Flight Safety

Third-class medical reform legislation is on its way to the Senate floor after gaining approval from the Commerce, Science and Transportation committee Wednesday. The committee had delayed its vote in November on the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 for lack of a quorum, and now its advocates hope for a Senate vote later this month. […]

Registration is now open for Build A Plane’s 2016 design competition, the nonprofit group announced this week. The program, which is co-sponsored by GAMA, aims to promote science, technology, engineering and math education in U.S. high schools. In its first three years, the program has reached more than 150 schools in 38 states and Washington, […]

South African authorities are investigating what appears to be the first fatal crash of an Eclipse light jet. The South African air force was dispatched after radio contact was lost with the EA500 on a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town. It was being tracked at about 35,000 feet when communication ended. A Gripen fighter […]

On a particularly stormy day in the Green Mountains of Vermont, I heard the following exchange between a flight on approach to BTV (Burlington, Vermont) and approach control. BTV approach:“NXXXAJ, how was the ride down?” NXXXAJ:“Rougher than a stucco bathtub.” Andrew Walker

A jet carrying actor and pilot Morgan Freeman made an emergency landing in Mississippi Saturday after blowing a tire during takeoff. Neither Freeman nor his pilot were injured when the SJ30 SyberJet landed at the Tunica airport and ran off the runway, according to an Associated Press report. The two men were the only ones […]

At least two pilots in the last week have lodged complaints about laser light in the cockpit that was traced back to a Christmas light display, raising concerns about the popular displays, according to media reports. Authorities found the source of laser light that affected a mail pilot near Mason County Airport in western Michigan […]

To think that regulation does anything but stifle creativity and strangle commerce is about as close to apostasy as you’re likely to get in aviation. And even if it weren’t, would you admit it in mixed company? That’s a rhetorical question. Don’t overthink it. But one man’s onerous, suffocating rule is another’s golden opportunity to […]

The pilot wasn’t having much luck on his flight review. As he and his instructor were about to depart, the airport weather went from a manageable SCT006 to BKN006, requiring an IFR clearance. Since they had planned to depart VFR, they didn’t file an IFR flight plan. To top it off, the part-time tower was […]

After eight helicopter crew members were killed in three crashes in recent days, including one this week in Tennessee, the Army on Thursday grounded active-duty flight operations for a safety stand-down. The U.S. Army Forces Command said the grounding will last through Monday for U.S.-based units, according to the Army Times. Safety reviews will include […]

Ho-hum, another month, another accident in which the aviation industry can get its pants snagged on the notion that cockpit automation is turning us all into numbskull idiots with hands of stone. But what if the pilot is already well on his way to being a numbskull? Does the automation push him over the edge […]