Flight Safety

A suicide bomber, possibly with explosives concealed in a laptop, is believed to have blown the hole in the side of a Daallo Airlines A321 last week. It has also been reported that the bomber is the passenger whose body was found on the ground 18 miles north of Mogadishu, Somalia, where the flight originated. […]

The former president of Sikorsky Aircraft was killed along with his passenger when his P-51D crashednear Maricopa, Arizona, on Friday. Jeffrey Pino, 61, was head of Sikorsky from 2006 to 2012. He was flying the Mustang, named Big Beautiful Doll, when it went down. The passenger was identified as Nickolas Tramontano, 71, of Brookfield, Connecticut. […]

I was attending a Wings safety seminar recently and the 1995 American Airlines crash in Colombia was discussed, including the video American Airlines made two years after the fact. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth a click. In this compelling video, the speaker says the words that I believe have subtly, but profoundly, influenced […]

Obstructions, sand, mud, wandering animals and other surprises like the end of the runway rushing up to meet you…these are just some of the hazards common to short and soft fields. We all think we’re trained for them, but there’s a big difference between training and reality. I’m not knocking what CFIs teach or what’s […]

Coast Guard boats and divers are searching the waters off Los Angeles this morning after two single-engine airplanes collided Friday afternoon. The Coast Guard said the collision occurred about 3:30 p.m. in clear skies, The Associated Press reported. Two men, ages 61 and 81, were on board a Beechcraft Bonanza, and a woman, 72, was […]

The FAA is looking at cutting its Contract Weather Observer staffing at 57 airports around the country, moving some duties to local ATC, according to an agency document and various media reports in recent weeks. Trained human weather observers contracted by the FAA supplement automated weather reports at towered airports, providing more discerning information including […]

The captain of the Airbus A321 that landed Tuesday with a hole blown out of its side believes a bomb exploded as the jet climbed out ofMogadishu, Somalia. Authorities haven’t confirmed the source of the blast, and one passenger is believed to be dead from falling out of the hole. “It was my first bomb; […]

Two congressmen in favor of privatizing the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization introduced their proposal Wednesday, just after receiving written opposition from others in the House and Senate. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., and Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., introduced the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act, H.R. 4441 (PDF), […]

The organizers of ModAero, a “next-generation aviation festival” set for March 16 to 19 near Houston, Texas, say they are offering a “fresh take” on the traditional aviation event, with the goal of attracting a younger demographic, especially pilots in the 16 to 39 “millennial” age range. “That’s where all the growth is happening, and […]

The House Appropriations Committee has added its opposition to the nascent debate over privatizing the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO). Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., and other senior members of the committee wrote a letter (PDF) to the House leadership Monday saying air traffic management should remain a government function. “The annual oversight and funding role […]