John King

There was a lot of blood in the water as we flew over the bowhead whale being harvested for the sustenance of the native Inupiat community of Barrow, Alaska. It was a thought-provoking and broadening experience of the type we found we were having regularly after we began flying our own airplane for transportation. Personal […]

Eight of us had flown into Borrego Springs, California, for lunch. As Martha and I helped the folks from Australia back into the airplane and gave them our preflight briefing for the return trip, I explained, “We are about to challenge the air traffic control system a bit. We will pop up in this small […]

“There can be no compromise with safety.” “Safety is our No. 1 priority.” You hear these kinds of quotes all the time from well-meaning people — very often people like the secretary of transportation or the administrator of the FAA. The assertions are meant to be comforting, and they are — especially after a crash. […]

“Making power … airspeed alive … 80 knots … V1 … rotate … positive rate.” Martha, as pilot monitoring, was making the call-outs for my first takeoff in our old Falcon 10 in more than a year. And the takeoff wasn’t pretty. When it’s lightly loaded, the Falcon 10 takes off like a scalded cat. […]

Flying is always deeply satisfying, but for the past 30 years or so, what has made it especially so for Martha and me has been flying together as a two-pilot crew in an airplane that requires two pilots. To us, it is a graceful dance — a special way for us to enjoy intense and […]

“You gave us all quite a scare last night.” I gradually became aware that I was in a hospital and Martha was explaining to me that I had had a lapse of consciousness. You will appreciate that the very first thing that came into my mind was concern for my aviation medical certificate. The hospital […]

“We’re going to be in the Hudson.” It was Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger announcing they were going to dead stick US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River. It is a story most of us are familiar with. After the loss of both engines in their A320, Capt. Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles first […]

A Change for the Better The ACS will save lives, making situational awareness a habit. By John King/Flying He was leaving from a job in his beloved Cessna Cardinal. He took off from a remote airport on a dark night. Light snow was falling. He did not make it home. He had simply exceeded his […]

John, Dr. Williams is dead. I thought you’d want to know.” The news hit me like a thunderbolt. The caller was an FAA inspector. Just two weeks earlier, I had asked him to talk with Dr. Williams. Dr. Williams was a towering figure. He was a physician, a radiologist, and an Episcopalian priest. He was […]

The light on the panel read “OIL1.” It was telling us we had low oil pressure in the left engine. We didn’t believe it. In 14 years of flying our old Falcon 10, we had never seen an oil light come on. We looked down at the oil-pressure gauge to reassure ourselves that there was […]