Aviation Safety

During an aborted takeoff from an alfalfa field near Eltopia at approximately 1500 Pacific time, the Cessna 172 was substantially damaged; the pilot and passenger were uninjured. While on a cross-country flight, the airplane developed a rough engine and the pilot made a precautionary landing in a nearby field. After the successful landing, the pilot checked the airplanes engine and systems but concluded that …everything seemed to be working fine and elected to attempt a takeoff from the field. During the takeoff roll, the airplane rose into ground effect, but then drifted down. The pilot aborted the takeoff; however, the airplane encountered rough uneven terrain and nosed down….

At 1715 central time, a Beech 1900D operated by Air Midwest Airlines as a scheduled Part 121 flight was substantially damaged when the nose gear collapsed after landing on a 7,000 x 150 runway. The airplane departed the runway pavement during landing rollout and the pilot was attempting to taxi back onto the runway when the nose gear collapsed….

Thunderstorm flying is sometimes like finding your way out of a dark closet. Here are two perspectives on doing it safely.

When fishing for the pavement, pilots keep bending and breaking airplanes for the same reasons. Heres what you can do about it.

Theyre hardly an everyday event but most happen due to owner negligence. Heres how to firesafe your own hangar

Garmins new GPSMap 296 has much of the capability of certified terrain warning systems. Used wisely, its a safety enhancer.

Add a late descent clearance to a request to expedite and the result is something Harry Callahan warned us about

On final after the go-around, I felt I was a little high and pulled off some more power. This is where things got away from me.

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

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Lycoming IO-540 Engines
Crankshaft Gear Bolts
A new AD supercedes AD 2002-23-06 regarding certain zinc plated crankshaft gear retaining bolts installe d in Lycoming AEIO-540, IO-540, LTIO-540, and TIO-540 series engines. The AD retains the original requirement but expands the population of affected engines by 161. In addition, it AD adds five additional kits (alternative method of complia nce) for replacing the crankshaft gear retaining bolts.

Lancair 400
Fuel Pressure Transducer
AD 2004-06-09, Fuel Pressure Transducer Inspection,…

If you don’t have an engine monitor now, you’ll want one after you read this