Risk Management

Familiarity can breed confusion when a procedure that you have flown before has been revised and you don’t brief for the approach. Even in a single-pilot situation, an approach briefing will ensure you have everything set up properly. Recently in IFR Refresher, Brian Jacobson followed the chain of events that led to an accident during […]

What would you do if you thought that you had an electrical system failure and a vacuum system failure at the same time in a single-engine airplane? The chances of that happening are pretty slim, but the pilot of a Cessna T210 was convinced that he had both failures at the same time while flying […]

Part of the initial improvements to airline security following September 11 was to upgrade cockpit doors. Ultimately, cockpits will have Kevlar reinforced bulkheads, doors and reinforced door jambs, hinges and locks. However, as an interim measure and to comply with FAA directives, airlines fitted a variety of deadbolts and reinforcing panels to their cockpit doors. […]

Dear Pete: We met before we met. Around the gliderport, there’s a sort of “Pete wave” that washes around. There’s a little bit of you in the eye of every line boy, and an ounce of you on everyone’s tongue. You are beloved for your dry, gentle humor, and respected for your skill. Whether you […]

Just when we thought we had a handle on all the possible threats to the safe operation of our flights, along comes another facet of madness: air rage to the Nth degree. Cases of enraged passengers crashing through the cockpit door, assaulting pilots and trying to interfere with control of the airplane had been increasing […]

I was on an airliner flying over the Midwest on my way to a business appointment in June and it struck me that I had forgotten just how green it is in the middle of the country in the summertime. Southern California is a lot of things, but green in the summer is not one […]

This article appeared in the February 2001 edition of IFR Refresher and is reprinted here by permission. From the very first day of our instrument training, we are taught never to descend below decision height (DH) or minimum descent altitude (MDA) unless the runway environment is in sight. It is a basic concept of instrument […]

The NTSB supplied complete copies of the documents in its docket on the March 29, 2001, crash of a Gulfstream III bizjet on approach to the airport at Aspen, Colorado on CD-ROM. Data on the CD-ROM consists primarily of a series of TIFF images comprising the various documents in the docket. A display engine is […]

Nothing sprouts an argument among pilots quicker than a regulation. And the bud bursts into full flower when the argument is over the rules surrounding “known icing conditions.” A look at the history of this controversial phrase reveals a strange mixture of clarity and contradiction and offers a set of cautionary tales to those who […]

The NTSB supplied complete copies of the documents in its docket on the October 16, 2000, crash of Gov. Mel Carnahan’s Cessna 335 on CD-ROM. Data on the CD-ROM consists primarily of a series of TIFF images comprising the various documents in the docket. A display engine is also provided for installation on computers running […]