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.

What’s True

There’s been a lot of talk lately about “fake news” and “alternative facts,” and the aviation world can’t escape the discussion. We were reminded of this recently when Bruce Landsberg, a well-known GA safety advocate for many years, faced some tough questioning during a hearing before Congress, where he was seeking approval for his recommended […]

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Skydiving In A Car

Whether the U.S.’s current political circumstances were the driving force or the theme was an afterthought, some skydivers in a remote area of the Southwest rode made a political statement with a modified hulk of a car for most of their trip back to earth after rolling it out of the back of a Shorts […]

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Pilot In Power Line Collision Cites Lack Of Marking

A pilot whose certificate was suspended when his L-39 sliced through power lines crossing a canyon in Colorado in 2015 is now saying the utility company is to blame for damage and injuries that resulted from the incident. Stars and Stripes is reporting that former Marine pilot Brian Evans claims in response to a lawsuit […]

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General Aviation Accident Bulletin

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 […]

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Military Accident Rate Up

The military aircraft accident rate has jumped significantly in the past year and Sen. John McCain has said it’s the natural result of years of penny pinching with the military. “Perhaps the greatest harm to our national security and our military is self-inflicted. I repeat, self-inflicted,” McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said […]

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Pilots ID’d In T-38 Crash

The Air Force has released the names of the two pilots involved in the T-38 Talon crash at Laughlin Air Force Base on Monday. Captain Paul Barbour, 32, from Van Nuys, California, was killed in the crash of the twin-engine supersonic trainer. The Air Force identified the surviving pilot earlier this week as Captain Joshua […]

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Flying IFR in the Mountains

I’ve been privileged to fly the mountains of the southwest for more than 40 years—with many thousands of hours and more than 10,000 landings. But I’m not an expert, and I would be cautious of anyone who claims to be (Sparky Imeson comes to mind). I have become reasonably proficient at understanding the risks of […]

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FAA Adds Drone Webinars

An FAA program to integrate drones into the National Airspace System has drawn lots of interest, the FAA said this week, with more than 4,300 people signing up for online webinars about how they can participate. Based on the demand, the FAA has added two more webinar sessions. Each session will provide participants with an […]

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Three Missing After Navy Plane Crash

A U.S. Navy C2-A aircraft with 11 crew and passengers on board crashed into the Philippine Sea on Wednesday afternoon, the Navy has reported. Eight of the personnel were rescued by the U.S. Navy “Golden Falcons” helicopter squadron, and all were reported in good condition. Three people are missing. “Our entire focus is on finding […]

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NTSB: GA Safety Best In 50 Years

The accident rate in general aviation dropped below 1 fatal accident per 100,000 flight hours in 2016, for the first time in 50 years, the NTSB reported on Tuesday. Overall, aviation deaths decreased slightly, from 416 in 2015 to 412 in 2016. Nearly 94 percent of those fatalities, a total of 379, occurred in general […]

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