Flight Safety

As with most things in life, a successful flight is all about preparation; unfortunately, the longer we fly the more complacent we tend to get. We can handle any situation that arises—we can ‘wing it’ when we have to. However, to fly the perfect approach you have to prepare for it. Reviewing the approaches that […]

Without nearly enough fanfare, some excellent guidance on a subject that is becoming increasingly critical for pilots was released two weeks ago. Entitled Flight Safety in the Drone Age(FSDA), it is a three-page document that should be read and digested by every pilot. While the FAA has enacted regulations concerning drone operations and the respected […]

This dates back many years, to March 1989. I was transporting a heart for transplant, together with a doctor and nurse, from the southwest of England to Papworth Hospital near Cambridge. Because it was the middle of the night, the only open runway nearby was a USAF Alconbury. As I approached, I was asked a […]

A Notam (PDF) is warning operators of “all aircraft relying on GPS” of widespread GPS outages starting Tuesday throughout the Southwest and especially southern California. Although the FAA doesn’t go into detail, it seems the military is testing something that can disrupt GPS over a huge area, centered on China Lake, California, home of the […]

Pull the mixture or condition lever and the propeller comes to a stop. Turn off the switches and what had been saturated with noise and vibration becomes still and quiet. After removing your headset and while sitting in the momentary silence that follows a flight, perhaps you’ll hear the engine ticking as heat dissipates. It’s […]

Pilot weather reports will be the focus of an upcoming public forum announced this week by the National Transportation Safety Board. The event is slated for June 21-22 at NTSB headquarters in Washington, D.C. and will include representatives of GA, airlines and academic groups. “PIREPs: Pay it Forward … Because Weather for One is Weather […]

A Navy Blue Angels pilot was killed Thursday when his jet crashed inSmyrna, Tennessee.Meanwhile, a USAF Thunderbirds pilot ejected safely from his F-16 after a flyover performance at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. NewsChannel 5 in Nashville identified the Blue Angels pilot asCaptain Jeff Kuss, a member of the team since 2014 and a […]

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 […]