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At about 1230 eastern time, the pilot of a homebuilt Long EZ suffered medical incapacitation and the airplane crashed in the Atlantic Ocean near Marthas Vineyard. The pilot was determined to have died before impact. The pilot was gathering NOAA research data in the purpose-built airplane. He was making low passes over research buoys. The pilot reported no trouble, but another airplane spotted wreckage floating in the water. An autopsy showed the pilot suffered a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage that was too large to determine its origin or its dimension….

It would take a clinical psychologist to explain, but there are some people who are not meant to fly airplanes.

It certainly doesnt take a superman or superwoman to become a competent pilot, of course. Like riding a bicycle, most people can learn to do it competently, with a few becoming exceptionally skillful. The flip side of that is that there are also those who cant get the hang of it.

So it is with flying: There are some people who, for whatever the reason, simply can not put it all together and fly competently. The difference is that in aviation, this apparent learning disability costs lives and money, rather than scrapes and bruises.

My first exposure to this phenomenon w…

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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The FAAs Aircraft Certification Office in Atlanta has received reports of problems with oil filters manufactured by Champion. The problems include collapsed elements, rubber gasket material inside the filter canister, and other one-time events. The reports were serious enough for the manufacturer and the FAA to launch an investigation, which revealed that the collapsed elements were caused by the engine oil bypass valve that is installed in some Textron Lycoming engines.

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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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An FAA avionics inspector in the Scottsdale, Ariz., FSDO reported that he has found the ELT remote switch circuits to be defective on two separate new Cessna 172s.

The Pointer 3000-11 model ELTs were both factory installed as original equipment by Cessna. An investigation by the manufacturer determined that the internal fuse had failed, but the manufacturer claimed the problem had been traced to Cessnas post-production test procedure several years ago.

The problem was fi…

Success at a social function is judged by your entrance. If you stumble over the doorstep and land face first in the guacamole, youll definitely get noticed but probably not invited back.

Entering a traffic pattern requires the same dont-trip-over-your-joystick finesse. Unfortunately, there is no Emily Post guide for pattern etiquette, and it shows. Monitor the Unicom at any busy uncontrolled airport and youll hear pilots announcing modified downwinds (with no hint of what that modification is), the cursing that results from one pilot cutting another one off and multiple runways in use, even if theres only one strip of pavement.

Think its not a problem? Look at this issues Pre…

Theres an old saying in aviation that youll hear throughout your flying career: Trust your instruments.

Anyone who has had instrument training has been beaten over the head by the instructor. The strategy is necessary in order to overcome your proprioceptive sensors – the so-called seat of the pants sensations – that you learned to rely on when flying VFR.

Yet, what may not have been emphasized is that your instruments can and occasionally will lie to you. Therefore a basic function of cockpit resource management requires a continuous cross-check of the engine, flight and navigation instruments. Its akin to the old saw, just because youre paranoid, dont think someones not ou…

At about 19:45 PDT, a Beech B200 exhausted its fuel and was ditched in the Pacific Ocean following a temporary incapacitation of the pilot, who was not injured. The flight originated at Parker, Ariz., about 17:54 MST, and was destined for Palomar, Calif. At 18:38, the pilot advised that he was sick and radio contact was lost thereafter. The aircraft was tracked on radar and intercepted by military aircraft about 100 miles beyond the destination airport. About 19:33, the pilot reported through a relay by another aircraft that he had passed out, was now recovered, but was out of fuel. The aircraft landed in the ocean about 160 miles southwest of San Diego. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued the pilo…

When I was a new flyer, an old instructor named Tony Stubby Azzetti taught me how to hand-prop an airplane. Despite the lack of three fingers on one hand, he made it look easy, as though hed been swinging props to start airplane engines for decades. Always remember, he said as I took the propeller blade for the first time, that propeller cant see you and wont feel a thing if your melon gets in the way. Old Stubby sure knew how to teach.

Safety-conscious pilots will shake their heads in disbelief that anyone would intentionally grab a propeller and swing it. Good. Keep that attitude and youll live to be an old pilot. But some day, when your guard is down, you may be tempted to tw…

A spectacular four-hour flight that was tracked on television to the bitter end culminated in a near vertical dive to a farmers field near Mina, S.D., in late October. Aboard the Lear 35A were four passengers – including golf great Payne Stewart – and two pilots. Even while the plane was cruising at altitude, it was apparent that the light jet had depressurized, from as yet unknown reasons.

The jet was flying from Orlando, Fla., to Dallas on an IFR flight plan when ATC lost communication with the airplane as it climbed on autopilot through FL370 toward an assigned FL390. It busted the assigned altitude and reached altitudes in the low to mid-forties.

The aircraft did not turn toward t…

Airplanes seem to like cold weather. They pick up speed more rapidly on the takeoff roll and lift off with little or no effort. The controls have a crisp, quick feel thats lacking during the summer months. The engine(s) sound at the peak of strength.

Cold air and airplanes do well together. Well, most of the time. There are a few drawbacks.

One of the biggest problems for cross-country fliers is that reliable icing forecasts are as rare as honest crooks. Icing sometimes shows up where none was supposed to be and is frequently absent from where its supposed to be.

The inaccuracy of the weather predictions leads many people to ignore icing forecasts in favor of going and taking a…