Flight Safety

Not a big fan of Best-Of lists. They rank number eight on my Top 10 Least Favorite Things list, right below raindrops on roses. Recently, AOPA published survey results of a Top 15 list of “classic” airplanes. The Waco F-series caught my eye. These are the stoutly gorgeous open-cockpit biplanes from the 1930s and 40s, […]

In a show of solidarity with their unpaid U.S. counterparts, Canadian air traffic controllers ordered pizza for FAA controllers at facilities across the U.S. over the weekend. It started with controllers in Edmonton, Alberta buying pizza for the staff in Anchorage. The movement quickly spread and by Sunday, every Canadian ATC facility had been paired […]

Heading north from Santa Monica to Oakland and approaching San Jose, I heard the following: Approach: “N1234, remain east and north of highway 101.” N1234: “Ah, 1234, roger.” Approach: “N1234, please remain east and north of the freeway.” N1234: “Ah OK, 101, 1234.” Approach: “N1234, do you see that long thing on your right with […]

Remembering Herb Kelleher Just wanted to say thank you for publishing Myron Nelson’s beautifully crafted remembrance of the late Herb Kelleher. It was spot on. I was privileged to oversee the induction ceremony of Herb in 2008 (along with Sean Tucker and two others), while serving as Executive Director of the National Aviation Hall of […]

A French helicopter pilot got the job done in a tight rescue operation in a back country ski area of the Alps on Jan. 2. A skier was climbing up the mountain in the Pass of Anterne in Passy, France, when he fell and hurt himself. His companions called for a rescue and got out […]

The discovery of a plane wreck at the bottom of the English Channel will likely solve a 50-year-old mystery that some believe the RAF and USAF might rather remain below the surface if local lore is correct. Few details have ever been released about the crash of a USAF C-130 that was stolen by a […]

ASTM’s National Center for Aerospace and Transportation Technologies (NCATT) Aircraft Electronics Technician (AET) certification can now qualify as formal training for issuance of a repairman certificate, according to a recent FAA letter. The letter (PDF) was sent in response to an October 2018 petition by the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA). To meet the educational requirement […]

Flights at London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) were temporarily suspended due to a drone sighting on Tuesday evening. The closure occurred just three weeks after Gatwick Airport (LGW), which is located about 30 miles south of London, was shut down for approximately 36 hours due to reports of drone activity over the airport. Flights at Heathrow, […]

A year and a half ago, it dawned on me that what I most enjoyed about my previous career as a science communications consultant was when I got to commute to visit clients in my faithful Cessna 180. With some 1500 hours in my logbook—accumulated primarily on those business trips—I sent out my rsum to […]