Peter Garrison

A phalanx of restricted and Military Operating Areas confronts pilots heading north out of Los Angeles. Between sprawling Edwards Air Force Base and the Naval Air Weapons Station situated at water-free China Lake, a pilot studying the chart for the first time must think the way impassable. The alternatives are inconvenient doglegs: either fly up […]

Clouds are mostly harmless, but sometimes they turn on you.

In September 2014, a Cessna 172 overtook and collided with a homebuilt Searey amphibian on final approach to the Buffalo-Lancaster Regional Airport (KBQR) in Lancaster, New York. The 172 pilot, 78, with 2,500 hours, and his 14-year-old passenger died when their airplane spiraled out of control and crashed. Remarkably—since one tends to think of midair […]

One of the staple features of cities of the future, if we can believe the artists and filmmakers who provide us with images of them, is the airborne taxi that whisks people from one strangely shaped building to another, heedless of the — presumably congested — streets below. These agile and convenient people­ pods, levitated, […]

The C35 Bonanza, N5946C, was cruising at 6,500 feet when there was a sudden loud bang from the engine compartment, followed by a smell of oil.

I graduated from college in 1965. The Vietnam War was in full swing, and any able-bodied male who was not being educated was being drafted. I could have gone to graduate school, but instead decided to take my chances. I moved in with a couple of old friends in Palo Alto, California. Having a fancy […]

The investigator concluded that the probable cause of the accident was improper soft-field-takeoff technique.

In June 2010, a Cessna T310R crashed in fine weather while on final approach at Ruidoso, New Mexico. Five people perished, two survived. The survivors were 12 and 16 years old, and I suspect that they were probably in the aftmost seats. Another young person, an 11-year-old boy, was double-­belted in the right front seat […]

I find myself — and I’m sure I’m not alone in this — consulting Google Maps before setting off by car even to places I know perfectly well how to reach. The Google lady knows even more than I do about the roads. She checks all the shortcuts. She tells me there is “usual traffic” and that […]

There can be many reasons for running low on fuel sooner than expected: headwinds that prolong a flight, tailwinds that make you optimistically skip a planned stop, tanks not filled to the brim, too rich a mixture, a miscalculation in flight planning.