Flight Safety

NASA says a significant surge in anonymous safety reports for 2023 is actually “positive indication of a healthy safety culture” and marks a “banner year” for its Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) program.  In its year-end roundup featured in its CALLBACK newsletter, NASA highlighted the program’s success. “ASRS’s business of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating all kinds of aviation […]

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced today it will discontinue its “Most Wanted” list of transportation safety improvements at year-end. Begun in 1990, the list has highlighted safety issues the board viewed as priorities for attention from related government agencies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as industry stakeholders. Aviation-specific items on […]

The NTSB has concluded a JetBlue captain’s decision to take off prematurely to prevent a potential head-on collision with an opposing King Air led to a heavy tailstrike that forced an emergency diversion. As we reported at the time, the incident occurred at Yampa Valley Airport in January of 2022. The airport does not have […]

Canadian airlines and the country’s regulator are defending aviation safety in the country after the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) gave Canada a C in its implementation of international safety standards. The confidential report, obtained by the Canadian Press news agency, gave Canada a score of 64 out of 100 according to CH-Aviation. A similar […]

The FAA has proposed an AD that will require all 6,000 Boeing 737NG aircraft in service in the U.S. to be retrofitted with beefed-up engine nacelles. The AD was issued after a couple of fan blade failure incidents on Southwest aircraft in which pieces of the nacelle pierced the fuselage of the aircraft. In a […]

The Coast Guard has grounded all 14 of its C-27J Spartan maritime patrol aircraft after finding serious structural cracks on every one of them. The Coast Guard inspected the planes after the manufacturer Leonardo of Italy issued a service bulletin. The cracks were found where horizontal and vertical stabilizers attach to the fuselage. Leonardo says […]

It would appear the long-awaited FAA reauthorization bill will be punted to the next session of Congress. Several outlets are reporting that Rep. Sam Graves, R-Missouri, chairman of the House Commerce and Infrastructure Committee, and Ranking Member Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Washington, have put forth a bill that would extend the current authorization to March 8. […]

The FAA has confirmed that Trevor Jacob, the California pilot who intentionally crashed a Taylorcraft for a YouTube video two years ago, has been issued a temporary pilot certificate. “His pilot application is working its way through our standard process. He has a temporary pilot certificate. You can read more about temporary certificates here,” the […]

NTSB officials and panelists at a summit Wednesday on pilot mental health said they were optimistic the issue would be addressed by the aviation community. Speaking at the daylong meeting held by the NTSB in Washington, speakers pressed home the need to allow pilots with mental health issues safe ways to seek treatment for their illnesses. […]

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported Jenny Blalock, 45, an aviation vlogger, died when the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza she was piloting crashed in Giles County, Tennessee, Thursday morning.  Blalock had gained a following of nearly 16,000 subscribers on YouTube sharing aviation videos and documenting her flights under the username TNFlygirl.  Data from FlightAware.com shows the aircraft registered to Plantation Reclaimed Inc. It took off from […]