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And although 19 percent of the Air Force’s pilots are women, there are probably lots of female military “firsts” left. But it’s sometimes a little surprising, in this day and age, for the powder-room door to open for the first time in civilian flying. However, Mette Pedersen, of Denmark, will be the first woman to […]

Flying Is Getting Better Seems a little hard to believe that in a country that has spawned the likes of Patty Wagstaff, Julie Clark Betty Skelton and dozens of other top female aerobatic pilots since 1915 that the first female member of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds is now in training at Nellis Air Force […]

In an unrelated case in California, Amanullah Khan, 56, of Brea, Calif., was sentenced to 188 months in prison for falsely certifying aircraft parts, including flight-critical components, according to a release posted by The Law News Network attributed by the site to Assistant US Attorney, Douglas F. McCormick. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter also […]

The Supreme Court of Alaska recently uphelda $330,000 judgment against Casciola, which he’d appealed. The Supreme Court said the $30,000 award for real damages and the $300,000 award for punitive damages were justified to “vindicate Alaska’s legitimate interest in preventing particularly malignant conduct.” In the earlier judgment, an Alaska court upheld F.S. Air’s allegation that […]

Authorities Allege Dozens Duped A Bradenton, Fla., man has been charged with organized fraud for a series of aircraft and aircraft parts transactions that allegedly went sour. Phillip D. Casciola is alleged to have been paid for parts and taken deposits on aircraft without delivering the goods. According to the Bradenton Herald, federal and local […]

The FAA has no plans to revise recent Airworthiness Directives that require a tactile check by pilots to prevent icing problems on the Cessna Model 208 Caravan, the Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association (RACCA) said on Friday. RACCA representatives met with the FAA in mid-November and told the agency that the requirement that pilots must […]

For this study, NTSB investigators collected data from 72 GA accidents that occurred between August 2003 and April 2004. An additional 135 safe flights that were conducted in the same area and time as the accident flights were also studied. The analysis showed that risk factors associated with flying in instrument weather conditions or low […]

New Methodology Employs Statistics Typically, the NTSB reports on flight risks after reviewing a set of relevant accidents, but for its latest report, released last week, the board has implemented a new methodology. The new “case-control” statistical-analysis approach was used in a study of GA weather-related accidents, comparing a group of accident flights to a […]

When the Transportation Security Administration announced new passenger-screening procedures and a revised prohibited-items list last week, the Air Line Pilots Association thought it was a good idea. “We feel it’s a move in the right direction,” Bob Hesselbein, chairman of ALPA’s security committee, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We have to keep the focus on the […]

Although both BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman say they will be ready to produce workable missile-defense systems for airliners by January, so far there is no funding available and no mandate that would require airlines to utilize such defenses, The Associated Press reported last week. Several bills pending in Congress would require the systems be […]