Flight Safety

Jeppesen has unveiled a comprehensive online trip and flight planning utility designed to make both processes more efficient and help prevent on-the-road surprises. Jeppesen Operator is a self-service environment created in conjunction with BoldIQ, which built the software that managed an on-demand charter service. With that functionality as a base, the two added some convenience […]

During helicopter primary flight training at Fort Wolters, TX in 1970 a long, loose line of TH-55 helicopters, some with solo students, some with instructors, were returning from afternoon training. Student: (In broken Vietnamese) Wolthers Tower,Osage 1234 entering extended down wind for landing. Wolthers Tower: Osage 1234, negative entry, you are entering traffic from wrong […]

The Canadian government has begun laboratory testing of two unleaded aviation fuels that the FAA is also testing as possible replacements for 100LL. Canada’s National Research Council (NRC) is using its altitude chamber at its Ottawa research complex to put Swift 102 and Shell’s candidate fuel through its paces. Pervez Canteenwalla, the researcher heading up […]

In his influential book, Stick and Rudder, Wolfgang Langewiesche states the rudder “. . . causes the greatest difficulty for beginners,” and “. . . even the more experienced pilot often has trouble using it correctly.” Commenting on improper rudder use as a contributing factor in accidents, he states, “In the typical fatal accident, which […]

The two pilots of the business jet that crashed at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport in 2014, killing one, appeared to have lost control during an attempted landing in gusty, variable tailwinds as the tower implored the crew to go around. The NTSB’s factual report from the Jan. 5, 2014, crash, released this week, said the Bombardier […]

At least eight people suffered minor injuries when a Boeing 767 caught fire during takeoff roll at Chicago O’Hare Friday afternoon. A couple of hours later, a FedEx MD-11 also caught fire atFort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida afterits left gear collapsed. The two pilots escaped unharmed. The jet had just flown from Memphis, WSVN […]

It would appear that almost everything worked as intended at LaGuardia on Thursday night when Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence’s Boeing 737 had a hairy landing in bad weather. Whatever happened with the landing, the aircraft apparently ended up on the overrun and it stopped the plane the way it was supposed to. There […]

Airbus Helicopters said it will cut about 582 jobs at its facilities in France as the company continues to face lower demand along with the aftermath of a fatal crash of one of its H225 rotorcraft in Norway. The cuts, to be achieved through voluntary resignations, will amount to a small percentage of the aerospace […]

With a few weeks having passed since my ditching on the way to Catalina (KAVX), I finally had time to calm down and reflect on what happened. It all began with our typical debate about where to fly for Saturday lunch. Someone suggested Big Bear Lake, a nearby resort nestled in the San Bernardino Mountains. […]

Pilot error, lack of proficiency and operational issues were factors in the deadly collision of two Marine Corps CH-53 helicopters in January, a media investigation revealed. The helicopters, from a squadron of Marine Aircraft Group 24, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Hawaii, crashed in the ocean during a late-night training mission on Jan. 14, killing […]