Aviation Safety

At 1550 Pacific time, a Beech B55 was damaged during a precautionary landing in an open field near Angwin after multiple weather-related diversions. The pilot and one passenger were not injured. The cross-country flight originated in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., about three hours earlier with a destination of Placerville, Calif. A preflight weather briefing had indicated clear weather along the route, but the weather started to deteriorate about 50 miles outside of Placerville. The pilot contacted the airport Unicom and was advised that the airport was zero, zero. He decided to divert to Sacramento, where he received a Special VFR clearance. Sacramento weather included overcast ceilings betwee…

Selected recent general aviation and airline accidents

The SR20 still has a troubling accident record. Revamped training might be the key, but its too soon to say if thats working

The NTSBs catchall improper IFR usually means duck unders, minimums busts, cheated turns and other fatal shortcuts

Trim makes life behind the yoke better, but only if you know your system and its working as advertised. Check the mechanicals and tune up your technique

The harsh truth is that you can get into runways you cant get out of. How to sharpen your technique on mimimal pavement

Youve got an F-16 off your wing and the radios dead. Youre not sure what you did, but you think theyre serious.What are you going to do now?

On a clear night with a full moon, a visual descent to the airport turns into a splashdown on a poorly flown instrument approach

Blessed Delays
We were planning to depart for a family trip from our home airport of Gaithersburg, Md., for Lexington, Ky. Because I was a low-time pilot and still had fewer than 50 hours in my new Bonanza, I elected to bring my 2,000-hour CFI along on the trip.

I felt like it would make both me and the family feel more comfortable. After all, it was our first family trip since I got my private ticket 12 months earlier.

While driving to the airport, it was clear that the weather was lower than advertised. The TAF indicated that the morning fog would give way to a 6,000-foot scattered layer, but we had a solid 500-foot layer that wasnt budging. There was no reason legal…

Whats the point of good stick and rudder skills if you make decisions that will lead to grief?