Flight Safety

Landings with faulty gear are common and almost always uneventful but a Canadian seaplane pilot found himself in an unusual predicament on Saturday. The gear on the amphib floats on Paul Armstrong’s Cessna 206 only partly deployed so he was caught between a wet and a hard place. Landing on water would have flipped the […]

Thirty years ago, the idea of carrying sophisticated digital radar in anything under a medium twin would probably have been met with roars of laughter, but technology has brought amazing advances. Now it’s possible for even an ultralight pilot to use the Internet to access essentially the same tools that are available to forecasters. In […]

The comment period on a proposed rule that affects the ELTs on 14,500 U.S. aircraft will expire July 8. The notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) will require owners of some Ameri-King ELTs to have them thoroughly inspected for function and parts compliance. The rule was written after the agency issued a cease-and-desist order to California-based […]

Two polar station workers in need of medical care were successfully evacuated from the Amundsen-Scott station as the South Pole on Wednesday, according to the National Science Foundation. CBC reported that the Calgary-based Kenn Borek Air flew the two workers from Amundsen-Scott to Rothera, on the Antarctic Peninsula, a distance of some 1500 miles. The […]

Reaction so far by general aviation advocacy groups has been mainly positive to the new rules released yesterday by the FAA to manage small drones (55 pounds or less) in the national airspace. “We commend the FAA for balancing the imperative to maintain safety … with the practical needs of this rapidly-emerging industry,” said Bob […]

The FAA today published its final rule for the commercial use of small drones under 55 pounds. The rule requires commercial drone operators to be at least 16 years old, pass a security background check and hold a “remote pilot certificate,” which can be attained by passing an “initial aeronautical knowledge test” at an FAA-approved […]

Aviation news events covered at a distance—by us, or anyone else—don’t always convey, shall I say, a lucid reality. I’ve been following the Kenn Borek Aviation rescue mission to the Amundsen-Scott Station in the Antarctic a little more closely than I might otherwise because I’ve got a little Twin Otter time and I’m curious about […]

Three small general aviation airplanes have crashed at off-airport sites in the last two days, killing one pilot and injuring another. In Houston, Texas, a Piper PA-24 crashed onto the flat roof of a Macy’s distribution center about five miles northwest of Hobby Airport, just before midnight on Sunday. “I was watching it, and I […]

Overheard while flying through the New York Class B airspace: Pilot: Departure ABC 795 off 14L climbing to 5000′. Controller: Is this 725 or 795? Pilot: What did I say? Controller: 795. Pilot: Oh sorry, I guess this is 725. Controller: Don’t worry about it, I mix up call signs all day. Pilot: Yeah, but […]

Solar Impulse 2 is expected to launch from New York to Seville, Spain, Monday on the longest leg of its circumnavigation using solar power only. The flight was to start on Sunday but weather concerns delayed it by a day. The flight will take an estimated 90 hours and will be flown by Bertrand Piccard. […]