Flight Safety

After last week’s Short Final, we had quite a few tongue-twisters in our submission box. If you have one – by all means, scroll down and click on the link to tell us! Back in the early 1960s, I was a USAF F-101B Voodoo interceptor pilot flying out of the San Francisco Bay area. Every […]

Those dreaming of flying to Cuba in their own aircraft will have to wait for now. Even though the U.S. has liberalized travel restrictions to the island nation and some airlines are gearing up for scheduled service, the virtual ban on flying a private aircraft from the U.S. to Cuba remains in effect. “The rules […]

When considering how to crash, my first bit of advice is don’t do it. Since the reality of any flight is that things can go wrong, that isn’t particularly helpful, I know. What can go wrong? Your crankshaft can break, your fuel lines can clog or, if you are a damn fool, you can run […]

The FAA will impose new guidance on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to air medical examiners on March 2. The new rules are much different than the controversial 2013 edict that came from then-Chief Flight Surgeon Fred Tilton, which automatically grounded pilots with body mass index of 40 or more. But it does require AMEs to […]

Fourteen GA groups told the FAA on Friday the agency must straighten out issues with the ADS-B Out compliance rules if aircraft owners are to meet the 2020 deadline for the new equipment requirements. In a letter to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta (PDF), they highlighted concerns including compliance for experimental aircraft, which don’t have type […]

Advocates of third-class medical reform hope their campaign will forge ahead with help from new leadership announced this week in the Congressional GA caucuses. Sens. John Boozman, R-Ark., and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., will co-chair the Senate caucus. In the House, Reps. Sam Graves, R-Mo., and Marc Veasey, D-Texas, will serve as co-chairs. Boozman and Graves […]

A Maryland man pleaded guilty this week to a federal charge of pointing a laser at a Baltimore County police helicopter in 2014, the Baltimore Sun reported.The helicopter was flying over a high school in September when a green laser beam twice illuminated the cockpit, according to the Sun’s report on the court case.Two officers […]

A drone pilot who fought a $10,000 government fine for filming video with an unmanned aircraft in 2011 has settled his case for $1,100 without admitting guilt, Bloomberg reported Thursday. Raphael Pirker, a Swiss citizen, flew a drone over the University of Virginia in 2011 to make a promotional video. In court, he challenged the […]

The bodies of pilot Larry Glazer and his wife, Jane, whose TBM 900 crashed into the Caribbean in September, have been recovered, according to a report in USA Today. The New York couple were flying to their second home in Naples, Florida, when they became unresponsive from an apparent loss of cabin pressure. Air Force […]

Cockpit cameras and improved locator technology are among the recommendations the NTSB put before the FAA Thursday in the wake of investigations including the crash of Air France 447 and the yet-to-be-found Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. Following up on a technology forum last fall, the NTSB reiterated its idea thata “crash-protected image recording system” to […]