Risk Management

A Notam (PDF) is warning operators of “all aircraft relying on GPS” of widespread GPS outages starting Tuesday throughout the Southwest and especially southern California. Although the FAA doesn’t go into detail, it seems the military is testing something that can disrupt GPS over a huge area, centered on China Lake, California, home of the […]

A 56-year-old Florida man been identified as the pilot who died when the P-47 Thunderbolt he was flying went into the Hudson River off Manhattan late Friday. William Gordon was flying the aircraft on a photo flight with two other aircraft promoting the American Airpower Museum’s celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Thunderbolt, which […]

For over 70 years general aviation pilots have volunteered their time, skills and airplanes to help others in need by giving free flights for everything from search and rescue through medical transport, environmental survey and research to disaster relief, animal transport and exposing kids to the world of flight. What has been termed Public Benefit […]

Canadian authorities are investigating an incident that could potentially affect the airworthiness of thousands of Piper Cherokees. Manitoba flight instructor Tom Larkin was on short final with a student when the control column broke off in his hands. “Somewhere below 50 feet as I eased back on the control column to assist the student with […]

It has again become fashionable in some aviation circles to assert that if only we could return to ways and days of yore by getting rid of some or all of the Federal Aviation Regulations and those who enforce them, all would be well and general aviation would zoom into sunlit uplands and robust financial […]

Aviation authorities have grounded Airbus EC225 Super Puma helicopters after the crash of a Canadian aircraft off the coast of Norway Friday. The helicopter, operated by CHC Helicopter, went down a few hundred yards from shore near Bergen. All 11 passengers and two crew died. Witnesses told various news sources that they saw rotor blades […]

Three people survived the crash of a Beechcraft Duchess in the back yard of a home in Pompano Beach, Florida, Monday. The Duchess clipped the roof of the house before crashing in the yard and erupting in flame. The pilot and two international students from Peru and Ecuador in the aircraft were badly burned. The […]

The U.S. Helicopter Safety Team, an industry-government partnership, has set a goal to reduce fatal civil helicopter accidents by 20 percent by 2019. The team said recently its efforts will focus on improving personal protection, aircraft equipage, pilot judgment and pilot decision-making. The team said total helicopter accidents have decreased by 52 percent compared to […]

The family of a well-known movie pilot who died in a crash of a Piper Aerostar in Colombia last September is suing a movie studio. Alan Purwin, 54, was a passenger in the aircraft flown by Colombian Carlos Berl on the flight, which occurred just after production of the Tom Cruise thriller Mena wrapped up […]

In his timeless classic Fate Is The Hunter, Ernest K. Gann regales readers with several tales of in-flight emergencies, hairy takeoffs and grateful landings. Perhaps the book’s most memorable takeoff involves a grossly overweight C-87 departing Agra, India, on a hot day, aimed directly at the nearby Taj Mahal mausoleum. Of course, Gann didn’t know […]