Flight Safety

The instrument rating is probably the most challenging step-up in aviation—and this is coming from an ATP with a couple of jet type ratings. With the rating in your pocket, how can you make flying easier and more satisfying? How to stay proficient? Chances are your CFII started you out with most of the following […]

A JetBlue Airways Airbus 320 made an emergency landing in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Tuesday after a laptop computer stored in an overhead began emitting smoke. The flight landed safely with no injuries. Passengers told news outlets that the incident caused significant smoke in the cabin, although none reported signs of flames. The flight was […]

The NTSB this week released a preliminary report on the fatal Learjet crash in Teterboro two weeks ago, in which two pilots were killed. While approaching the airport, the crew started to turn toward the assigned runway later than usual, the safety board said. The airplane didn’t start to turn until it was less than […]

A member of the U.S. Navy’s skydiving team, the Leap Frogs, died on Sunday afternoon after his parachute malfunctioned during a Fleet Week airshow in Jersey City, N.J., the Navy has confirmed. The skydiver, whose name has not been released, landed in the Hudson River and was immediately retrieved by U.S. Coast Guard members who […]

I suppose as analogies go, using fruit and baked goods is as good as any to describe the state of the general aviation market. A decade ago, it was sugar plums. Now it’s pies or, to be more accurate, pie in the singular. About 2005 or so, but definitely by 2007, every GA manufacturer of […]

One man’s dogma is another man’s entertainment. Which is another way of saying as a sometime editorial arsonist, I will happily stand by and watch pilots vigorously argue about truths none of us hold to be self-evident. And what better way to be entertained than discussing pattern entries. I’m disappointed to admit I didn’t start […]

Heard at JFK one summer day after a very long ground roll and subsequent lift off by a British Airways 747. Tower: “Speedbird XXX noise violation.” Speedbird XXX:”Send it to the ()(*&^% Queen.” Real story. Dan Jenkins

Regional airlines say the FAA is vastly understating the cost of a proposed AD that will require them to replace 10,482 passenger seats in various small airliners. The FAA said the AD will only cost the airlines a total of $900,000 because it is only tallying the labor cost of removing the Slim and Slimplus […]

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly says he “might” ban laptops in the passenger cabins of all international flights to and from the U.S. In an interview Sunday he said airliners with lots of Americans aboard are a prime target for terrorists and the ban wouldn’t be a response to a specific threat, but a general […]

There are three ways to arrive at an airport when operating under IFR: a standard instrument approach procedure (IAP), a visual approach and a contact approach. A great way to bring hangar flying to a screeching halt is to ask about a contact approach. A lot of IFR pilots know that it is some sort […]