Flight Safety

Like a punch drunk fighter, I’ve grown accustomed to daily press stories about general aviation that either excoriate the industry-USA Today, for example-or cover the subject with such shallowness that it’s laughable. I think all of us have learned to roll with the blows and hope tomorrow brings better. On NBC News last night, it […]

Just because the vast majority of the airplanes most of us fly have their little wheel mounted on the nose instead of the tail doesn’t mean the nosewheel is immune to abuse. Nor does it mean we can ignore the nosewheel’s peculiarities, even if an airplane with one is much easier to handle on the […]

The flight data recorder from the Phenom that crashed inMarylandon Monday shows the airplane slowed to 88 knots on approach, with the flaps extended and landing gear down, the NTSB’s Robert Sumwalt said on Tuesday. At that point, the FDR shows the aircraft experienced “large excursions in pitch and in roll.” About two seconds later, […]

Pilots in commercial cargo operations will not be subject to the same rest and duty-time rules that apply to pilots who work for passenger-carrying airlines, the FAA affirmed on Tuesday. The FAA reviewed its final rule on the matter, issued in January 2012, in response to comments made on its financial analysis. A fresh analysis […]

Throughout my flying career, I’ve occasionally run into what I might generously call the Marlboro Man of aviation. That should probably be the plural form, men, because there’s more than just a small handful of these guys. You know the type. It’s the guy who has no use for any kind of regulation, even if […]

All three people on board an Embraer Phenom jet and three people on the ground died when the aircraft crashed into a home in suburban Gaithersburg, Maryland, about 10:45 local time Monday morning. A woman and her two small children, who lived in the house, have been confirmed dead. The house was heavily damaged and […]

One clear Christmas night, my wife and I were returning to San Diego after visiting our son in central California. There was little radio traffic, but check-ins with controllers were invariably prefaced with “Merry Christmas.” So, as we proceeded into Bakersfield’s air space: Me:“Good evening, Bakersfield. Merry Christmas.” Bakersfield Tower:“Humbug.” Me:“Why ‘humbug’?” Bakersfield Tower:“Have you […]

The FAA says it will improve contingency plans so it can better react to emergencies like the fire at Chicago Center in September. An internal review of the response after the sabotage and attempted suicide that shut down one of the country’s busiest ATC facilities says more airspace flexibility and a plan for staff deployment […]

Letter of the Week:Third Class Medical Issues Regarding Woody Beck’s article on the decline of GA: He states the following,“Over the longer term, changes in the third class medical will have no significant impact because its cost is negligible, roughly the cost of 15 gallons of av fuel every two years for us older pilots.” […]

Mooney says it will certify and build its new M10 trainers at its Chino, California, facility initially, but may also build production capability at the company’s long-established Kerrville, Texas, factory. Mooney CEO Jerry Chen told AVweb this week that the company has already worked out the basics of its certification program with the FAA and […]