Flight Safety

More than a decade after its debut as a play in a small New York theater, Charlie Victor Romeo — which depicts cockpit crews coping with emergencies, in dialogue drawn directly from cockpit voice recorder transcripts — is collecting positive reviews as a 3-D movie. The film, now in limited release in New York and […]

A review of press releases this week found one issued after Republic Airways Holdings announced that it would hire half the pilots it expected to because of a lack of candidates that meet new FAA experience rules. Craig Moffatt, President of Teamsters Local 357, which represents the more than 3000 pilots who fly for the […]

Winter may be doing its best to deal a one-two punch, but pilots are fighting back with fly ins this weekend. Our weekly survey of SocialFlight found events throughout the country, from the very cold climes to delightfully temperate. Our eyes were first drawn to an interesting one on our northern border: the 67th annual […]

The FAA has announced that it will be hiring 10,000 controllers over the next decade, with 6,000 in the next five years. It is accepting applications now. Successful applicants must be U.S. citizens, able to start training before their 31st birthday, and willing to relocate to to an air traffic facility based on the FAAs […]

To thunderous applause from alphabet groups, the House passed a bill Tuesday that will force the FAA to go through a formal rulemaking process to institute its controversial sleep apnea measures. As we reportedin November, FAA Air Surgeon Dr. Fred Tilton sent a newsletter to air medical examiners telling them that any pilot with a […]

The House Transportation Committee has approved a bill that would ban passengers from talking on their cellphones in flight. The bill, which still must be debated by the full House, would ban only voice communications and would allow passengers to text, go online and email while on aircraft. A similar bill has also been proposed […]

Reports of lasers pointed at aircraft in flight have increased from 2,836 in 2010 to 3,960 in 2013 — that’salmost 11 incidents per day — and this week the FBI and the Air Line Pilots Association joined with the FAA to announce a new “threat awareness campaign.” The effort will target 12 cities with public […]

At least 77 people, many of them women and children, may have been killed in the crash of an Algerian military transport aircraft Tuesday in northern Algeria. The C-130 was initially reported to be carrying 99 passengers and four crew but the Algerian government corrected that late Tuesday.The aircraft was taking military personnel and their […]

Pilots must not use their laptops, iPads, or any other electronic device for personal use at any time while operating a Part 121 aircraft, whether for a passenger or cargo operation, the FAA said on Tuesday. The rule (PDF) reinforces procedures that already are standard at airlines, the FAA said. Also the “sterile cockpit” rule, […]

Landing at the wrong airport, or starting an approach to the wrong airport, is not that unusual for commercial passenger and cargo aircraft, according to an analysis by The Associated Press this week. In an review of NASA safety reports, news accounts and other sources, the AP found 35 wrong-airport landings over the last 20 […]