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.
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr says random tests to determine the psychological fitness of pilots could reduce the risk to passengers from mentally ill pilots. In his first media interview since the Germanwings disaster in March, Spohr told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung such checks would likely require a loosening of strict doctor-patient confidentiality laws that now prevent […]
When I tour around to report on airplane projects, I have basically two reactions and having the imagination of a turnip, these are consistent. The first is wide-eyed wonderment at the audacity of it all; building machines that lift and hurl themselves through the atmosphere with people in them. The second, upon realizing the staggering […]
Airbus is ordering engine software checks on A400M military aircraft after one of the four-engine turboprops crashed in Seville, Spain, on May 9 during a test flight, killing four of the six on board. According to a Reuters report, Airbus found data from the crash indicating a possible problem with the installation of the system […]
The FAA this week issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive for Avidyne Integrated Flight Display units due to cases of incorrect course indications during RNAV approaches where the final fix is not aligned with the final approach course. The AD (PDF)affects some software versions of 10- and 12-inch R9 displays and the IFD540. It requires adding […]
Doug Hughes, the Florida mail carrier who landed his gyrocopter at the U.S. Capitol last month, pleaded not guilty in federal court Thursday to six felony and misdemeanor charges including illegally flying an aircraft and breaching Washington, D.C., restricted airspace. A grand jury indicted Hughes on the charges stemming from his April 15 flight, which […]
Once again, it’s the season to talk about fixing the FAA, this time by moving the air traffic function out of the agency and into a separate agency or a privatized corporation of some sort. As we reported, Rep. John Mica has introduced a billin the House of Representatives that would turn ATC into an […]
The FAA is forming a working group to examine the medical certification of pilots and other airline workers in reaction to the Germanwings pilot who crashed an A320 in the Alps to commit suicide, killing all aboard. According to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday, the panel will include U.S. and international representatives of the air […]
The question of a pilot shortage continues to draw comments from all segments of the aviation industry, showing that interests instead of fact may be what’s generating press and clouding real analysis. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) contends that there is no pilot shortage, but a pilot pay shortage. If you think this is […]
En route from TRK to RHV recently in Centurion 7RR, I found myself on the same center frequency as Bonanza — 5JJ! I was really tempted to tell center:“7 Romeo Romeo would like to connect with 5 Juliet Juliet.” But I didn’t want to start a feud, so I bit my tongue and said nothing. […]
The pre-flight inspection is something we learn about during our first flight lesson. We poke, prod, uncowl, measure and eyeball various fluids and components while the airplane is still safely on the ramp, all to help decide if it’s safe to fly. Yet, once we take off, we often find we missed something. Hopefully, what […]
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