Risk Management

Early in our primary training, we encountered the concept of maneuvering speed (VA), or design maneuvering speed as it’s sometimes called. We’re basically told it’s the speed at below which we should fly in turbulence and when entering advanced maneuvers, hence its name. If we’re lucky and have a good ground-school instructor, we’ll also learn […]

Dan Buchanan, a paraplegic hang glider pilot who performed at airshows all over the world for almost 30 years, died in a crash at an Idaho show on Saturday. Buchanan was doing his routine, which usually included aerobatics and pyrotechnics, at the Gunfighter Skies airshow at Mountain Home Air Force Base. Witnesses said Buchanan had […]

As pilots, each time we read an accident review we often evaluate the pilot’s response relative to the developing chain of events. If the chain is slow in evolving, there is a tendency for the pilot to either not recognize the link or to downplay or ignore it. Knowing the end result, and then replaying […]

AVweb’sGeneral Aviation Accident Bulletinis taken from the pages of our sister publication,Aviation Safetymagazine, and is published twice a month. All the reports listed here are preliminary and include only initial factual findings about crashes. You can learn more about the final probable cause in the NTSB’s website atwww.ntsb.gov. Final reports appear about a year after […]

Initial Pilot Certification Passing Rates As with the military, the CFI shortage or experience level in GA could be helped by engaging retired pilots. The problem for this segment of pilots/CFII’s is that flight schools/ military training units want schedule control over the CFII or the insurance co requires permanent employment status. There should be […]

BRS Aerospace, which has installed more than 35,000 of its ballistic recovery parachutes in a range of aircraft, from ultralights to general aviation and military airplanes, now is working to develop systems for eVTOLS, the company said at the recent Uber Elevate conference. “Working with a number of new aircraft manufacturers, BRS Aerospace is at […]

The design of today’s cockpits can lead to “cognitive overload,” especially when things go wrong and it’s not immediately clear to pilots what the problem is or how to fix it, according to recent research at Drexel University. “Unfortunately, many human-machine interfaces expose users to workload extremes, diminishing the operator’s attention and potentially leading to […]

It would be hard to imagine a better-prepared aircraft for the mission at hand than Ron Carlson’s TBM Avenger. The old warhorse was to take off from Phoenix for a series of relatively short fuel stop hops to Chicago where Carlson, a well-known successful architect, was going to tuck it into a snug hangar, to […]

Although the pilot shortage has mainly manifested in regional flight cancellations in the U.S., the largest Persian Gulf carrier, Emirates, is reportedly ready to park 18 percent of its fleet. Airline Geeks says Emirates will also reduce pilot staffing on long-haul flights and that its deployment of pilots might be part of the reason it’s […]

Nearly 20 years ago I began writing a column—The Pilot’s Lounge—for AVweb. It eventually evolved into the position of Features Editor and writing two or three feature articles each month. As a result of my association with AVweb, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet many of the fascinating and delightful people that characterize aviation, learn […]