Flight Safety

Transcripcion Del Voice Recorder Boeing 757 De Aeroperu Vuelo 603 2 De Octubre 1996/Costa De LimaCaja Negra Annotations appear in italics. The wreckage was subsequently recovered from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, and investigators found that all of the aircraft’s static ports were taped over (see photo at right), rendering the aircraft’s air data […]

Aeroperu 603 (Boeing 757) Transcription From Voice Recorder October 2, 1996 – Lima, Peru English Translation Annotations appear in italics. The wreckage was subsequently recovered from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, and investigators found that all of the aircraft’s static ports were taped over (see photo at right), rendering the aircraft’s air data systems […]

Most of us have been taught to hand rotate the propeller before normalstartup or after shutdown for the following suggested reasons: But few of us have been properly trained about the proper precautionsthat need to be taken before touching that propeller. Few CFIs or pilotexaminers provide guidance about propeller safety, apparently assumingthe aircraft manual provides […]

In 1996, Bill C-20, “An Act respecting the commercialization of civil air navigation services” was passed by the government of Canada. Essentially, this piece of legislation allows a new, “not-for-profit” corporation called “NavCanada” to take over responsibility for all of the air navigation services in the country. In the last decade, successive Canadian governments (regardless […]

The following is the full text of a letter sent by the author to the FAA. This letter is to inform you of an incident that occurred during a routine flight from Austin, Texas (AUS) to Addison Airport, Dallas, Texas (ADS). This incident in no way deals with any violation of current FAR’s or use […]

White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security Final Report to President Clinton Vice President Al Gore, Chairman February 12, 1997 Introduction Change. That one word sums up both the challenges in aviation safety and security, and the means by which government and industry must respond. Change is nothing new in this field. The first […]

PB97-910401 NTSB/AAR-97/01 NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 20594 AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT WHEELS-UP LANDINGCONTINENTAL AIRLINES FLIGHT 1943DOUGLAS DC-9 N10556HOUSTON, TEXASFEBRUARY 19, 1996 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On February 19, 1996, at 0902 Central Standard Time, ContinentalAirlines (COA) flight 1943, a Douglas DC-9-32, N10556, landedwheels up on runway 27 at the Houston Intercontinental Airport,Houston Texas. The airplane slid […]

Nearly all of the time, we end up landing out of a “for-real” instrument approach. An instrument approach gets us down pretty far — around 500 AGL for a non-precision approach, and 200 AGL for a run-of-the-mill ILS. It’s not very often that we’re not out of the clouds at minimums. If we’re not, the […]

Gone are the days when pilots were expected to know every nut and bolt intheir aircraft. These days, pilots aren’t expected to retain minute mechanicaldetails, but there is still much we need to know about our aircraft to staysafe_including enough systems knowledge to understand what the various cockpitannunciator lights and buzzers mean, and how to […]

As much as we might like to carp about the occasional circuitousrouting or ground delay, this much is certain: The U.S. air trafficsystem is arguably the best in the world. What’s less certainis how it got that way. How did we advance from the tenuous airmailroutes of the early 1930s to the sophisticated IFR system […]