Flight Safety

Rep. Sam Graves’s office says they first heard that he was being considered to head the FAA in news reports last week. The long-time Missouri Republican, pilot and co-chair of the House general aviation caucus, was among three short-listed candidates named by Axios in a story last week that focused on President Donald Trump’s alleged […]

As Women of Aviation Week begins this week, the country with the highest ratio of femaleairline pilots may come as a surprise to some. India has the most female pilots per capita as a little more than 12 percent of Indian airline pilots are women. Finland is neck and neck with India but most other […]

I just pulled down from a dusty shelf in my office a plaque awarded to me for an important aviation achievement. It was presented to me personally by none other than famed flight test pilot and Collier Trophy winner Scott Crossfield. More on that in a moment. The reason I retrieved it relates to something […]

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 web site at www.ntsb.gov. Final […]

Authorities in Canada and Florida are investigating after a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) helicopter’s emergency life raft fell through the roof of a house in Miami. A woman in the house was slightly injured when the 80-pound raft smashed through the roof and ceiling of the house onto the bed where she was sleeping […]

With pilot friends like this, who needs Comedy Central? The pilot of an experimental RV-6 in Michigan told a friend to get to the beach and watch for his flyby. As promised the sleek two-seater buzzed at 100 feet, made three passes—one is never enough—pulled up in a steep turn, stalled and hit the water, […]

Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., has announced he is no longer pursuing the separation of air traffic control from the FAA. After a couple of attempts and massive opposition from hundreds of groups with a stake in aviation, Shuster,House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman, conceded Tuesday his bill doesn’t have the support to pass. “Despite an […]

A mere five months had gone by when a bill arrived from Cincinnati Lunken airport for a landing incurred from when I landed a friend’s Cessna 340 there. A long billing cycle no doubt, but the fee was almost comical if not wasteful. But, upon receipt, we sent the check for the $6.00 fee. I […]

The $100 billion that has been proposed in the federal budget to fund the privatization of air traffic control should be spent on modernization and technology upgrades instead, nearly 250 advocacy groups said in a letter to Congress (PDF) released on Tuesday. The groups represent not only aviation advocates but also labor unions, consumer groups […]

ATC: Cessna XXXX, traffic is going to be an HH-60 departing to the North at 1,700. Me: Roger, we are looking for the traffic now. Pause: Me: Tower, we have the traffic in sight and we are turning to avoid. ATC: If I were in charge, I would paint all aircraft blaze orange. My instructor: […]