Risk Management

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 […]

NTSB investigators working to determine the cause of the recent in-flight breakup of a Piper trainer have discovered a wing crack in another Piper PA-28R-201 aircraft, the agency said on Tuesday. The crack measured about 0.040 inches long and deep. “The plane inspected had a similar number of total airframe hours and cycles [to the […]

Authorities in Turkey are investigating why an Asiana Airlines Airbus 330-300 sheared off the vertical stabilizer of a parked Turkish A321 in Istanbul over the weekend. Video taken of the incident reveals that the Asiana flight was taxiing for a flight to Seoul when it struck the other airplane parked in an alleyway. No one […]

The Air Force will position fire trucks on the flight line of airshows hosted by its bases as part of the settlement of a lawsuit over the burning death of a pilot in 2014. Eddy Andreini, 77, crashed his modified Stearman show plane inverted while performing a ribbon cut at the Travis Air Force Base […]

In an interview with ABC’s 20/20 news magazine, the crew of Southwest Flight 1380 said the aircraft rolled sharply left and vibrated violently “kind of all at once” after it suffered an uncontained fan failure on April 17 near Philadelphia. Although the flight landed safely, one passenger was killed when engine debris pierced a window […]

Ron Carlson’s first parachute jump is one to remember. He and his passenger Kenny Franzese bailed out of a TBM Avenger over the mountains of Arizona on May 7. He was interviewed by Russ Niles for this extended (15-minute) podcast. Duration: 15.05 File Size: 14.8 Mb download here

AVweb’s General Aviation Accident Bulletin is taken from the pages of our sister publication, Aviation Safety magazine, 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 at www.ntsb.gov. Final reports […]