Accidents

A report released by the Department of Defense Inspector General on Monday calls into question the Air Force’s analysis of the fatal 2010 F-22 crash — which the military attributed to pilot error — that caused the death of Captain Jeff Haney. In the new report, the Inspector General blasts the service’s findings, saying they […]

The velocity is a kit-built composite four-seater. Similar in configuration to Burt Rutan’s VariEze and Long-EZ, it has a swept wing with tall upturned tips, a pusher propeller and a rectangular foreplane of high aspect ratio. The landing gear may be fixed or retractable. Triangular leading-edge extensions, or “strakes,” along the sides of the fuselage […]

The Cirrus SR20 that deployed its whole airplane recovery parachute last week in Danbury, Connecticut, did so after making a classic mistake that continues to top the list of general aviation accident causes. According to a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board on Friday, the airplane was on approach to Runway 26 […]

Renowned aerobatic champion Kirby Chambliss walked away from the crash of his Red Bull Zivko Edge 540 on Wednesday after suffering an engine failure while practicing for an airshow in El Salvador. Preparing for the upcoming Ilopango Air Show scheduled for this weekend, Chambliss was in formation with fellow airshow pilot Skip Stewart when the […]

A Cirrus SR20 crashed approximately two miles from Danbury Airport in Central Connecticut last night, and all three occupants walked away, though their airplane was held up for a while. (Initial reports had reported that it was an SR22, but those reports turned out to be inaccurate.) According to reports in the local papers, the […]

The NTSB has released the probable cause for the July 2011 crash of a Wright “B” Flyer replica in which two people died during a test flight in Springfield, Ohio. After examining the wreck of the experimental airplane, investigators found a crack in a weld on the left propeller shaft, which, according to the NTSB […]

An AgustaWestland AW109 crashed in thick fog into a construction crane atop a London residential high-rise on Wednesday morning, killing the pilot and one person on the ground and sparking a fire when the helicopter plunged to the ground. According to news reports from London, 13 others were injured in the crash near a busy […]

Aerobatic pilot Fred Cabañas and Mexican television reporter Jorge Lopez Vives died when Cabañas’ airplane crashed on Tuesday afternoon. The crash happened at the Caribbean island of Cozumel while Cabañas and Vives were working on footage for a Mexican TV network program whose title translates as “Extreme Adrenaline,” the Associated Press reported. Cabañas, who had […]

According to his mother, 17-year-old student pilot Jordan Smith had his own key and access to the security code provided by the owner of a Piper Twin Comanche in Jasper, Alabama. But on the night of New Year’s Day, the teen, who did not have a pilot’s license, apparently decided to take two friends for […]

One of my favorite jokes is the offhand remark that “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it,” a quote that has been attributed to Mark Twain. Twain’s comment about the weather reminds us that there are some things, such as death, taxes and fuel prices, that we can complain […]