Risk Management

Passenger Allegedly Falls From Malibu

A passenger reportedly fell from a Piper PA-46 Thursday soon after departure from Tamiami Airport, but authorities could not immediately confirm the incident took place because they could not find a body. According to the FAA, the pilot told air traffic controllers that the passenger opened the backdoor and he just fell out the plane, […]

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Five Landing Fixes

Especially when looking at recent accidents involving scheduled airliners, it occurs that some people are still having problems with their landings. Yes, they can be difficult to master, especially when crosswinds or other factors complicate things and distract us. But this shouldnt be so hard. If youre having trouble, it maybe youre simply out of […]

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Midair Pilot Describes Escape From Burning Plane

Pilot Matt Fandler, who escaped under canopy from an airborne, broken and burning Cessna 182 after a midair with a Cessna 185 prior to a planned formation skydive, has spoken with NBC News in an exclusive interview recorded for Dateline. All 11 participants and one of two aircraft survived the event. Fandler, who flew the […]

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Are You Ready To Copy?

Recently I flew from Northern California to an airport Id never been to in the Los Angeles area. The flight was uneventful until about 35 minutes from the destination when Ireceived an amendment to my clearance. Amendments arent unusual in or around congested Class B airspace, but with modern electronic navigators, dealing with route changes […]

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Police Suspect Suicide In Fall From Helicopter

A 61-year-old man flying Tuesday as passenger in a Robinson R44 tour helicopter near Newport Beach, Calif., appears to have opened the door and jumped out while roughly 500 feet above the ocean, according to local police. The man was recovered from the water and later pronounced dead at an area hospital. First reports state […]

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Is Owning Safer?

Pilots decide to buy their own airplane for a variety of reasons. It could be a business decision, helping ensure cover-age of a relatively wide sales area, or perhaps an aerial photography business. Specialized flight training-like acro, or a quicky instrument rating-also can be a reason. Recreation or personal transportation is yet another. One of […]

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Shooting At LAX (Updated)

The TSA says it’s unlikely security processes at U.S. airports will change much following the shooting at LAX on Friday. The agency said in a statement that“passengers may see an increased presence of local law enforcement officers throughout the country” but there are no immediate plans to arm security staff or change procedures. Meanwhile, 23-year-old […]

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The Unflyable Clearance

Legally, 14 CFR 91.123 says, When a pilot is uncertain of an ATC clearance, that pilot shall immediately request clarification from ATC. Seems easy enough, but under pressure of time, heavy weather and busy controllers we are tempted to assume that ATC knows its intentions and to accept a clearance as given. Egregious errors appear […]

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Retrofit Checklists: Test Flying, Familiarity

The fragile relationship between avionics shops and aircraft owners is sometimes stressed at the end of a project. Thats partly because some owners have unrealisticexpectations, assuming the aircraft will be released right after a flight test. On the other hand, shops create stress for themselves when they overpromiseand offer the impression that work on the […]

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Podcast: Flying and Fighting Fires

AVweb speaks with Universal Helicopters pilot Geoff Goodyear about his experience flying the Bell 407 to fight fires in Canada this summer and the advantages helicopters bring to the task. Duration: File Size: download here

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