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.

Five Survive Turboprop Bonanza Crash

All five people on a turbine conversion Bonanza survived when the plane crashed on takeoff into the parking lot of a retirement community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Sunday. The aircraft cabin was consumed in a post-crash fire. The pilot of the plane, registered to a Mannheim, Pennsylvania LLC, told controllers at Lancaster Airport that he […]

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Duffy Says He Needs 18 Months To ‘Rebuild’ ATC

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says it will take a maximum of 18 months to “rebuild the air traffic control system” if Congress will up-front the funding. But it sounds like the scope of the overhaul he was describing might be limited to modernization of communications systems. In a 10-minute interview aired by Fox on Saturday, […]

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Florida Flights Disrupted After Starship Explodes

SpaceX’s Starship 8 test vehicle blew up over the Caribbean on Thursday, diverting flights into South Florida airports because of what the FAA termed “falling space debris.” The explosion occurred about 20 seconds before the engines were due to shut down after what appeared to be a successful launch from SpaceX’s south Texas launch facility. […]

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Sling Pilot Academy Debuts New Quieter Airplane

Sling Pilot Academy has expanded its operations to Long Beach, California, unveiling the “Whisper Sling”—a new, noise-reducing pilot training aircraft. The announcement was made during a ceremony on March 5 at the academy’s newly established campus at Long Beach Airport. With this expansion, Sling now operates five training schools across Southern California. The Long Beach […]

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Cockpit Voice Recorder Inoperable In Philadelphia Jet Crash

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary report on the fatal medical jet crash in Northeast Philadelphia on Jan. 31, revealing that the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was not operational at the time of the crash and likely hadn’t captured audio for several years. Investigators noted that while the Learjet 55 crew were […]

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ATP Flight School Expands Training Fleet With 61 New Aircraft

ATP Flight School announced it is expanding its training fleet with the addition of 61 new aircraft in 2025, according to a press release on Tuesday. ATP said the new deliveries will include 54 Cessna 172 Skyhawks—each equipped with advanced Garmin G1000 NXi avionics—and seven Piper Seminoles featuring Garmin G1000 flight decks. With these additions, […]

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FAA Paperwork Medical Denials Delayed ‘Indefinitely’

Sources have told AVweb that a controversial FAA policy to turn incompletely documented medical deferrals into denials has been indefinitely deferred. The policy was supposed to have come into effect on Jan.1, but opposition from a broad base of GA groups prompted a deferral until March 1. The indefinite delay was communicated to AMEs on […]

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Alaska Woman Sentenced For Shining Laser At Military Helicopters

An Alaska woman has been sentenced to three years of probation for interfering with a joint U.S.-Canadian military operation by shining a laser at helicopters, as reported by the Associated Press. According to the U.S. District Attorney’s office in Alaska, the incident occurred on Feb. 11, 2024, when Canadian military personnel were flying two CH-146 […]

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FAA Weighing Starlink Contract For ATC Upgrades

The Federal Aviation Administration is reportedly on the verge of terminating its $2.4 billion contract with Verizon in favor of Elon Musk’s Starlink to upgrade the communication system that supports the nation’s air traffic control network. Verizon was awarded the contract in 2023 to modernize a platform that facilitates communication between various air traffic control […]

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Smoke Diverts Two Delta Flights

For the second time in less than a week, Delta flights have been diverted because of smoke in the cabin. The most recent was Monday when a Boeing 717 on its way to Columbia, South Carolina, turned around almost immediately and landed back in Atlanta. The plane was evacuated on the runway with emergency slides […]

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