Flight Safety

Letter of the Week:Fly the Airplane The old saying of “I can type at 80 words a minute but I can’t fly” applies, in my opinion, to a high percentage of airline pilots around the world. Belatedly, in April of this year, the FAA issued a safety alert for operators, the purpose of which was […]

Every year the National Transportation Safety Board allows organizations outside the federal government to enroll students in aircraft accident investigation school. This is not a watered-down version; rather, its the same course provided to new investigators. The vast majority of students are representatives of entities whose employees, products, or services are likely to be involved […]

The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) says the FAA should be looking in pilots’ logbooks to help it curtail the GA accident rate. The organization told a recent meeting on the FAA’s data collection process that the agency should “start collecting information on pilot recurrent safety training in addition to the data it […]

The NTSB Thursday announced it has issued a Final Rule applicable to the aviation certificate enforcement appeals process and that it is also issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to extend one of that rule’s benefits to pilots involved in emergency enforcement cases. The Final Rule allows pilots subjected to certificate enforcement to appeal to […]

China is expecting to lead the region’s demand for new commercial pilots as it takes delivery of more than 5,500 aircraft over the next two decades, and its current pilot population may already be stretching work hours to meet demand, so changes are likely coming. China’s civil aviation had a shortfall of 10,000 pilots in […]

A new direct to final rule issued Sept. 16 by the FAA introduces a subtle but substantive change for CFI candidates, and according to NAFI chairman of the board Robert Meder, “This is a good thing.” The new rule considers practical tests flown for the issuance of a flight instructor certificate, or renewal of a […]

The Air Force, through Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh, has publicized an account (perhaps the first) involving the engagement of an F-22 Raptor and Iranian F-4s flying within 16 miles of an MQ-1 Predator drone as the UAV flew over international waters off the coast of Iran. Welsh delivered the account Tuesday, saying the […]

First reports regarding the fatal crash of a Lancair 320 piloted by U.S. pilot David Riggs while flying in northeastern China for a movie state that he was attempting to “waterski” the aircraft across the surface of a lake, on its wheels, in bad weather. Chinese officials said Wednesday that a substantial portion of the […]

The FAA on Wednesday issued an Airworthiness Directive that requires airlines to inspect Honeywell ELTs by January 14, “to prevent an electrical short and possible ignition source.” The AD is “identical” to one issued last month by Transport Canada, the FAA said. Canada issued the order in response to the fire on board a Boeing […]

U.S. pilot David Riggs is missing and his Chinese translator is dead after the Lancair that Riggs was flying crashed into a lake in China about 1 p.m. on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. Rescuers are still looking for Riggs. According to Riggs’ website, he has set a speed record in a Lancair IVP […]