Flight Safety

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.

Disk Failure Found In BA 777 Engine

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 […]

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FAA: Drone Rules Ready By June 2016

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 […]

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Huerta Unveils New FAA Safety Strategy

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, […]

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A Death On The Flight Deck: What Happens Next?

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 […]

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Airline Captain Dies En Route

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 […]

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Short Final

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 […]

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Pre-Flight Follies

When did you last experience an embarrassing moment on the takeoff roll? Have you ever had to taxi back to the ramp to deal with a problem discovered during the run-up? Any moments of tension or near-terror because you missed something during the pre-flight? Most pilots can recite at least one tale about discovering they […]

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Aviastar Airline Twin Otter Missing In Indonesia

The search is still underway in Indonesia for a missing DHC-6 Twin Otter operated by Aviastar, a domestic airline. There were unverified reports Sunday that wreckage had been spotted. There were three crew members and 10 passengers on board, according to the Jakarta Post. The aircraft departed from the Andi Djemma Airport in Masamba at […]

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Fasteners Through an Engineer’s Eye

The structure of an airplane and its systems are only as strong and reliable as the joints holding its components together. The strength of a joint is dependent not only on the properties of the fasteners, but on the design of the joint itself. The way the fasteners are loaded, the strength of the parts […]

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Third Class Medical Reform: Hope’s Not Misplaced

Anyone who’s been watching the torturous progress—if it can even be called progress—of the Third Class medical revision can be forgiven for a certain amount of cynicism. Many of us, I think, have given up completely, so much so that earlier in the week, I demurred from even writing about it again. I figured I […]

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