Flight Safety

AVweb’s Flight Safety section offers in-depth coverage of aviation safety topics, including accident analyses, risk management strategies, regulatory updates, and pilot training insights. Designed for pilots, instructors, and aviation professionals, this section provides timely information to enhance situational awareness and promote best practices in flight operations.

Airdrop Bomb Threat Interrupts Flight

A United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Vancouver was diverted to San Francisco Monday night after some passengers received an alleged bomb threat via Airdrop. “There was a threat that was ultimately deemed noncredible,” the FBI said in a statement. The threat would have had to have been sent by someone onboard using an […]

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Whitaker Gets NextGen Marching Orders From GAO

Recently confirmed FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker has received his first assignment from the Government Accountability Office, and he should be familiar with the subject matter. The GAO says Whitaker should get cracking on the NextGen air navigation modernization program. Whitaker was in charge of the program as the assistant administrator from 2013 to 2016. The […]

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Plane Hits Car After Overrun

There were no injuries when a Lancair IV-P Jetprop overran the runway at Aero Country Airport in McKinney, Texas, on Saturday and collided with a car on a road adjacent to the airport. Jack Schneider, who was at the airport picking up an aircraft to trailer home, got his cellphone recording just in time to […]

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Pilot Tried To Shut Off Engines To Escape Hallucinogenic Dream

The Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to shut off the engines from a flight deck jump seat says his earlier consumption of magic mushrooms triggered deep-seated mental issues that put him in a dreamlike state. In an exclusive interview with The New York Times, Joseph Emerson, who was the safety representative for Alaska’s San Francisco-based […]

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Senate Committee Probes Runway Safety

On Thursday, lawmakers and aviation experts gathered for a hearing to address a series of aviation incidents that have raised concerns about the FAA’s air traffic control arm and overall safety. The Nov. 9 hearing included testimony from National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy, FAA Air Traffic Organization Chief Operating Officer Tim Arel, National Air Traffic Controller […]

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NTSB Report: Accident Hawker Crew Departed Without Clearance

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its Preliminary Report on the runway-intersection collision between a Textron Hawker 850XP (N269AA) and a Cessna Citation Mustang (N510HM) at Houston Hobby Airport on Oct. 24 (NTSB Accident No. DCA24FA017). No one was injured among the three on board the Hawker, which was taking off for a […]

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FAA Launches Rulemaking Committee On Pilots’ Mental Health

With concerns raised over whether pilots fear seeking treatment for mental health issues, the FAA announced today (Nov. 9) it will establish a Pilot Mental Health Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to address the issue. According to the announcement, the FAA “expects the committee to provide recommendations on breaking down the barriers that prevent pilots from […]

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Citing Valve Damage, UND Drops Unleaded Fuel And Returns To 100LL (Updated)

After an extensive trial, the University of North Dakota’s flight school has dropped Swift UL94 fuel and resumed use of 100LL. The school said ongoing maintenance monitoring of aircraft using UL94—almost exclusively Lycoming-powered Piper Archers and Seminoles—resulted in measurable exhaust valve recession. The school made the switch back to 100LL on Oct. 27. Partly because […]

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FAA, Airlines Monitoring Pilot Experience Issues

The FAA is monitoring the correlation between pilot inexperience and aviation incidents and so far it isn’t finding much. In the recent hiring sprees at most airlines, pilots have been moving up the ranks at unprecedented rates. Rather than taking years, sometimes decades, to move up to larger and more complex equipment, the hiring blitz […]

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Pilot Mental Health Treatment Changes Urged

It’s time to change the approach to mental health in pilots from clinical to performance-based, according to a neurologist who specializes in air crew brain health and pilot health care behavior. William Hoffman, an affiliated assistant professor of aviation at the University of North Dakota John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Science, said in an […]

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