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.
Every few years, airplane owners in Florida are confronted with the unsolvable conundrum: A hurricane bears down on the state and they have to decide whether to move their airplanes out of harm’s way or just button up the hangar and ride it out. Thirteen years ago, when Hurricane Charley threatened, here’s what I thought […]
The Virginia State Police helicopter that crashed on Aug. 12, killing both officers on board, was flying at 2,200 feet when it abruptly turned to the right and began to dive, says radar data acquired by the NTSB. The NTSB interviewed nearly 40 witnesses who generally confirmed that the helicopter “began a rolling oscillation, began […]
The FAA announced in December that it had revamped its airworthiness standards for general aviation airplanes, and as of Aug. 30, those new rules are now officially in effect. The FAA says the new Part 23 will enable faster installation of innovative, safety-enhancing technologies into small airplanes, while reducing costs for the aviation industry. The […]
Controller: Cessna 123, traffic, opposition direction, five miles, at 4,000 feet Cessna 123: Looking for traffic, Cessna 123 Controller: Cessna 123, Love Field, six miles, 12 o’clock. Cessna 123: Cessna 123 looking for Love. Pause Cessna123: That didn’t come out right, did it. Controller: No but we hope you find Love, … and the airport. […]
One Aviation has announced the first flight of the wing that will hold up its EA700, known as the Eclipse Canada until recently. The wing was attached to a modified legacy airframe for the testing. Details of the flight are unavailable because of technical issues with their news release but the company’s Facebook post says […]
The Icon A5 has been, for years, a press darling. Experienced journalists fresh off assignments flying multi-million dollar jets gushed over a pre-production light sport airplanes. Seriously? Icon said I could try to answer that question for myself, but only if I really flew the airplane and understood the customer experience. “Spend four days at […]
Historical allies AOPA and the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) are now pitted against each other in an unusual battle over airport access, fuel costs and fees. AOPA, along with “seven affected pilots,” has filed a Part 13 complaint with the FAA against three Signature FBOs in Key West, Florida; Asheville, North Carolina; and Waukegan, […]
A few weeks ago, I spewed for a few hundred words on gear-up landings and this month I’ve been continuing the research. Just ask me about gear-up landings. Ask anything. I’m about to write a book. You’ll be enthralled. As I was trudging through this, I finally got to the insurance angle and my colleague, […]
Which came first: the chicken or the Federal Egg Administration? Impossible to say. Physics teaches us that when Bernoulli found lift, his nemesis, Newton, said there must be an opposing reaction. So, when the Wright brothers flew, government pondered how to keep them from impacting all those other aeronauts. Little happened because of Newton’s Law […]
Face it: We love our GPS. Many of us fly with two of ’em installed, plus a portable for good measure. It’s arguably the most revolutionary advance in navigation, automation and IFR capabilities. Satellites now allow the most basic aircraft to navigate with amazing precision. However, there are caveats for modern RNAV pilots. We’ve become […]
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