Probable Cause

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined last year’s near collision between a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 and a FedEx Boeing 767 on an Austin, Texas, runway was caused by a lack of critical safety technology and errors made by an air traffic controller. The Feb. 4, 2023, incident was one of several close calls […]

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) retracted its initial determination that Tamarack Aerospace’s Atlas active winglets were the cause of a fatal Cessna Citation 525 crash in 2018. In a revised report released Feb. 23, the agency attributed the crash to “the pilot’s inability to regain airplane control after a left roll that began for […]

The NTSB unanimously agreed on the probable causes of a May 2019 midair collision in Alaska that killed six and injured 10. The board cited obstructed views due to aircraft structure and passengers and the lack of an aural traffic alerts in crowded airspace. The pilot and four passengers in a de Havilland Beaver floatplane […]

The NTSB has released its final report on the fatal crash of the Collings Foundation’s B-17 Nine-O-Nine and the board’s takeaway is no surprise to anyone who has been following the story. While the primary cause of the accident is reported as “the pilot’s failure to properly manage the airplane’s configuration and airspeed after he […]

When I first started training to fly multi-engine airplanes, it was solemnly explained to me that there were a few things the CFI and weren’t going to do. Yes, we were going to do stalls, but only from 5000 feet AGL or more. They all would be straight-ahead and power-off to the pre-stall buffet, followed […]

This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, Aug. 2006. There’s an old saying: “When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” In other words, when resources are few, people tend to use the only ones available to them, even if they’re inappropriate and have the potential to create as […]

This article originally appeared in IFR Refresher, Nov. 2007. Every pilot wants to avoid tough winter weather, especially icing conditions, even if that means delaying a flight or canceling one altogether. But some pilots are foolish enough to think that last-minute weather decisions will save them during a poorly-planned IFR approach. Poor IFR skills during […]

This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, July 2006. If asked, the FAA would probably say that the most-violated FARs involve serving as a pilot-in-command without the required recent experience for the operation, or the ubiquitous “careless and reckless” offense. After all, they might reason, the system is designed to prevent accidents or incidents, so […]

This article originally appeared in IFR Refresher, Oct. 2007. On Oct. 7, 2005, the pilot of an A36 Bonanza deviated significantly from the ILS Runway 27 approach procedure he was flying into the Pike County Airport (PBX) at Pikeville, Ky. The pilot lost control of the aircraft and crashed just south of Pikeville, killing all […]

This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, June 2006. There’s something about the typical experienced-pilot’s personality that is antithetical to safety. I’m not an expert in analyzing personalities — though I know what I like — but it seems the very traits that make someone a “good stick” also make that same skilled pilot a […]