Flight Safety

Pilots and controllers who may be obese will have an extra hoop to jump for their medical certification to ensure they don’t have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Federal Air Surgeon Dr. Fred Tilton has notified(PDF) Air Medical Examiners (AMEs) that they will soon be required to measure the body mass index (BMI)of all pilots and […]

In a public submission, the NTSB has told the FAA it does not understand the foreseeable safety benefit of the FAAs proposed action regarding specific parts of the agencys NPRM on ECi cylinder assemblies. As written, the FAAs NRPM would require thousands of aircraft owners to inspect or replace certain ECi engine cylinders. In its […]

A passenger reportedly fell from a Piper PA-46 Thursday soon after departure from Tamiami Airport, but authorities could not immediately confirm the incident took place because they could not find a body. According to the FAA, the pilot told air traffic controllers that the passenger opened the backdoor and he just fell out the plane, […]

Especially when looking at recent accidents involving scheduled airliners, it occurs that some people are still having problems with their landings. Yes, they can be difficult to master, especially when crosswinds or other factors complicate things and distract us. But this shouldnt be so hard. If youre having trouble, it maybe youre simply out of […]

You have a new glass panel airplane that will surely enhance your IFR flying, but you are not instrument current or proficient using the new equipment. You are planning an important business trip in the new airplane but are concerned you may have to file IFR. Add in some pressure to get there with challenging […]

A Reaper attack and surveillance drone has gone down in Lake Ontario during a training mission about 1 p.m. local time. The Reaper belonged to the Syracuse, New York-based 174th Attack Wing of the Air National Guard, which trains Air Force pilots to fly them all over the world. The flight originated at Fort Drum […]

The pilot who died in the crash of a twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B-25 turboprop Sunday afternoon in Oklahoma was the son of Sen. Jim Inhofe, according to local news reports. The airplane, which crashed after reportedly losing power in at least one engine, had been sold to Perry Inhofe, 52, an orthopedic surgeon, in September. Nobody […]

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. […]