Flight Safety

Matching serial numbers from a piece of flaperon found on a French island in July confirm the debris is from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, French investigators said Thursday. While Malaysian officials announced in August the 9-foot piece was from the Boeing 777 that disappeared in March 2014, the French government held off on its own […]

Two Army soldiers were injured Wednesday in central Colorado when their Blackhawk helicopter made a hard landing in a remote forest. The two unidentified soldiers were among four on board the helicopter, which was on a training flight at about 4:30 p.m., according to a report from KDVR in Denver. They were from Fort Carson’s […]

The FAA on Wednesday updated its 34-year-old Advisory Circular on personal model aircraft, issuing safety and airspace rules similar to the ones it has issued on consumer drones. The new version, which triples the length of the original 1981 AC(PDF) to three pages from one, limits model aircraft to 55 pounds unless certified by a […]

The FAA has reported that an “unknown object” struck a Piper Apache while in flight near Romeoville, Illinois, but according to the drone website suasnews.com, that object was likely a small drone. Citing an “unconfirmed report,” suasnews states that a Piper PA-23 twin impacted the drone at about 2,500 feet near Lewis University Airport (KLOT) […]

As part of its Fly Safe campaign aimed at general aviation pilots, the FAA on Tuesday posted information and links about the effect of drugs on flying skills — including prescription and over-the-counter medications, as well as illegal drugs. A 2011 study by the FAA found that 42 percent of toxicology reports from pilots who […]

Back when I was a student pilot in Navy Flight School, I was flying solo along the beach, conducting precision aerobatics practice. As I finished a barrel roll and set up for a loop, I heard a student-and-instructor aircraft check in to the area, and the exchange went like this: Instructor:“Solo aircraft 123, was that […]

The champagne was flowing but so was the oxygen and that meant an easyJet flight from Gatwick to Turkey spent seven hours on the ground in Milan. The aircraft was taking holiday makers to a Turkish resort when a flight attendant did her best to add to the festive atmosphere. But in uncorking a fresh […]

I get a certain perverse pleasure out of fishing for stupidity and not to make light of my fellow aviators’ misfortunes, the Grand Banks of stupidity is found in the NTSB accident database. Here, you will find a vast and ever varied trove of trained, government-certified airmen enlisting the aid of perfectly serviceable airplanes to […]

Departing from a 4200-foot runway, the twin engine Beech B60 Duke lifted off after a 1500-foot takeoff roll. The landing gear was immediately retracted but at approximately 100 feet agl, a large puff of black smoke erupted from the left engine. Witnesses stated the airplane pitched up and then banked sharply to the left. At […]

An airshow pilot was killed during practice for the New York Air Show on Friday after the tail separated from the aircraft. The aircraft, a Giles 202 owned by airshow performer Andrew Wright, crashed in a wooded area. Reports did not immediately confirm the pilot was Wright, who has flown the Giles since 2001, according […]