Stephen Pope

Raising questions about what role automation may have played in the August 14 UPS crash at Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport, the NTSB revealed that the Airbus A300’s autopilot and autothrottles were engaged all the way to the point of impact about three quarters of a mile short of the runway. According to the NTSB, the […]

Boeing’s run of dismal press relating to the 787 Dreamliner continued this week with a report out of Japan that the fire suppression system on the advanced jet could improperly discharge fire suppressant to the wrong engine in the event of a fire. Japan’s All Nippon Airways said it discovered a wiring fault that would […]

A UPS Airbus A300-600F crashed into a grassy rise about a half mile short of the runway at Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM) early Wednesday morning, killing both pilots and leaving a fiery debris path stretching nearly 1,000 feet. There was no distress call from the crew of the cargo plane prior to the crash, […]

There’s a lot we still don’t know about yesterday morning’s crash of a UPS Airbus A300 in Birmingham, Alabama. But what we do know is both troubling and at the same time eerily reminiscent of the Asiana Flight 214 crash in San Francisco last month. The causes of these crashes won’t be determined for some […]

Every time I turn final and select the last notch of flaps, I assume one of two things are going to happen: either I’m going to land or I’m not. I always keep in the back of my mind the thought that I might have to go around, for whatever reason. On occasion, even when […]

NTSB investigators are narrowing in on reports that the Rockwell Turbo Commander 690B that crashed while attempting to land in rainy weather at Connecticut’s Tweed-New Haven Airport rolled inverted before descending vertically into homes. The pilot, retired Microsoft vice president Bill Henningsgaard, asked New Haven Tower for a straight-in landing as he flew an instrument […]

Talk about max performing your airplane. In a dramatic video of a close call at an airport in Australia, the pilot of a Cessna 172 flares for landing just as another 172 begins to taxi across the active runway right in front of him. Quick reaction by the first Skyhawk prevents what surely would have […]

Highlighting the growing frustration aviation officials face in their quest to improve general aviation safety, accident statistics released this week remained virtually unchanged from 2011 to 2012, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. There were 1,471 GA accidents in 2012 versus 1,470 in 2011, according to the latest statistics compiled by the NTSB. Fatalities, […]

President Obama nominated Deborah Hersman for a third term as chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, a job she has held since 2009. Hersman, 43, joined the NTSB in 2004 after being appointed by President George W. Bush. If confirmed by the Senate, her next term as NTSB chair would be for two years, […]

International flights from Nairobi’s fire-damaged airport resumed on Thursday after a massive blaze a day earlier destroyed the main terminal. The cause of the fire is unknown, but the blaze turned into an inferno in part because of the slow response from firefighters who were inadequately prepared for the emergency. Photos and video show the […]