Flight Safety

The deck of a cargo ship in the English Channel became a landing site recently for the pilot of a Foxbat Xtreme STOL airplane. The landing, caught on camera from several angles, was a carefully planned stunt by Dutch pilot Jaap Rademaker. “The ship was sailing at 9 knots speed over ground, the true windspeed […]

I was flying from EWR-DFW the week after the Texas-Oklahoma University football game (won by Texas this year). On the center frequency, an aircraft with the call sign “Oklahoma One” checked in, and after each conversation with center, they responded “Oklahoma One.” Finally, someone keyed the mic and said, “No, Texas won.” The silence was […]

Letter of the Week:Airline Pilot Training Regarding the new flight training regulations: I flew for the airlines most of my life (retired now) have more than 23,000 hours and several type ratings. When an airline I worked for first got the Canadair CL-65 regional jet, the failure rate for upgrade was more than 70 percent. […]

Canada’s Transportation Safety Board says Emirates Airlines elected to fly an A380 more than 5,000 miles across the Atlantic, southern Europe and the Mediterranean to Kuwait on three engines after the number four engine flamed out about an hour after takeoff from JFK. The original destination was Dubai for Flight 202 on Oct 26.”The crew […]

Last weekends midair collision between two Cessnas carrying skydivers wasnt the first midair caught on camera, but it may be the first impact filmed by a passenger from five feet away. Google gives the accident an entire page of search hits. That film will give the FAA and NTSB plenty to chew on in determining […]

Economic conditions in Europe are creating a challenge for some prospective professional pilots as the costs of their training has not declined, but pilot pay in many cases has, according to Bloomberg News. In Germany, pilots paying their own way through training can spend nearly $100,000 on that process, Bloomberg said, while the unemployment rate […]

Pilot Matt Fandler, who escaped under canopy from an airborne, broken and burning Cessna 182 after a midair with a Cessna 185 prior to a planned formation skydive, has spoken with NBC News in an exclusive interview recorded for Dateline. All 11 participants and one of two aircraft survived the event. Fandler, who flew the […]

The annual Wolf Aviation Fund grant, provided to individuals and organizations doing great work in general aviation, has announced its final call for applications, accepted this year until Dec. 15. The grant award program has over the years offered financial support to a total of more than 350 programs that meet the funds criteria in […]

The FAA Thursday released its UAS Roadmap and Comprehensive Plan to integrate unmanned aerial systems, or UAS (also known as UAVs or drones) in the national airspace. The release addresses current and future policies, regulations, technologies and procedures that will allow operation of unmanned aerial vehicles in the nations airspace with emphasis on extensive integration. […]

Recently I flew from Northern California to an airport Id never been to in the Los Angeles area. The flight was uneventful until about 35 minutes from the destination when Ireceived an amendment to my clearance. Amendments arent unusual in or around congested Class B airspace, but with modern electronic navigators, dealing with route changes […]