Aviation Safety

Pilot 1 is doing a run-up and notices an excessive mag drop on one side. He runs it up to nearly full power briefly and the engine smoothes out and the mag drops become equal and normal. He takes off and makes an uneventful flight. When he returns, he tells Pilot 2 of the problem and the solution.

The next day, Pilot 2 is doing a run-up on the same airplane. He notices an excessive mag drop on one side, and recalls Pilot 1s solution. Recalling that full power solved the problem for Pilot 1, he takes the runway and advances the power to full. The plane takes off as usual, but the com radios are filled with ignition noise. At an intermediate destination, a mag check shows equal drops that…

Go ahead. Make an instructors day. Volumes have been written about the state of flight instruction. Veteran pilots sometimes chafe at the notion of paying some kid barely out of puberty to approve them for instrument flight for another six months or, worse yet, sign off on their ability to fly at all for another two years. New pilots wonder what theyre getting when their instructor clocks in with a minimum of experience.

The notions get worse as even those instructors vanish in a few months – snapped up for a lousy job by a tiny commuter airline and replaced by someone even younger and with even less experience. Their most redeeming quality is that theyre cheap to hire.

Then there a…

This just in: If you think youre a hot-shot pilot, youre probably not.

A psychology professor at Cornell University found that people who do something badly are usually supremely confident of their ability – more confident, in fact, than people who do it well. Writing in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Prof. David Dunning and his associate concluded that the skills required to be competent are the same skills required to recognize that the task is being done well. So someone who cant do something lacks the capacity to realize it.

The researchers cite many examples: people who arent funny but persist in telling jokes, or stock traders who repeatedly jump into the m…

Recently another pilot and I were doing pattern work at a controlled airport. It was a weekday, and there was only one other airplane, a Cessna 152, in the pattern with us. It didnt take long for us to start wondering what we were doing there.

The other airplane was flying left-hand patterns that would have accommodated the Concorde. The downwind leg was fully two miles from the runway. By the beginning of the base leg, the Cessna was at full flaps and lumbering along toward a two-mile final. The controller didnt seem to notice.

After following this airplane for two patterns, we told the controller we were going to fly a tighter pattern for safety, and that we would make minimum spe…

Some of the following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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After the air combat simulation accident involving a Beech T-34, the FAA issued an AD limiting the airplanes aerobatic flight. As part of the investigation into the accident, the FAA has determined that a number of T-34s have been imported into the United States that have been sufficiently modified so that they no longer meet the original type design.

Over the years since the aircraft was originally produced, many of them have been exported and used by foreign governments for military missions or…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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A certificated air carrier recently reported a reduction in engine power that was later traced to a stuck turbocharger wastegate. When the incident was reported, the FAA issued Safety Recommendation 99.397, which prompted the manufacturer to issue a service bulletin describing how carriers should inspect the wastegates.

While Part 91 operators are not required to meet the requirements of the SB, the FAA encourages all operators of turbocharged aircraft to conduct at least an…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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Following on the heels of an airworthiness directive and an earlier warning about aerobatic flight, the FAA is continuing its investigation into fatigue on T-34s used in air combat simulation.

After the April 1999 accident that followed the in-flight wing separation of a T-34A Mentor, a metallurgic examination found structural fatigue cracks at several of the fracture surfaces. An examination of the left wing, which did not separate from the airplane, also displayed fatigue…

The following information is derived from the FAAs Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. Click here to view “Airworthiness Directives.”

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American General AA-5A Cheetah
Poor Engine Performance
The aircraft owner reported the engine performance deteriorated during flight.A mechanic discovered the carburetor bowl was not attached tightly to the throttle body. Even though the locking-tab washers under the attachment screws were properly installed, the screws were loose. The gasket may have shrunk or the attachment screws were not properly tightened during installation, allowing excessive air to be dr…

Aviation Safety has stated that there are basically two smoking guns with the Tomahawks history: the stall/spin and yoke [Aircraft Analysis, February]. As a private pilot with nearly 400 hours in a privately owned Tomahawk, I can only comment on what Ive witnessed.

The yoke problem, as mentioned in the article, was addressed by a couple of SBs. Prior to flight, I commence several box checks with the yoke and have never had the aircraft give a hint of yoke lockup. Regardless, if the yoke bushing is found to be faulty, it can be remedied with an engineering fix followed by another, more thought out, SB, AD or STC. Happily, a replacement bushing or bracket should be a relatively painless r…

The article on the Payne Stewart accident [Critical Moments, January] was a well-written discussion of the hazards of flying corporate airplanes at high altitude. I would like to add two points.

When I first joined the airlines, I had not had the benefit of military training. My airline refused to allow their pilots to take altitude chamber rides unless they were in the National Guard or Reserves. Like most pilots who have not been exposed to the effects of hypoxia, I didnt believe the training movies. It wasnt until I left the airline and had to take the training that I became a believer.

Second, I think the rule requiring one pilot to wear a mask above FL350 or when the other p…