Flight Safety

The NTSB Monday called on the FAA to prohibit commercial flights of all kinds that secure passengers without quick-release mechanisms. The agency’s urgent safety recommendation followed the FAA’s announcement on Friday to prohibit so-called doors-off helicopter tour flights unless quick-release harnesses are available for passenger restraint. Both recommendations come in the wake of fatal crash […]

Two Cirrus aircraft collided at Florida’s Palatka Airport last week and although both airplanes were substantially damaged, no one was injured. Initial reports indicate that neither aircraft deployed the CAPS parachute system and the collision appeared to have occurred close to or over the runway on short final. A news photo showed that the aircraft […]

The Transportation Security Administration has withdrawn its proposal to establish a security program that would have affected private and corporate aircraft operators, the agency said on Friday. The agency had proposed the “Large Aircraft Security Program” in 2008, suggesting operators of GA aircraft that weigh more than 12,500 pounds should be required to implement security […]

Although electric airplanes still inhabit a regulatory backwater, Slovenian-based Pipistrel Aircraft is boosting its production of battery-powered trainers and reports a 50-50 split between gasoline and electric aircraft. In this exclusive podcast, the company told AVweb this week that a new production line is building five to six Alpha Electro trainers per month. “We reorganized […]

Although electric airplanes still inhabit a regulatory backwater, Slovenian-based Pipistrel Aircraft is boosting its production of battery-powered trainers and reports a 50-50 split between gasoline and electric aircraft. In this exclusive podcast, the company told AVweb this week that a new production line is building five to six Alpha Electro trainers per month. Duration: 19:43 […]

The stomach is often called a second brain—connected, as it were, to the first brain by the vagus nerve. Although your stomach may play second fiddle, when it comes to your personal domain, it’s often supreme ruler. That’s why dealing with dyspepsia can be the first order of business prior to any flight. Matters of […]

The cargo door of an Antonov An-12, a Soviet-era cargo plane, loaded with nine metric tons of gold broke open as the aircraft took off from Yakutsk in East Siberia. The aircraft’s door apparently gave way and broke off due to the weight shifting in the cargo hold. Gold alloy bars were then strewn across […]

When trying to count and classify a group of pronghorn antelope from the air, you deal with lots of factors that aren’t included in most other general aviation flying. Where are the towers or power lines? Where’s the light coming from? Where’s the wind coming from and how strong is it? Where are the fences? […]

AVweb’s General Aviation Accident Bulletin is taken from the pages of our sister publication, Aviation Safety magazine, 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 at www.ntsb.gov. Final reports […]

A low-flying plane over an Ohio high school caused concern Thursday afternoon, according to Cincinnati news station WLWT. “After an exhaustive investigation, we determined there is no evidence of any threat or plan to attack any person or school,” Hamilton Police Chief Craig Bucheit said in a tweet. “HPD is working with Federal Aviation Administration […]