Flight Safety

How can one not see the grim humor in last week’s confluence of events that seemed tailor made to tank Third Class medical reform? Hapless doesn’t even begin to describe general aviation’s fate before the fortunes of a callous world.The first turn of bad timing was obviously the untimely death of an American Airlines captain […]

AOPA has launched a new program, the High School Aviation Initiative, to encourage students to enter aviation careers. As part of this effort, the newly formed Aviation Education Leadership Alliance will hold its first gathering Nov. 9 in Lakeland, Florida, home of the Central Florida Aerospace Academy. The organization invites new members to join and […]

Conflicts involving amateur-operated drones made the news again this week, one involving an irritated neighbor who disabled one with a gun. In Louisiana, Aaron Hernandez lost his $1,200 quadcopter Monday night while flying it around his father’s house outside Baton Rouge. Hernandez told WBRZ 2 the neighbors had expressed objections to his drone flying before, […]

With glass cockpits becoming more prolific, a wider spectrum of the pilot community is now engaged in flying them. Understanding the implications of malfunctions is an important responsibility of the PIC as higher levels of technology competence and preparedness are required. While glass presents increased capabilities for pilots, it also offers a new set of […]

Inspections of older GE engines on airliners around the world could begin in the coming weeks as investigators learn more about the uncontained engine failure that started a fire on a British Airways jet one month ago in Las Vegas. In an update from the NTSB this week, investigators found that a disk in the […]

The FAA, behind schedule in finalizing regulations for commercial use of unmanned aerial systems, will be ready by June 17, 2016, according to congressional testimony Wednesday by the agency’s deputy administrator. Michael Whitaker told a House aviation subcommittee, when pressed for specifics, that June of next year would be a realistic time frame for the […]

The FAA has developed a new “compliance philosophy” to promote safety that “challenges the status quo,” the FAA said in a news release on Tuesday. “The Compliance Philosophy is the latest step in the evolution of how we work with those we regulate,” said Administrator Michael Huerta, at a Flight Safety Foundation event in Washington, […]

Monday’s unfortunate on-duty death of an American Airlines captain en route to Boston from Phoenix ignited the usual talking-head idiocy on the cable channels. Well, maybe it wasn’t the usual idiocy, but extra-special idiocy in that some thick-headed broadcasters couldn’t seem to grasp that yes, the first officer—demoted to “copilot” by the less sophisticated news […]

The captain of an American Airlines A320 died during a flight on Monday from Phoenix to Boston, according to an airline official. Few details have been released about the pilot, but officials said the death was due to an illness. The flight diverted to Syracuse, N.Y., and landed shortly after 7 a.m. In a statement […]

This past week I watched the Wings Over Wine Country Air Show practice from my hangar at KSTS. I was listening to the tower on my handheld. While I was listening, three different pilots wandered into the TFR, causing the rehearsals to be delayed. The fourth time it happened was when the Canadian Snowbirds had […]