Flight Safety

All 167 passengers and nine crew members onboard Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 were killed when the Boeing 737-800 NG crashed near the Iranian capital of Tehran on Wednesday morning. The accident occurred just after the aircraft departed from Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) for Boryspil International Airport (KBP) in Kyiv, Ukraine, at approximately 6:10 […]

By the time a typical aircraft has a few years under its belt, it’s been modified from what rolled out of the factory. It might be additional or replacement avionics, a climb prop, vortex generators, auxiliary fuel tanks or a more powerful engine. It might be something relatively simple, like a ski tube or an […]

At least one airline has run afoul of the new ADS-B mandate and adjusted its aircraft deployment accordingly. BahamasAir wasn’t able to get three of its Boeing 737-500s equipped with ADS-B before the Jan. 1 deadline so those aircraft have been taken off the routes it flies to Florida. It has one 737-700 and five […]

Bills have been introduced in the House and Senate that would authorize $850 million for NASA over the next five years to promote development of technologies to reduce noise and emissions from airliners. The Cleaner, Quieter Airplanes Act would fund “ongoing work to develop and demonstrate new technologies, including systems architecture, components, or integration of […]

The detailed probe of the Boeing 737 MAX certification has uncovered a potential wiring problem that might require modifications to all 800 airframes built so far and may also affect thousands of 737NGs. The New York Times is reporting that the examination found a couple of wiring bundles that control the tail may be too […]

FAA officials will meet with local law enforcement reps from about a dozen counties in northeastern Colorado to discuss unexplained drone activity that has alarmed local residents and public officials. So far, no one has come forward to give even the slightest hint of why the drones, described as being up to eight feet long, […]

Passengers aboard an Air Canada Jazz flight from Montreal on Friday watched as one of the wheels fell off as it lifted off from Trudeau International Airport. At least one passenger caught the unusual event on his cellphone and it made for a good story on social media. Our friends at Flyer Magazine in the […]

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is starting the year by welcoming two new members, marking the first time the board has been at its full five-member complement since Feb. 15, 2019. Michael Graham is scheduled to be sworn in Friday followed by Thomas Chapman on Monday. “I am pleased to have our board back […]

2019 saw a reduction in fatal aircraft accidents involving large passenger aircraft over the previous year, according to a worldwide civil aviation safety review conducted by Netherlands-based aviation consultancy To70. The review, which covers passenger-carrying commercial air transport operations in aircraft with a maximum takeoff mass of 5700 kg (about 12,566 pounds) and above, found […]

In 22 facilities across the U.S., thousands of air traffic controllers actively watch the skies over their assigned sectors. Each Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) is almost a small town in itself. The Operations Room contains 50 to 60 consoles with large computer monitors displaying aircraft data blocks imposed on top of aviation landmarks […]