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.
Read the NTSB report here. Eyewitness Account After 33 years of accident-free flying, I experiencedthe worst horror I have yet seen around 1:30 PST this Thanksgiving Day. I had flown theTwin Comanche from Mariposa to Carson City, a trip I have made many times over the years,to pick up my brother for the Thanksgiving holiday. […]
First, welcome to this, my first column for AVweb. I’m free to say what I want, without fear of censorship and only enough editing to keep me from embarrassing myself with major errors in spelling or grammar. That’s nice, but it does mean I can’t blame my editor for content, and all remaining mistakes are […]
HISTORY OF THE FLIGHT: On July 17, 1996, at 2031 e.d.t., a Boeing 747131,registration numberN93119, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, about eight miles south ofEast Moriches, New York, after faking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport(JFK). The airplane was being operated on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight planunder the provisions of Part 121, […]
Decompression sickness (DCS) describes a condition characterizedby a variety of symptoms resulting from exposure to low barometricpressures that cause inert gases (mainly nitrogen), normally dissolvedin body fluids and tissues, to come out of physical solution andform bubbles. DCS can occur during exposure to altitude (altitudeDCS) or during ascent from depth (mining or diving). The firstdocumented […]
NOTE: AVweb includes the full text of the NTSB’s probable cause report on Flight 554 in Adobe’s PDF format (if you don’t already have one, PDF readers are available from https://www.adobe.com). “Monovision” contact lenses, actually a misnomer, was listed as a probablecause of the MD-88 accident that occurred at LaGuardia October, 1996, bythe NTSB. Of […]
Severaldecades ago, my primary flight instructor taught me that being a safe pilot meant stayingon the ground when the weather didn’t look good. When I got my instrument rating a fewyears later, my CFII cautioned me against flying when icing or thunderstorms wereanticipated. Such advice may be okay for pilots who fly for recreation, but […]
It almost goes without saying, and most of us ought to do it byhabit, but make sure the aircraft is always trimmed. Obviously, this makes it mucheasier when something untoward happens. The flying skills they have learned, and their confidence in those skills, will atrophyquickly unless they are allowed to practice regularly. This does not […]
My husband, Doug (AVweb’s NewsEditor) tried for over a decade to get me to take a Pinch-Hitter course, to no avail. Ihad a million and one excuses and used them frequently. I just did not want to learn tofly or anything remotely connected with learning to fly. Flying was his thing. It was agreat way […]
Flying over FairbanksAlaska in their Piper Super Cruiser with his wife Joan, John Chalupnik suffered a massivebrain hemorrhage. Joan suddenly found herself Pilot In Command. She wasn’t really a pilot,but providentially, she had attended the AOPA Air Safety Foundation’s Pinch-Hitter programjust the day before. After regaining control of the plane she called for help on […]
The Cast of Characters The FAA Other Feds The Avionics Companies Others The Saga
Get the latest stories & special offers delivered directly to your inbox
SUBSCRIBE
