Flight Safety

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) sent a letter to Congress on Monday urging the U.S. Senate to consider the FAA Reauthorization Act (S. 1405) as soon as possible. Both organizations expressed support for the bill in the letter (PDF), writing that “This comprehensive bill includes key FAA certification […]

American Airlines Flight 1897 was forced to make an emergency landing Sunday night after flying through a severe thunderstorm. The aircraft, which had departed from San Antonio heading for Phoenix, sustained significant hail damage to the windshield and radome. The A319 diverted to El Paso International Airport (ELP) and landed safely at approximately 8:03 p.m. […]

The FAA needs to do more to improve its management of the safety risks of drones in the national airspace, according to a recent report (PDF) by the federal Government Accountability Office. The report said the FAA needs to collect better data on drone safety, and also needs to focus on risk management. “FAA officials […]

A GippsAero GA10 turbo Airvan was destroyed after a test flight on Monday when it crashed in the Mojave Desert, in southern California. Both pilots on board bailed out at about 5,000 feet AGL and landed safely under parachutes, according to news reports. Earle Boyter, a spokesperson for Mahindra Aerospace, the parent company of GippsAero, […]

While taking on debt isn’t without risk, it’s an option quite a few student pilots looking to start flight careers are examining. Loans remain one of the few ways to nail down the resources to see them through to earning their ATP. On that front, many college and university flight students have an advantage over […]

It’s only within the last 20 years that scientists have identified depression as the precursor to a host of physical ailments—from heart disease to sensitive gut. Whether depression is the cause or depression is the consequence, there is no doubt that feeling low impacts health in negative ways. For BasicMed, the FAA bundles depression, anxiety, […]

Early in our primary training, we encountered the concept of maneuvering speed (VA), or design maneuvering speed as it’s sometimes called. We’re basically told it’s the speed at below which we should fly in turbulence and when entering advanced maneuvers, hence its name. If we’re lucky and have a good ground-school instructor, we’ll also learn […]

The FAA has updated airman certification standards to reflect recent changes in its operation and new rules that have been adopted and they go into effect on June 11. AOPA says the changes were developed by the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee Airman Certification System working group and are mostly designed to accommodate recent changes, such […]

Dan Buchanan, a paraplegic hang glider pilot who performed at airshows all over the world for almost 30 years, died in a crash at an Idaho show on Saturday. Buchanan was doing his routine, which usually included aerobatics and pyrotechnics, at the Gunfighter Skies airshow at Mountain Home Air Force Base. Witnesses said Buchanan had […]