Flight Safety

The search resumed at daybreak Monday for the AirAsia Indonesia A320 that disappeared from radar above the Java Sea early Sunday morning. So far, several sightings of floating debris and oil slicks in the region have been checked out and found not to be associated with the jet. Government officials said the search will expand […]

Back in the 1970s, when transponders were just starting to be used, a pilot contacted Tucson Approach Control. Approach asked him if he “had a transponder on board.” To which the pilot responded:“No. Just the wife and I, headed to Phoenix.” Burke McClure

At the risk of being mistaken, at least momentarily, for some doe-eyed Pollyanna, today’s blog will depart from the usual gloom for a brief bout of unabashed aviation boosterism. No, it’s not the Xanax kicking in, just soaring inspiration from seeing how much enthusiasm and creative vitality some people bring to general aviation through the […]

Only a small percentage of the controller work force in the system today-or for that matter, in the past-are or have been pilots. Controllers are taught to perform the duties and provide the services that are outlined in the controller’s bible, the FAA Order 7110.65, Air Traffic Control Manual. While they have been made aware […]

There was plenty of weather along the route of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 early Sunday but nothing airlines that ply the busy air corridors over the Java Sea don’t regularly cope with. Weather officials said lightning strikes were recorded in the same area and at the same time the A320 with 162 people on board “lost […]

Much like the FAA’s Christmas-week safety campaign for those who received unmanned aerial vehicles as gifts, The UK’s aviation regulators sent the message (PDF) to consumers that disruptive or unsafe use of drones could result in hefty fines. The Daily Mail of London reported on Christmas Day that the Civil Aviation Authority said drone users […]

Monday must have been one of those schizophrenic days that only a federal agency could suffer. Just as The Washington Post broke a story that the FAA had hired its own lobbyist to suggest ways of speeding up the drone flight approval process against warnings by its own safety inspectors, it was participating in the […]

Several years ago, I was flying from John Wayne (KSNA) to Big Bear (L35) on a route that crossed that of arriving traffic into Ontario (KONT). It was the anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight, well into the holiday gift-buying season. East of Ontario, SoCal instructed me to alter course 20 degrees to the […]

Four passengers and one crew member were treated for injuries after severe turbulence forced an American Airlines flight to divert while en route to Dallas from Seoul, South Korea, CNN reported this week. The flight landed in Narita, Japan, and those injured were taken to local hospitals, CNN said.American Airlines Flight 280 was a Boeing […]

An experienced pilot will make a better decision about whether to attempt a marginal landing while showing only about half as much brain activity as less experienced pilots, according to a recent study completed by scientists at Stanford University. The research used a flight simulator set up like the cockpit of a single-engine airplane. Eight […]