Flight Safety

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 […]

The FAA has rejected widespread industry criticism and appears to be going ahead with an Airworthiness Directive affecting the cylinders on 6,000 engines.In what appears to be a response to the overwhelmingly negative industry feedback it has received, the FAA has taken another look at options to buffer the $82.6 million cost of a proposed […]

As if pilots didn’t have enough hazards to think about — bird strikes, other airplanes and random laser pointers, to name a few — now some pilots have complained that a sprawling new solar-energy plant in California, near the Nevada border, is blindingly bright. “From the pilot’s seat of my aircraft the brightness was like […]

With still no trace of the 777 more than 10 days after it took off, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has now been missing longer than any other commercial airplane in the modern era. New theories about its disappearance continue to arise — toxic fumes from the cargo hold, a cyber-hacking crime, a smoldering onboard fire […]

A news helicopter used by television station KOMO crashed in downtown Seattle early Tuesday and initial reports said at least two people died. The aircraft had just taken off from the rooftop helipad of KOMO’s building on Broad Street, a main downtown street, when it apparently hit the side of the building and fell in […]

At least weeks Aircraft Electronics Association show, famed aerobatic pilot Sean D. Tucker was the keynote speaker. The connection? Hes head of the EAAs Young Eagles program and a perfect choice for recruiting pilots. Hes enthusiastic, animated and knowledgeable. Im not sure AEA was the right audience for the pitch, but it was interesting to […]

Two airplanes took off from the same controlled airport right after each other — one a Cessna 172, the other a Cessna 182. The first off was the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, followed a minute or so later by his buddy in the Cessna 182. Both were headed for the same destination airport. Just before the […]

Letter of the Week:Flying to St. Barths I watched with great interest your video with the Aztec landing in St. Barths and finishing on the beach. I happened to be in St. Barths recently. I fly there regularly in my Cirrus SR-22 but was there most recently flying an airliner. Here are a few words […]

In watching the wall-to-wall coverage of MH 370, Ive been struck how, absent any information, most sources discussing this event want to assume it was the work of a rational person, that it was carefully planned and that there was some overarching goal. Those who believe the airplane was flown into Central Asia and landed, […]

For most of us tooling around the airstrip and to the occasional pancake breakfast, the size of our fuel tanks doesnt matter. But when youre planning a longer flight, your aircrafts range becomes a consideration. Put another way, if you want to travel more than 500 nm, tank-size matters, and not all of us are […]