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.
Hollywood film composer and pilot James Horner died Monday when his Tucano turboprop crashed in a forest in southern California. An Associated Press report, confirming Horner was the solo pilot and owner of the aircraft, said the Tucano crashed and burned in the Los Padres National Forest, about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles.The FAA […]
During my long and colorless career as a flight instructor, I’ve been asked a few times to pencil whip a flight review. This I have never done and still would not do, although I am surprised to admit my reasons for not doing so have changed. I never believed that FAR 61.56’s requirement for a […]
The pilot of a Cessna 185 on floats escaped injury after his aircraft collided with a Cessna 172 near the northern Alberta city of Fort McMurray on Sunday but his flight home will be one to remember. Both occupants of the 172, a training airplane from a Fort McMurray flight school, died in the resulting […]
The FAA last week published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would increase to 20 hours the simulator time allowed for the instrument rating, following an earlier attempt using a straight-to-final rule process that was derailed when two commenters objected to the change. The new proposal states that the FAA aims to “relieve burdens on […]
I just started flying my new-to-me Corby Starlet (only four flying in the U.S.A!), and on my first trip into Santa Rosa, California, STS, a KingAir pilot at the hold line asked the tower:“What is that little plane that just landed?” She came back:“I’ll have him tell us.” My response was:“N8I Charlie Charlie — an […]
A man is dead and another was found injured in England in an apparent airline stowaway accident, the BBC reported Friday. One man was found dead on a rooftop, while the other is in critical condition at a hospital after he was found in the undercarriage of a British Airways jet that flew from Johannesburg […]
A SCAT Airlines Boeing 737-300 burst into flames Tuesday when an oxygen cylinder exploded at Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan. Passengers had already disembarked and the airliner was waiting for its next flight, so no one was on board when the fire began, the Daily Mail reported. Dramatic video of the fire shows flames erupting from […]
As a long-time IA and A & P mechanic and pilot I look at airplanes with a somewhat different eye than pilots. My purpose, whether it’s actually inspecting an aircraft, flying one or writing about my experiences, is safety. Most certificated aircraft owners should know what the meaning of airworthy is and that there are […]
Sleep apnea is an ongoing issue for the pilot population, with the FAA requiring medical examiners to check all pilots for symptoms, but a new device that promises to simplify the treatment could help some of those pilots who are afflicted. The small device, about a cubic inch in size, plugs directly into the user’s […]
A while back, a controller at RDU International spoke in a robotic Cylon voice, using all official phraseology including “tree” and “fife” for “3” and “5.” We though he was trying to show everyone up and be a model of correctness. One night, I was practicing instrument approaches with a safety pilot, and that controller […]
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