Risk Management

There’s a multitude of good reasons pilots should do a thorough walkaround before every flight and the occupants of an Icon A5 found yet another one earlier this month. The pilot and his passenger had just finished washing the sporty little amphib on the afternoon of June 3 and were taking it out for a […]

The FAA is proposing fine tuning a massive proposed AD on Piper Cherokee wing spars and removing more than a third of the aircraft originally covered. It’s also added a few models but the net reduction is 8,800 airframes from the original list of more than 20,000. The five aircraft removed from the list are […]

There was likely a lively debrief after a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) AS350 B3 helicopter and an RCMP SkyRanger R60 surveillance drone collided while on a joint mission over a rural area of British Columbia in February. Although the incident happened in February, it didn’t make it to the Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting […]

If there’s one thing pilots are taught during their primary training, it’s to respect the limitations of the airplane they are flying. These can involve the detailed operating limits—especially airspeeds—found in the airplane’s flight manual, demonstrated crosswind capabilities, loading configurations, prohibitions against flight in known icing…the list is seemingly endless. Those limitations exist for a […]

Pakistan media is reporting Pakistan International Airlines Flight PK8303 landed gear up and the crew muscled it back into the air before it crashed on a second landing attempt, killing 97 of 99 people aboard on Friday. According to reports gathered by the Aviation Herald, the A320 slid on its nacelles at the airport in […]

You successfully executed the approach; the engine is shut down and the wheels are chocked. Another successful flight is over. Or is it? To me, every flight is a learning opportunity. Being safely on the ground is the best time to reflect on the latest dance with the elements. Just because you landed without incident doesn’t […]

The FAA is investigating after drone video of a close encounter with the Blue Angels appeared online earlier this week. In one shot, the six F/A-18s appear to pass within a few hundred feet of the drone as they performed an America Strong formation flight over Detroit on May 12. The video appears to be […]

A retired top U.S. military official says showboating Russian fighter pilots are posturing for social media, trying to go viral to raise the profile of their military and maybe sell some airplanes. In the past few weeks U.S. military have complained their aircraft have been buzzed by Russian fighters, including an inverted Su-35 that came […]

When Florent Gagné needed some air last week the last places he expected to end up were on a freeway and on the evening news. The Quebec City pilot took off for a cobweb-clearing break from self-isolation on Thursday and was over the main freeway to Montreal when the engine in his Piper Cherokee began […]

The FAA has issued guidance to airlines who want to take the seats out of idle aircraft and fill them with cargo. The drastic drop in passenger traffic has had a parallel effect on available cargo space. Some airlines were flying cargo-only flights with empty seats upstairs but the safety alert for operators (SAFO) issued […]