Flight Safety

AVwebs weekly news roundup uncovered reports about the tight competition in the Red Bull Air Race series as it touches down in Asia, the success of the Pilatus PC-7 trainer in service with the Indian air force, Embry-Riddle Universitys new Masters degree program in Unmanned Systems and an upcoming NTSB meeting on ag aircraft safety. […]

Sixteen media organizations filed a brief (PDF) with the National Transportation Safety Board in support of aerial photographer Raphael Pirker. Pirker was fined $10,000 by the FAA for flying a drone near the University of Virginia to make a commercial video in October 2011. An administrative law judge ruled in March that the FAA can’t […]

The destruction of a B-17 Flying Fortress in June 2011 was caused by “inadequate repair of the fuel tank that allowed the fuel leak to continue, ultimately resulting in an in-flight fire,” the NTSB has concluded in its final report. The Liberty Belle, operated by the Liberty Foundation of Florida, was destroyed by fire after […]

Plenty of airports are plagued by problems with birds, but at one military airport in China, officials have discovered a unique solution — they trained rhesus monkeys to climb trees near the field and knock down bird nests. “Our airfield is located along one of the eight flyways, the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, so large numbers […]

Air carriers encounter turbulence every day and I wouldnt be surprised if it causes minor injuries nearly as often that we just dont hear about. On Sunday, a U.S. Airways flight departing Philadelphia caught some nasty bumps over Delaware that bounced people off the overheads and injured a few passengers and at least one flight […]

The FAA and GA advocacy groups have teamed up to support an eight-month-long national safety campaign about weather challenges. The project, called “Got Weather?”, aims to help pilots better prepare for dealing with weather they may encounter during the year’s busiest flying season. Federal officials and leaders of GA groups kicked off the campaign on […]

Back near Christmas of 1979, I was on my first solo ferry flight to Europe in a Cessna 206. I was filed from Bangor, Maine, direct to Shannon, Ireland, to negate the need for the required inspection in Moncton for single-engine crossings. I passed a position report mid-Atlantic through a passing airliner on 121.5. After […]

A California airshow performer died Sunday while attempting an inverted cut-the-ribbon maneuver at a show at Travis Air Force Base. Eddie Andreini, 77, was killed when his modified “Super” Stearman hit the ground inverted and caught fire in front of the crowd. “No one wants to see an event like this,” said base spokesman Col. […]

I hear it consistently, Yeah, Ill do the ADS-B bit later, once there are more boxes to chose from and the price comes down, Ive got lots of time. Maybe not. While the sky is not falling, pilots are notorious for procrastinating when it comes to compliance with regs-ask any AME whether the demand for […]

After initially refusing to release the preliminary report on the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight 370 (callsign MH370), the Malaysian government has made it available to the public. In five pages, the report outlines the facts known about the history of the flight, the disappearance and search. It recounts details of the departure from Kuala […]