Aviation Safety

There are a number of ways to salvage a bad approach. The best is to prevent it from going bad in the first place

Loose luggage poses a variety of hazards, from jamming controls to in-flight projectiles to post-impact bludgeon

Pitot clogs and forgotten covers cause their share of smoked tires, runway overruns and outright crashes

Veteran pilot with a host of qualifications but little time in type puts Baron on path to loss of control during night IFR approach

The Cherokee pilot made no change in course or altitude, and apparently didnt even know I was there until he flew through my shadow.

There are two or three days every month that I have come to dread. For it is on these days that I compile and review the NTSBs reports of aviation accidents for the previous month.

It is morbid. It is depressing. It puts me in a foul mood. My family hates these days just as much.

Over the years Ive followed this routine, I have become jaded and insensitive. I call people idiots – and worse – for transgressions such as pushing a long landing instead of going around, and winding up in the trees. Somehow, I would hope to have more compassion.

Perhaps what bothers me the most is that the record offers incontrovertible proof that this flying thing can be a risky venture. Few people pla…

The troubled hydraulics in the Cessna 210 landing gear attract the FAAs attention again

At about 2300 eastern time, a Piper PA-28-180 lost power shortly after departing from Orange Country Airport and was damaged when it hit a drainage ditch on landing. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. The instructor said they had completed a 1-hour cross-country flight and were planning to practice takeoffs and landings. During the departure, the airplane climbed to 300 feet agl and lost power. Inspection revealed the fuel line between the fuel pump and the carburetor was loose at the connection point on the carburetor. Blue stains were observed on the outer skin of the airplane, from the firewall area aft about 4 feet aft. The airplane had accumulated about 20 hours o…

About 1630 eastern time, a Brantly B-2B crashed shortly after takeoff. The pilot and pilot-rated passenger received minor injuries. The pilot/owner said he had flown his helicopter to Lantana to sell it, with the passenger on board to learn the helicopter so he could give flight instruction to the prospective buyer. When the flight instructor arrived, the pilot said he noted that the passenger was heavier that the 150 pounds he had previously been told and the helicopter would be slightly overweight. He told the passenger that all they could do were some hovering maneuvers until they burned off enough fuel to get the weight down. He also stated he demonstrated some maneuvers and then turned…

At about 1515 eastern time, a Beech A36 crashed while on approach to Monmouth Executive Airport, killing the pilot and leaving the pilot-rated passenger with serious injuries. The turboprop Bonanza had departed Sarasota, Fla., at about 1015. The airplane was on an IFR flight plan for Bridgeport, Conn., when the pilot told the controller he wanted to deviate to Farmingdale for fuel. The propeller was found feathered and only traces of fuel were found at the crash site. The pilot reported 21,600 hours of flight experience, which included 75 hours during the previous 6 months….