Flight Safety
AVweb’s Flight Safety section offers in-depth coverage of aviation safety topics, including accident analyses, risk management strategies, regulatory updates, and pilot training insights. Designed for pilots, instructors, and aviation professionals, this section provides timely information to enhance situational awareness and promote best practices in flight operations.
GPS Jamming: Major Threat To Drones
As drones multiply, as they are expected to do, incidents of GPS (or GNSS) jamming and spoofing are expected to rise in concert during the next decade. That poses not just a threat of loss of the vehicles, but also to nearby aircraft and unaware people on the ground, according to Jeremy Bennington of Spirent, […]
Aviation Journalist Richard Collins Dead At 84
Richard L. Collins, well-known author of books about aviation and longtime editor-in-chief at Flying magazine, died on Sunday at his home in Maryland. Collins began his journalism career working on Air Facts, a magazine founded by his father, Leighton Collins. He began writing for Flyingin 1968 and became editor-in-chief in 1977. He also worked at […]
FAA: Complex No Longer Required For Commercial/CFI Practical
Last week the FAA released a notice regarding changes in policy regarding testing applicants for a commercial pilot or flight instructor certificate. The notice states that it is no longer required for applicants for a “commercial pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine rating to provide a complex or turbine-powered airplane for the associated practical test […]
Yeah, I Listen To The Cabin Briefing
In the ultimate act of jabbing a finger into the eye of fate, I’m writing today’s blog from seat 19D on a Southwest Airlines flight from Tampa to Denver. I tried to get the window seat directly abeam of the fan section of one of the engines, but passengers similarly casting caution to the wind […]
Your Instrument Proficiency Check: Nailing It
You’ve had your instrument rating for a couple of years by now. The first year you didn’t have any trouble keeping current to fly IFR—you were out there just about every week “flying in the system” as you called it. The new hadn’t worn off your rating; you knew that you were just a baby […]
Canada Recommends Mandatory Flight Recorders For Commercial And Private Business Aircraft
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is recommending mandatory installation of lightweight flight recording systems by all commercial and private business operators not currently required to carry them. The TSB is also concerned with Transport Canada’s reactive approach to oversight of private business aircraft operations. The details are in the investigation report (A16P0186) released […]
FAA Releases Notam For Kentucky Derby
Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, will be abuzz on May 5 as the Kentucky Derby will be held that day. The skies above Louisville will also be abuzz with aircraft before, during and after. The FAA has released an air traffic procedures Notam for the Louisville area between May 2-6, with details on how the […]
FAA Reauthorization Bill Passes House Vote
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (H.R. 4), which will grant funding for the FAA until 2023. The legislation was introduced by chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa. and passed with a vote of 393-13. Although the original House bill did not […]
Southwest Accident Brings Passenger Safety Briefings To The Forefront
One of several safety-related issues that has emerged from the fatal engine failure on Southwest Flight 1380 is passenger response to safety briefings. Perhaps most striking in this instance is that in spite of the usual preflight run-down on the proper use of oxygen masks, video from the Southwest emergency shows several passengers with masks […]
