Flight Safety

I had dispatched a solo student on his cross-country trip. The route took him over some higher terrain — about 2,000 feet higher than his departure airport. As usual, I was listening on frequency to hear him clear the zone on route when he called flight service. Pilot:“The sky is falling, and I will be […]

When the investigators get around to completing their probe of the BA 777 fire and evacuation in Las Vegas last week, the look-see into the engine will be interesting enough. But I think I’m going to be just as interested in what they learn about how the evacuation was handled. Specifically, what role did the […]

A Louisville pilot was killed Saturday when his L-39 Albatros crashed during a routine at the Wings of the big South Fork Air and Car Show at Scott Municipal Airport near Oneida.Jay “Flash” Gordon has been identified as the only occupant of the Czech trainer. Blake Dunlap, the pilot’s nephew, said the aircraft failed to […]

A Piper Aerostar being used in the filming of a Tom Cruise movie in Colombia crashed Friday, killing a well-known Hollywood aerial helicopter stunt specialist. Alan Purwin, who has worked on dozens of high-profile movies, was a passenger in the Aerostar. Cruise was not aboard the aircraft, which crashed in bad weather while on its […]

The pilot of the Hawker Hunter that crashed at a U.K. airshow in late August, killing 11 people, has been released from the hospital and will shortly be interviewed by crash investigators. Andy Hill, 51, a former RAF pilot and a current British Airways captain, was put in an induced coma after the crash and […]

Especially when looking at recent accidents involving scheduled airliners, it occurs that some people are still having problems with their landings. Yes, they can be difficult to master, especially when crosswinds or other factors complicate things and distract us. But this shouldn’t be so hard. If you’re having trouble, it may be you’re simply out […]

Garmin will power the panel for Cirrus’s new SF50 Vision Jet and the touchscreen system includes five screens, including massive PFD and MFD displays. Cirrus says the Cirrus Perspective Touch by Garmin “sets the new standard in performance, personalization, safety and ease of use for operators.” Of course, the list of standard features includes all […]

If you’re a YouTube aviation video junkie, you’ve probably seen this one of what’s called a blade-out test. It’s intended to prove that the containment around a high-bypass turbofan engine can prevent shrapnel from ricocheting outside the engine in the event that the fan loses one or more blades. Or the engine core comes asunder. […]

It appears an uncontained engine failure led to the dramatic aborted takeoff and evacuation of a British Airways Boeing 777 at Las Vegas on Tuesday. The NTSB released its preliminary report Thursday and said parts of the left GE90-85B engine were found on the runway along the takeoff path and “initial examination of the left […]

The NTSB will hold a day-long forum addressing loss-of-control accidents in GA on Oct. 14 in Washington, D.C. Loss of control, one of the board’s primary topics in accident reduction efforts this year, continues to be a top cause of GA fatalities. The upcoming event, “Humans and Hardware: Preventing Inflight Loss of Control in General […]