up their headsets until physical distancing measures are relaxed. The government has not prohibited recreational flying but it has suggested that those who don’t fly to provide essential services […]

About half the passengers who managed to escape the burning wreck of an Aeroflot Superjet 100 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport last May 5 hit the slide with their carry-on baggage, according to a video released by Russian authorities this week. The remarkable surveillance video shows the Russian-built regional airliner, one of the newest in Aeroflot’s […]

Pilots using chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine to prevent coronavirus infection (COVID-19) cannot fly while on the medication and for 48 hours after the last dose, according to guidance issued by Director of the Medical Specialties Division at the FAA’s Office of Aerospace Medicine Dr. Penny Giovanetti. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are typically used for prevention and treatment […]

Mother Nature is infinitely complex as is the weather that comes with it. After 40 years of flying and some good meteorology training (courtesy of the Swedish Air Force) I’m still occasionally baffled on how things play out. Here are a few examples where the unsuspecting pilot can get surprised. Temperature Changes You’re planning a […]

Slovenia-based aircraft manufacturer Pipistrel has made its computer-based training courses available free of charge for the next three months while people are isolated due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Course topics include Pipistrel’s ALPHA Electro, ALPHA Trainer, and Virus SW, SWiS and SW 121 models and the Rotax 912 engine. The company is also offering […]

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 has published proposed new rules that would set noise limits for a new generation of supersonic civilian aircraft. The existing regs don’t account for supersonic aircraft. Regulations acknowledging the unique requirements of supersonic aircraft will have to be in place when any of several companies now developing supersonic business jets apply for type […]

An unwilling and unwitting passenger in a high-performance fighter accidentally pulled the ejection handle during a retirement “gift” flight in France a little more than a year ago, triggering an investigation that revealed a sloppy approach to conducting familiarization flights.  As we reported last March, the man suffered back injuries when he mistakenly launched from […]

FlightSafety International has announced that it is now providing the ground school section of its recurrent training programs online. Online courses will be conducted via the company’s LiveLearning training system, which allows real-time interaction with instructors and other course participants. Courses also offer access to online annotation tools, cockpit recordings, video and other interactive features. […]

For those of you who read my column last month on keeping the fires lit, I find it ironic that I find myself telling you about another engine failure that happened since then. Perhaps I shouldn’t write about engine failures? But it did happen, and my thoughts are to share the experience and decision-making with […]