Flight Safety

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: […]

News site Axios is reporting that President Donald Trump is promoting his longtime personal pilot as the next administrator of the FAA. Quoting unnamed administration sources, Axios, a relatively new news service made up mainly of ex-newspaper staff, said John Dunkin, who flew Trump’s personal Boeing 757 during the 21-month campaign, has been interviewed and […]

For more than 20 years, administrations on both sides of the aisle have proposed some form of ATC privatization for reasons ranging from ideological purity to hoped-for cost savings and increased efficiency. There was never hard evidence to support the savings and efficiency argument, despite the FAA’s historic snail-like speed in accomplishing major revisions to […]

European homebuilders and classic aircraft groups are mounting opposition to a rule proposed by the European Aviation Safety Agency that would invalidate flying hours on so-called Annex II aircraft from counting toward EASA ratings and even renewal of existing licenses. The proposed rule would affect thousands of pilots in Europe, according to Pilot Magazine. In […]