Aviation Safety

In this group of three airplanes, Beechs 36 series seems to shine, with an admirably low overall accident rate

Your preflight planning should enable you to answer the question: Is the destination airport a friend or foe?

Picking a runner-up spot for a landing should be an exercise for all flights, not just those poor-weather instrument flights

Visibility measurements at the airport dont mean you can see the field from that far away. The wicked world of slant-range vis

The potential for ice doesnt have to ground you for the winter if you understand the weather and consider your options

Partial panel after vacuum failure overwhelms pilots desperate attempt to get down from IFR on top.

High ceilings early in the day had, by mid-afternoon, given way to a 3,500-foot overcast and declining visibility. Below the clouds it was still decent VFR, and would remain so for several hours when some storms in advance of a cold front would hit the Florida peninsula. But a haze had settled that cut visibility to about seven miles.

I was flying the Citabria from a meeting in Venice, Fla., back home to Orlando at 2,000 feet and I had tuned in the Lakeland Tower frequency in advance of transitioning that airspace. Things were pretty quiet until an uncertain voice came on the radio.

Uh, Lakeland. This is Bonanza 12Z calling for Lakeland. Lakeland Tower.

Bonanza 12Z, Lakeland Towe…

At about 1150 eastern time, a Champion 7ECA struck a parked vehicle while landing at the Minute Man Air Field. The pilot and passenger suffered minor injuries. The pilot was landing on runway 30 when the airplane began to porpoise and veer to the right. The pilot added power but the airplane departed the right side of the runway and struck a car. Winds reported at an airport about 11 miles east were from 120 degrees at 8 knots….

At 1202 mountain time, a Cessna 172 encountered jet blast from a Boeing 737 at Tucson International Airport and suffered wing and propeller damage. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. The Cessna had landed on runway 11R and was taxiing to the ramp. A United 737 was holding short for takeoff on runway 11L as the Cessna taxied behind it. The flight instructor reported that he was discussing jet blast awareness with his student as they were passing the jet. They taxied as far to the right side of the taxiway as they could. As the Cessna began to move back toward the middle of the taxiway, the left wing rose into the air and the right wing hit the ground two times and the p…

At 1915 central time, a Cessna TR182 crashed while following high-tension power lines during an aerial reconnaissance mission. The pilot and passenger were killed. In the area of the crash, there were two sets of power lines running parallel, with one set of lines slightly lower than the other. Witnesses said the airplane was flying along the south side of the lines, slightly lower than the height of the lower set of towers. At the accident site, the higher set of power lines, which was to the north, makes a 90-degree turn across the lower lines. There was no indication the airplane struck either the power lines or one of the towers….