Flight Safety

Two aircraft were able to land safely after a midair during a Jet Class heat at the 55th annual National Championship Air Races at Reno-Stead Airport (RTS) near Reno, Nevada, last Friday. As seen in the video below, the two Aero L-39 Albatros jets made contact when “Reality Czech,” piloted by Nathan Harnagel, was attempting […]

Flight simulator manufacturer Frasca International announced that it has been named subcontractor for the Navy TH-57 Aircrew Training Services Contract on Monday. Frasca says it will be providing ten Flight Simulation Training Devices (FTDs) as part of the ground-based training systems for the TH-57 helicopter. According to the company, the FTDs will be used for […]

AVweb’sGeneral Aviation Accident Bulletinis taken from the pages of our sister publication,Aviation Safetymagazine, and is published twice a month. All the reports listed here are preliminary and include only initial factual findings about crashes. You can learn more about the final probable cause in the NTSB’s website atwww.ntsb.gov. Final reports appear about a year after […]

Radio communication is a huge part of flying, and a lot of effort has been made to improve its efficiency. In fast-paced situations like high-risk flight, test radio communication becomes even more important. The best radioman I know is retired Scaled Composites test pilot Doug Shane. His ability to calmly, clearly communicate while subtly letting […]

What sounds like a dream flight will undoubtedly be a technical and logistical nightmare as a British group attempts the first circumnavigation in a Spitfire. Although the aircraft climbs like a scalded cat and can go more than 400 MPH, Spitfires were designed for 20-minute bouts of dogfighting, not 27,000-mile cross countries. With a combat […]

It seems likely legislators will miss a Sept. 30 deadline to pass an FAA reauthorization bill but they may not require yet another short-term extension. The Senate sent its suggested revisions of the House version of the bill back to the House for consideration last week. But the House is adjourned all next week and […]

A man whose pilot certificate was revoked 21 years ago for lying on his medical application was the presumed pilot of a Cessna 335 high performance twin that crashed near Palm Beach County Park Airport a week ago, killing him and his wife. Philip Castronova, 70, and his wife Mandy, 39, were on their way […]

I was thinking about taking a pass on my FAA Third Class medical, which was expiring at the end of May. I always dread this process (the paperwork, the physical), as do most pilots who have lived longer than five or six decades. But I decided to take the chance once more, and postpone a […]

Canadian researchers say they have debunked the long-held belief that facial hair interferes with the seal on pilot oxygen masks and at least one airline has lifted its decades-old beard ban. Air Canada, which commissioned the Simon Fraser University (Vancouver) study, says its pilots can now sport beards “to a maximum length of 12.5 millimeters […]

Space Race: Virgin Vs. Blue Origin The “race” between Blue Origin and Virgin seems to come down to sales hype. Branson, the ultimate showman, has the charisma to make his rocket powered shuttlecock look inviting while Bezos’ more mundane capsule has some actual historical experience to draw upon. Only recently has Blue Origin allowed real-time […]