Flight Safety

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 […]

Only a small percentage of the controller work force in the system today—or for that matter, in the past—are or have been pilots. Controllers are taught to perform the duties and provide the services that are outlined in the controller’s bible, the FAA Order 7110.65, Air Traffic Control Manual. While they have been made aware […]

The string of incidents that led to the crash of Air Asia Flight QZ8501 on Dec. 28 last year began with a mechanical malfunction that had gone unresolved despite having failed 23 times, investigators said in their final report (PDF), issued today by Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee. But in trying to cope with the […]

JetBlue plans to develop an “ab-initio” training program for its Embraer SA E190 crews, the company told Bloomberg News last week. The airline must get FAA approval for its plans, but if it does, it would become the only U.S. airline to recruit zero-time pilots. The program will start with about two dozen participants, said […]

Letter of the Week:Personal Airspace I would register my drone prior to flying it above 200 feet AGL. I think it is clear from U.S. v. Causby (1946) that the FAA has no authority to regulate “the immediate reaches of the enveloping atmosphere” of my property, which in the Causby case is at least 83 […]