Aviation Safety

Emergency locator transmitters are slated for an overhaul. The new ones will be more expensive, but will they work better?

Finding out that your instruments or avionics dont work after youre in the clouds is too late. What you need to do before launching into the clag.

Its never a good idea to try beating a thunderstorm to your destination.

Pilots should routinely monitor the VHF emergency frequency 121.5, especially when they are not in contact with ATC by operating IFR or using VFR flight following. The circumstances surrounding the recent airspace incursion around the Washington DC TFR would have been different for many people as well as for the pilots had they been monitoring 121.5 MHz. As an active member of the military aviation community, it is my experience in a number of these events, ones that do not make the press, this simple expedient has not been followed. Pilots are reminded that Notam FDC 4/4386, in effect since September 2001, specifies that all aircraft operating in United States national airspace, if capabl…

Let It Rain
For all of the grief pilots like to heap upon the FAA, some of its programs and activities are really quite good for an agency of the federal government. Certainly, across-the-board improvements can be made throughout the agency, but some of the things it does to reach out and provide continuing education and training to pilots are admirable. The Internal Revenue Service-another federal agency that regularly comes in for its share of criticism-could learn a few things from the FAA.

An excellent example of the FAAs outreach to pilots is the ongoing Operation Raincheck program, which the agency describes as one designed to familiarize pilots with the ATC syst…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts.

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Cessna R182
Nose Gear Extension Failure
The aircraft sustained nose damage due to the nose gears failure to extend for landing. The propeller linkage runs down the outside of the nose landing gear tunnel, and is attached in two places with Adel clamps, stand-offs and AN-3 bolts. The aft attach hole is directly in line with the nose door actuator arm, p/n 2213022-14. This aircraft had the aft AN-3 bolt installed with the threads and nut protruding into the wheelwell. The hollow actuator arm impacted the protruding bolt, loosening it with each gear cy…

Turbines, Plus Cirrus
I disagree with many of the points in Are Turbines Safer? (June 2005). To start, the argument that turbines are prohibitively expensive to fabricate is no longer true. Widely available and relatively inexpensive CNC machining equipment is easily capable of the necessary precision. When/if small (200-300 hp) turbines are built in the same numbers as piston engines, the manufacturing costs will end up being very similar (greater precision, but fewer parts).

The author says replacing piston engines with turbines wouldnt help safety. The assertion is that a higher-performance engine will cause people to be in more accidents (weather, loss of control). As ad…

May 3, 2005, Bismarck, N.D.
Piper PA-31T
At about 2100 Central time, the airplane was substantially damaged during an emergency landing on Runway 21 at the Bismarck Municipal Airport (BIS) in Bismarck, N.D. The right main landing gear failed to extend prior to landing and the left main gear collapsed during rollout. The airplane subsequently departed the runway pavement before coming to rest. Visual conditions prevailed, and neither the Private pilot nor the passenger reported injuries. The pilot elected to divert to BIS when the landing failed to extend prior to landing at his intended destination.

May 3, 2005, Kalispell, Mont.
Cessna T210N
The airplane w…

At about 2100 Central time, the airplane was substantially damaged during an emergency landing on Runway 21 at the Bismarck Municipal Airport (BIS) in Bismarck, N.D. The right main landing gear failed to extend prior to landing and the left main gear collapsed during rollout. The airplane subsequently departed the runway pavement before coming to rest. Visual conditions prevailed, and neither the Private pilot nor the passenger reported injuries. The pilot elected to divert to BIS when the landing failed to extend prior to landing at his intended destination….

The airplane was destroyed in a collision with terrain at about 1540 Mountain time approximately 19 miles east of Kalispell, Mont. The Private pilot and pilot-rated passenger were fatally injured. Instrument conditions prevailed. The aircraft wreckage was located after the Salt Lake City Air Traffic Control Center issued an Alert Notice (ALNOT) when radio and radar contact with the accident aircraft was lost….