Flight Safety

AVweb’s Flight Safety section offers in-depth coverage of aviation safety topics, including accident analyses, risk management strategies, regulatory updates, and pilot training insights. Designed for pilots, instructors, and aviation professionals, this section provides timely information to enhance situational awareness and promote best practices in flight operations.

NTSB, Manufacturers Weigh In On Part 23 Changes

The FAA’s comment period is now closed for its proposed changes to Part 23 aircraft certification, and 61 comments have been logged online. The GA industry has been lobbying for the changes for years, in hopes that it will become easier and cheaper to certify new airplanes and bring new technologies to market. But the […]

Read More »

FAA Wraps Drone Detector Test At JFK

The FAA said today it has completed tests of new drone-detection technology at John F. Kennedy International Airport, in New York. The tests, which began May 2, studied the effectiveness of a detection system developed by the FBI. Five different rotorcraft and fixed-wing UAS participated in the evaluations, and about 40 separate tests took place, […]

Read More »

Short Final

On a flight from Panama City, Florida to Asheville, North Carolina, I heard ATC asking another aircraft if his transponder was on — to which the reply was: “We’re putting quarters in the slot now.” Ray Mansfield

Read More »

Have We Hit The Trifecta?

To remain a general aviation participant in good standing—or hell, just a participant of any standing—requires a certain resilience, an almost alien capacity to slough off disaster and munch gleefully on catastrophe. Rolling with the punches comes to mind, but somehow just doesn’t do justice to the gloom that pervades the aviation economy. Now that […]

Read More »

Airshow Fatality In Georgia

An Augusta, Georgia, airshow pilot was killed in the crash of his Pitts Special at the Good Neighbors Air Show at DeKalb Peachtree Airport on Saturday. Greg Connell has not been officially identified as the crash victim but his own social media accounts have confirmed the tragedy. Connell was doing a formation routine when his […]

Read More »

Third-Class Medical Reform Included In Defense Bill

Third-class medical reform could get another chance of making it to a congressional vote via a defense funding bill that moved through the Senate’s Armed Services Committee this week. The committee voted 23-3 in favor of the bill, which would authorize $602 billion for the Department of Defense and other national security programs. It includes […]

Read More »

FAA Proposes Changes To GA Flight Training

The FAA has opened comments until Aug.10 for changes to GA flight training rules that would affect a broad spectrum of pilots, including those pursuing private and commercial certificates. Its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking includes a long-anticipated proposal to use glass-cockpit, fixed-gear aircraft for commercial flight training instead of traditional complex aircraft with retractable gear. […]

Read More »

FAA Expands Drone Detection Effort

New technologies that could detect and perhaps also take control of drones that fly too close to airports are now being studied by the FAA, the agency said in a news release this week. The FAA signed agreements with three private companies — Gryphon Sensors, Liteye Systems and Sensofusion — that have developed technology and […]

Read More »

Short Final

Many years ago, as a student pilot sitting on the ramp at Kansas City Downtown Airport, I was in the plane with my instructor listing to “information whiskey” on the ATIS recording when we heard a high-pitched squeal followed by laughter on the tape. My instructor turned to me and said:“Sounds like there’s a little […]

Read More »

Forced Landing On California Rooftop

A pilot was hurt in what appears to have been a forced landing on the rooftop of a building in Pomona, California, on Sunday. Circumstances of the incident weren’t clear at our deadline but news copter images show the aircraft to be intact with a collapsed nose gear. It appears to be a Piper Cherokee […]

Read More »
Sign-up for newsletters & special offers!

Get the latest stories & special offers delivered directly to your inbox

SUBSCRIBE