Flight Safety

Probably the most difficult task on the Instrument Rating (IR) practical test is Area VII, Task D: Approach with Loss of Primary Flight Instrument Indicators. But why is the FAA so interested in this? In their own words from the IR Practical Test Standards (PTS): The FA A is concerned about numerous fatal aircraft accidents […]

Technology in development at Tufts University in Boston could detect when an air traffic controller’s over-tasked brain is nearing the saturation point and instantly redistribute the workload, according to a report this week in the Boston Globe. Computer scientist Robert Jacob and biomedical engineer Sergio Fantini are working together to create a headband that reads […]

A U.S. Navy pilot was killed when an F/A-18C training aircraft crashed Saturday afternoon about 70 miles east of the Naval Air Station in Fallon, Nev. “Initial reports from the scene indicate the aircraft is a total loss,” said Lt. Reagan Lauritzen, a public affairs officer with the U.S. Pacific Fleet in San Diego. “It […]

Operators of about 500 Boeing 737 aircraft would have to replace or upgrade autothrottle computers to comply with a proposed airworthiness directive published by the FAA on Monday. The AD would mandate actions that Boeing already has recommended to operators via service bulletins. The AD was “prompted by reports in which a single, undetected, erroneous […]

We love a pilot who accidentally says over the mic something everyone has thought at one time or another. When arriving at the first stop on our pilots association’s annual poker run, one of our pilots said on the frequency, for all to hear: “Geez. There’s more than one runway here. That makes it kinda […]

A new report released this week by the Government Accountability Office offers a mixed view of whether the much-discussed airline pilot shortage actually exists, but it does confirm that regional airlines are having trouble finding qualified pilots. The GAO report (PDF), which was done at the behest of Congress, found that the projected need for […]

I can rightly-but not necessarily proudly-claim dual citizenship in two Villages of the Damned: journalism and aviation. Journalism, that noble guardian of the public trust and traveler of the moral high road, has been utterly disrupted by the rise of countless internet news services and a young generation that doesnt read. In aviation, an asymptotic […]

In a strongly-wordedposting on its website, the FAA directly addressed what it called misconceptions and misinformation about unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) regulations. It listed seven common myths and set out the underlying facts on each. The myths include that the FAA doesnt control airspace below 400 feet-it is responsible for all U.S. airspace from the […]

During March, the NTSB will offer two courses related to accident investigation and one on accident response and victim family support at its training center in Auburn, Va. The Aircraft Accident Investigation course will run from March 31 through April 11 and is designed to provide participants with a comprehensive overview of the procedures and […]

Before Civil Air Patrol’s Command Council convenes in Washington, D.C., this week for its annual winter meeting, it will gather on Capitol Hill for Legislative Day on Feb. 27 to brief Congress on the U.S. Air Force auxiliary’s primary missions of emergency services, aerospace education and cadet programs. Legislative Day will also feature induction of […]