Flight Safety

Walking out of the doctor’s office, holding the piece of paper on which the duly authorized Aviation Medical Examiner attested that, as of a few moments ago, I met the minimum standards to hold an airman medical certificate, I breathed a sigh of relief and headed out to the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport. […]

AVweb’s “FBO of the Week” contest is sponsored by Aviation Safety magazine, the monthly journal of risk management and accident prevention. Thanks to all the pilots and AVweb readers who took time to nominate their favorite FBOs in our “FBO of the Week” contest. From nearly 50 nominations, today’s ribbon finds its target in Tennessee. […]

This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, December 2003. Each pilot rating or certificate is a hard-earned trophy that rewards pilots for their efforts, not with a shiny sparkle from a shelf in the den, but with heightened skill for flying the airplane. They stand as testaments to the pilot’s ability to eke utility out […]

AVweb’s “FBO of the Week” contest is sponsored by Aviation Safety magazine, the monthly journal of risk management and accident prevention. Thanks to all the pilots and AVweb readers who took time to nominate their favorite FBOs in our first-ever “FBO of the Week” contest. From nearly 50 nominations we’ve received since announcing the contest […]

Damn, it’s early! I know it is really three hours later, body-wise, because I live on the east coast, but it still feels like 5 a.m. A light rain is falling on LAX this morning. Not enough to get my uniform wet and certainly not enough to justify a rain poncho as I head out […]

AVweb’s “FBO of the Week” contest is sponsored by Aviation Safety magazine, the monthly journal of risk management and accident prevention. We need your help to identify and acknowledge the best FBOs in the world. Whether it’s your local FBO or a recent fuel stop, tell us what made it a memorable (or not so […]

This article originally appeared in IFR Refresher, April 2005. When we depart on an instrument flight we expect that the journey will progress normally to our intended destination. That, of course, is not a realistic expectation, as anybody at the NTSB can tell you. Because the chance of something going wrong is always there, we […]

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Question: What were non-radar operations called before radar?Answer: Air Traffic ControlYou may wonder why I’m putting the very basics — the bedrock — of Air Traffic Control in an advanced class in my series of ATC courses. The answer is simple: Because it’s complicated. It also involves a lot of math. I hate math. Be […]

As do pilots all over the world, we who gather here in the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport read and discuss aircraft accident reports. Recently we got to perusing a fatal accident involving a relatively new, inexperienced, private pilot flying in the Midwest.While I’m amending the details a bit to preserve anonymity, the gentleman […]