Risk Management

As aviation agencies all over the world focus on the crash of a state-of-the-art Boeing 737 MAX 8 in Ethiopia, Colombian officials are pondering the fate of one of the oldest airframes in regular revenue service. A Laser Aereo DC-3, which has flown pretty much continuously since it was delivered to the U.S. Air Force […]

A teenager has petitioned the FAA to exempt him from its minimum age requirements so he can set some records. The young man, 15, wants the FAA to allow him to be a fully certificated private pilot before he turns the minimum age of 17 so he can pursue some records that would be ambitious […]

In a world that’s polarized about everything from football teams to Lady Gaga’s lipstick shade, I have learned that when I write about Cirrus aircraft accidents, two things are predictable. One, I’ll get a little trickle of email claiming that I’m in the tank for Cirrus and covering up the brand’s scandalous accident rate. And […]

The NTSB saysan Ameristar Charters MD-83 crew “did everything right” and likely saved their lives and those of 110 team members and supporters of the University of Michigan basketball team when the aircraft overran the runway at Ypsilanti Airport near Detroit last March. The aircraft’s right elevator mechanism had been damaged in a windstorm a […]

The FAA has reminded Southwest Airlines and its unionized mechanics who is really in charge when it comes to flight safety and not so subtly warned them not to let their current disputes get in the way. Southwest sued the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association a week ago implying its members grounded dozens of its planes […]

Boeing Buys ForeFlight Beyond disappointing. Foreflight is going to get caught up in a corporate structure that will bleed all the imagination and energy out of this very important company. I certainly can’t judge the owners for “cashing” out but rest assured Boeing will raise prices and will not add “value”. What value, what strength […]

If you’ve been flying for very long, it’s likely there’s a route you frequently use. It could be a quick out-and-back to the nearest $100 hamburger or cheapest avgas, or an hours-long trek to Grandma’s house. It’s something you’ve flown often and know well enough to almost do it without a chart. You understand the […]

SpaceX celebrated the successful launch of its Crew Dragon capsule followed by the successful autonomous docking of the spacecraft at the International Space Station on the weekend as a prelude to the resumption of manned U.S. space flights, possibly in the next year. The crew capsule was unmanned but carried a life-sized mannequin named Ripley […]

ICON’s St. Louis Demonstration Flights The St. Louis demo flights by an Icon sales rep caused quite a stir in the local media. What was not reported by you is the aircraft was operating between two heavily trafficked bridges that are only four thousand feet apart. The bridges (over one hundred feet above the water) […]

A banner towing pilot died and dozens of others had a close call on Friday when a banner plane flying along Fort Lauderdale’s beachfront hit a condo building and fell about 150 feet to a pool deck below. The Piper Pawnee operated by Aerial Banners Inc. hit the building between the 16th and 17th floor. […]