Aviation Safety

The mission was to help ferry a friend’s airplane from the U.S. East Coast to their new home in Nevada. Their Skyhawk was a tried and true friend, with a number of mods that made the trip less of an ordeal than it might sound. To complete the mission, I had planned a three-day jaunt, […]

December 1, 2019, Union City, Tenn. Cirrus SR22 The pilot later reported the airplane encountered a crosswind gust and drifted left while landing. At touchdown, a second gust lifted the right wing, the airplane drifted off the runway centerline and the left wing dragged in the grass. The airplane left the runway, collapsing the landing […]

No matter how successful we are in life, there’s always someone with a bigger house, a newer car and a better job to help keep us honest. That’s certainly true in aviation, where we’re often left to wonder how some pilots can get away with buying and flying more airplane than they can handle. You […]

To help reduce the occurrence of wrong surface incidents, runway incursions and other high-risk events at U.S. airports, the FAA has developed its “From the Flight Deck” YouTube video series. The new videos target general aviation audiences with discussions of real-life wrong-surface events and guidance for pilots who may need a refresher. Each four-to-five-minute video […]

On November 6, 2019, the crew of a Republic Airways Embraer EMB-175 regional jet operating a schedule passenger flight under FAR Part 121 declared an emergency shortly after takeoff from the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta (Ga.) International Airport. The crew reported a pitch-trim runaway and difficulty controlling the aircraft. Among other details, the jet climbed to around […]

Instrument flying can be dull and boring. You’re straight and level, probably on autopilot, and there’s literally nothing to see except the wings and the instrument panel. Other phases of instrument flight aren’t so boring, though, especially if we want or need to hand-fly the airplane through a complicated departure or arrival. When we get […]

Special VFR helicopter operations are different. For one thing, the “NO SVFR” admonition at many Class B airports in the U.S. doesn’t apply to helicopters. For another, there is no visibility limitation for helicopter SVFR. The NTSB’s investigation into the January 26, 2020, crash that killed basketball icon Kobe Bryant and eight others will show […]

If you still have questions after perusing FAR 91.157, the FAA’s Aeronautical Information Manual may help. Highlights from its discussion (at para. 4-4-6) include: 1. Pilots must request an SVFR clearance; ATC won’t offer it (although controllers may hint at it: ”Is there anything special we can do for you today?”). 2. An SVFR clearance […]

The FAA regulation describing SVFR weather minima for both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters is FAR 91.157. Here are the highlights: 1. SVFR may only be conducted below 10,000 feet msl and to the surface within the lateral boundaries of an airport’s controlled airspace. An ATC clearance is required. 2. SVFR weather minima, except for helicopters […]

The only time I’ve used Special VFR “in anger” goes back some 20 years, to a less-than-perfect day at a towered airport. I was set to depart the following day, on a mission to ferry a familiar airplane from one coast to the other. At the time, I hadn’t flown the airplane in a couple […]