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.
40+ years ago, on a busy busy day in the Schenectady County Airport traffic pattern. An older WWII-era pilot owned a Stinson L5 that he used for a little instructing and light aerobatics. In the pattern on downwind, this exchange occurred. Tower:“Stinson N1234, do a 360 for spacing.” N1234:“Vertical or horizontal?” Mark Wielt
Last July I wrote an introduction to tailwheel flying as an AVweb Feature. It went into those hot-button items a fledgling tailwheel pilot needs to keep in the forefront of consciousness when coming down final in a tailwheel airplane. Let’s consider it “Tailwheels, Part I.” With this article, I’ll go through what you should expect […]
A former Allegiant Airlines pilot who was fired after ordering an aircraft evacuation in June is suing the airline. Jason Kinzer was captain on the MD-80 that departed June 8 from St. Petersburg, Florida, when flight attendants reported smelling smoke. Kinzer declared an emergency, the jet returned to the airport and the crew deployed emergency […]
The latest version of pilot medical reform legislation is slated for markup and discussion in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Nov. 18, after which S. 571 could move to the Senate floor. The Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2, proposed by Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., would exempt pilots who have current third-class […]
This much we can all agree on: Pilots are supposed to give their passengers a detailed, pre-takeoff safety briefing. But I have sleepwalked through more of these than I care to remember. I know, I’m a terrible person, but I’ve gotten used to myself. I urge others to do better. The pre-takeoff briefing topic caught […]
The charter jet that crashed into an apartment building Tuesday in Akron, Ohio, was banking to the left when it clipped power lines, hit structures and an embankment, its left wing striking the ground first, the NTSB said Wednesday, citing a surveillance video from a nearby business. All nine on board the Hawker jet — […]
A Hawker 800 jet crashed into a house in Akron, Ohio, about 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, sparking an intense fire and killing everyone on board. Nobody was home at the time, and no one on the ground was hurt. The jet had departed from Dayton and was on approach to Akron Fulton International Airport, according […]
A controller on an adjacent position had a VFR pop-up looking for advisories. Due to a familiar sounding call sign, he asked if the aircraft was a Skymaster, obviously thinking it was a Cessna 337. The pilot replied:“Heck, no. I’m a solo student.” Derek Crane & Tim Shea
The FBI will help investigate the cause of the downing of a Metrojet A321 airliner last week that killed 224 people in Egypt. Russian investigators have asked the bureau for forensic help in pinpointing what caused the aircraft to disintegrate in midair. The call comes a day after analysts say they think they heard the […]
The neutering of Chicago O’Hare, once not only the busiest airport in the world, but also the baddest, is nearly complete: The 2015 version of ORD has three control towers, half a dozen east/west parallel runways … and no character whatsoever. While a couple of the old diagonal runways escaped the bulldozers, they might as […]
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