Flight Safety

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.

Malaysian Officials Say MH370 “Ended” Over Ocean (Updated)

The race is now on to find the flight data and cockpit voice recorders from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 after an analysis of satellite data determined the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 “ended in the southern Indian Ocean,” Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Monday. Bad weather is hampering the search for the wreckage […]

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Short Final

An Air New Zealand DC-10 en route from Auckland to Honolulu was about to pass the southbound company flight in the early morning hours, and its crew was chatting with another flight on the inter-plane frequency. In short order, a Qantas aircraft joined the conversation. A bit later, a USAF MAC aircraft called in as […]

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Street, Store Accidents Kill Two

A couple of off-airport accidents in Florida killed two people and injured three others. In the latest mishap, Jeffrey Bronken, the pilot of a Piper Archer, was killed after ending up on a street in Clearwater, Fla., on Saturday morning. Two teenage girls, Katherine Bronken and Keyana Linbo, were injured. All were from the Chicago […]

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Southwest Wrong Airport Tower Tapes Released

After an open records request by NBC5 in Dallas, the FAA Friday released recordings of the radio exchange after a Southwest Airlines 737 landed at the wrong Missouri airport last Jan. 12. As might be expected there was initial confusion on both ends of the conversation between a pilot sitting near the end of a […]

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Wedding Party Witnesses Fatal Crash

The search is on for the pilot and four passengers aboard a Socata TBM 700 that crashed in a southern Colorado reservoir in front of a wedding party Saturday. The TBM was on its way from Bartlesville, Okla., to Montrose, Colo., and crashed in the Ridgway Reservoir in 60-90 feet of water. No names have […]

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ATC Fees: EAA Cuts Its Losses

If theres an aviation version ofrealpolitik, we saw it on Friday when EAA announced its caving in to FAA demands that the association pay for air traffic services at AirVenture. This decision will be bitterly disappointing for many members, while others will just accept it as the cost of doing business and an inevitability. Its […]

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Air Care Alliance: The Voice of Public Benefit Flying

One of the ongoing bright spots in the world of public perception of general aviation is the growing recognition that pilots are quietly volunteering their time, skills and aircraft to make flights that benefit others. The purposes of the flights vary widely-they may help many people at once, such as through documentation of environmental degradation, […]

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Aerostar Filmed Buzzing Before Fatal Crash

Video shows a Piper Aerostar apparently buzzing a neighborhood east of Denver, Colo., before pitching up and then diving into the ground where it exploded, killing the pilot and setting a two-acre grass fire. The aircraft owner and pilot have not been identified; however, the airplane had been based in California until two weeks ago […]

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A ‘Credible Lead’ For MH370?

News reports late on Wednesday said Australian officials had spotted two objects via satellite that could be floating debris from the lost Malaysian Airlines 777. Ships and aircraft are under way now to the site to investigate.Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters in Kuala Lumpur the new information is a “credible lead.” “There remains […]

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Review Team Finds Boeing 787 Safe

A joint FAA/Boeing design review team reported (PDF) that the Boeing 787 is safe, but made recommendations for improvement for both the FAA and Boeing. Specifically, the joint team of FAA and Boeing technical experts found that the aircraft was soundly designed, met its intended safety level, and that the manufacturer and the FAA had […]

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