Flight Safety

This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, March 2004. Night flight brings with it a number of threatening elements. From invisible weather to pilot fatigue to visual illusions, night brings with it challenges that don’t seem daunting until you are alone in the darkness.In some countries, an instrument rating is required to fly at night. […]

One of the advantages of flying from the Eastern Time zone to the Pacific is that when you get there it always seems early and you always have enough time for a good dinner.Our 6 p.m. arrival in SFO was really a 3 p.m. arrival by their left-coast standards, which left enough time for a […]

Nominate an FBO | Rules | Tips | Questions | Winning FBOs AVweb’s “FBO of the Week” ribbon goes to CROTTS AIRCRAFT at KDDC, Dodge City, Kansas. ALAN OCHS wrote in to tell us, “THE STAFF AT CROTTS AIRCRAFT ARE THE BEST. THEY ALWAYS GO THE EXTRA MILE TO KEEP PEOPLE FLYING. I HAVE SEEN […]

This article originally appeared in IFR Refresher, December 2004. IFR accidents typically fall into a few specific categories: Someone will get it wrong on climbout or approach, weather smites an unsuspecting pilot or a plane encounters something substantially more solid than a puffy cloud.Which makes the following accident interesting in what the pilot didn’t do. […]

I need a new phrase. The ones I know just don’t quite fit. There’s a growing trend in aviation — for both pilots and controllers — and it troubles me: We aren’t paying close attention. The “little things” seem to slip through the cracks more often than in the past.I’ll just talk it out and […]