Flight Safety

Standing to get a closer view of my tower’s radar display, I said, “That doesn’t look right.” Somewhere in the dense, ragged and choppy 300-foot overcast outside the tower windows, there was a Piper Matrix inbound on the ILS. Well, supposedly on the ILS. His target was crossing the final approach fix several hundred feet […]

Searchers aboard a French naval vessel said this morning they believe they have found a signal from one of the data recorders aboard EgyptAir Flight 804, which crashed into the Mediterranean on May 19. The Airbus A320 vanished from radar during a flight from Paris to Cairo, with 66 people on board. Recovery teams have […]

Last week, when AVweb Editor-in-Chief Russ Niles phoned me about Icon’s breaking announcement of its retrenchment, he happened to mention he had been reading Walter Isaacson’s bio of Steve Jobs and … “Stop right there,” I said, “I know where you’re going and I already have that blog written.” And so I did, displaced by […]

I was tuned to Indy Center yesterday and heard this exchange with a plane on flight following: Indy Center:“Cessna 12345, contact Indy Center on 124.62.” Cessna 12345:“Can I have something that doesn’t end in a ‘2’ or a ‘7’?” Indy Center:“What was that request?” Cessna 12345:“Can I have a frequency doesn’t end in a ‘2’ […]

The president of the Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association says the escalating pilot shortage could soon be hitting mainstream America where it hurts most. “Millions of Americans are not going to get their online purchases delivered to their front door if the situation does not improve,” RACCA President Stan Bernstein told Global Trademagazine. “Everyone is […]

In their older years, my parents were cheapskates. When I visited them in their Southern Texas retirement community, they always were delighted to share their favorite places, those with senior discounts, dollar-breakfast specials and cheap all-you-can-eat buffets. The same proved true when buying unleaded: I thought it odd they would drive six miles round-trip to […]

As he promised in February, Pennsylvania Rep. Bill Shuster appears intent on trying again to convince his fellow lawmakers to privatize air traffic control in the U.S. With just six weeks left in the short-term FAA funding authorization that was approved March 15, Shuster is reportedly gathering support, Washington style, for the privatization plan, which […]

A 56-year-old Florida man been identified as the pilot who died when the P-47 Thunderbolt he was flying went into the Hudson River off Manhattan late Friday. William Gordon was flying the aircraft on a photo flight with two other aircraft promoting the American Airpower Museum’s celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Thunderbolt, which […]

A Korean Air jet aborted takeoff after its left engine caught fire at Tokyo’s main airport around midday on Friday. The Boeing 777, bound for Seoul, was carrying 319 passengers and crew members, according to a Reuters report. A grainy video shown on RT, likely from a bystander, shows the jet rolling for takeoff at […]

Two Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets crashed off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, Thursday. The four crew members escaped with minor injuries. A Coast Guard helicopter pulled two of the crew from the water while the two others were rescued by a commercial fishing boat, according to an Associated Press report. The fighter jets, […]