Stephen Pope

A fire broke out aboard an empty Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Boston Logan Airport on Monday after the battery powering the Japan Airlines jet’s auxiliary power unit exploded as the jet sat at the gate. A firefighter suffered minor burns controlling the small fire, which caused heavy smoke in the cabin. The flight had arrived […]

As part of its strategy to provide a full range airline career flight training services, Pan Am International Flight Academy has purchased Airline Career Academy (ACA), an ab initio pilot training organization with bases throughout Florida. ACA will be integrated into Pan Am’s operations to offer zero-time pilots all the training they need to advance […]

It’s hard to overstate the benefits of having access to a wealth of weather-related information in flight. Armed with a full arsenal of datalink weather capability, onboard weather radar and lightning strike detection gear (not to mention what we can often see in front of us with our own eyes), pilots today are able to […]

Have you ever been flying over a cloud deck and noticed a rainbow halo around the shadow of your airplane? Besides being pretty to look at, this ring-shaped rainbow – called a “pilot’s halo” or “glory of the pilot” because we’re usually the only ones who get to see it – should be a clue […]

Aeromedical services provider Air Methods rang in the New Year with some big news, announcing it has completed its acquisition of Las Vegas tour operator Sundance Helicopters while also placing bulk orders for dozens of new medical helicopters from Bell and Eurocopter. Sundance focuses primarily on Grand Canyon and Las Vegas helicopter tours, but the […]

Working in total secrecy for the past three years, Raisbeck Engineering and Hartzell Propeller have teamed to develop and certify an all new swept-wing propeller that the companies claim offers greatly improved FAA-certified takeoff, climb and landing performance. The effort has culminated with FAA certification of the Raisbeck/Hartzell Swept Turbofan Propeller for the King Air […]

Still confused about whether you’ll need an ADS-B receiver that’s capable of operating in the 978-MHz UAT or the 1090 MHz frequency band? Garmin is making that discussion more or less moot for the vast majority of us with the introduction of the GDL 88, the first FAA-certified ADS-B receiver capable of receiving both frequency […]

The NTSB is investigating the crash of a King Air 100 near Libby, Montana, early Wednesday that claimed the lives of the pilot and a passenger. According to local news reports, employees of Stinger Welding Inc. became concerned when CEO Carl Douglas never arrived for a planned meeting on Wednesday morning. A witness said she […]

A New Hampshire man who crashed his Cessna 310 on New Year’s Day in 2011, killing his daughter, will never get his pilot’s certificate back but avoided serving jail time after pleading guilty to manslaughter. The judge in the case accepted a plea agreement reached between the defense and prosecution and sentenced Steven Fay, 58, […]

Flying instrument approaches in IMC is one of the busiest times we pilots face, so it makes sense for us to do as much preparation as possible beforehand. An important part of this process is briefing the approach so that you and your right-seater (if you’re luck enough to have one) know exactly what you’re […]