Flight Safety

On Presidents’ Day weekend, POTUS had West Palm Beach shut down with his TFR. Boca was swamped with corporate and private traffic trying to avoid the TFR restrictions. We were sitting in a long line waiting for departure, with numerous jets lined up for arrival, when a weekend warrior called up tower inbound asking for […]

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta defended the agency’s rollout of the NextGen air traffic control modernization program to a blue-chip business audience last week, saying it’s ahead of schedule and its completion will be worth the wait. Huerta gave pointed remarks to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Summit in response to President Donald Trump’s comments after […]

The pilot of a Hawker Hunter that crashed in 2015 killing 11 people may have confused the aircraft he was flying with another type, the U.K.’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch concluded last week. In its final report on the crash at the Shoreham Airshow in southern England, the AAIB said pilot Andy Hill, an experienced […]

Normally it’s a good thing when a pilot walks away from a crash but a Missouri man may have pushed that sentiment a little. Rather than trying to find the wrecked aircraft, Kansas authorities found themselves looking for its pilot last week. According to the Kansas City Star, Randal S. Shannon’s shattered Maule was in […]

Friends and colleagues of a Vancouver Island flight instructor paralyzed in a training accident are rallying around her trying to ensure she achieves a new dream of somehow continuing to work in aviation. Kristen Ursel, an instructor at the Victoria Flying Club, was with a student in January when their 172 clipped powerlines after a […]

I hate it when someone peers into my eyes and, within a nanosecond to two, sees all the character flaws within. “You’re a rule breaker, aren’t you?” The query was from our team coach, Sally, and on the strength of one minor little transgression, she had nailed me with unnerving accuracy. When we go to […]

Angered by noise from Pilatus PC-12s operated by Surf Air, residents of San Mateo county have taken a new tack in their fight to shut down the operation. A proposed curfew ordinance, drafted by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, would limit any operator to one takeoff and one landing of a “noisy airplane” […]

We often wonder why there are so many rules governing everyday life but some British Airways ramp attendants have provided an example. The airline had to remind workers at London Heathrow to please not urinate in the cargo holds of its aircraft rather than hike back into the building to a washroom. “Basically the guys […]

Several hundred pieces of software written by NASA engineers for air and spacecraft design, business optimization, systems interaction and biomedical applications have been released by the agency for free public use. The software is being made available through the NASA Technology Transfer Program (motto, “Bringing NASA Technology Down to Earth”). The available codes are listed […]

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the EU equivalent of the US FAA, published today long-awaited rules broadening the permitted use of single-engine turbine (SET) aircraft in commercial operations. Previously, commercial operators, both charter and cargo, were not permitted to operate any single-engine aircraft at night or in instrument meteorological conditions. Today’s rule lifts those […]