Accidents

(September 2011) It was the Friday before Christmas, and the pilot-owner of a Piper Saratoga was eager to get home for a party. At 2:30 in the afternoon he called Flight Service to brief a flight from College Park, Maryland, to Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) in Ohio, 240 nm distant. He said he hoped to take […]

All 19 people aboard a Beech 19000D carrying tourists to see Mt. Everest were killed on Sunday when their twin turboprop crashed as it tried to land in rain and dense fog at Nepal’s main international airport. The airplane, operated by Buddha Air, crashed in Kotdanda, about 10 miles from the capital, Katmandu, as it […]

(September 2011) With so much commentary on aircraft accidents from analysts, victims, witnesses, psychologists, perpetrators, investigators, manufacturers and Lord knows what other experts (real and self-proclaimed), why two cents’ worth from me? I guess because my commentary is from the perspective of somebody trained and experienced in the investigation side of the business, who’s witnessed […]

On the heels of the news that two more spectators have died in the Reno air crash, bringing the toll to 11 victims, NTSB investigators have announced that they discovered that the accident airplane was outfitted with telemetry and an outward-facing video camera. On Sunday accident investigators found the camera, along with, more importantly, its […]

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday called for a sharp reduction in the number of domestic airlines and said the country may have to resort to buying foreign-built aircraft to improve its shaky air safety record. Medvedev made the comments after visiting the** crash site of a Yak-42** about 150 miles north of Moscow that […]

A chartered Russian jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Tunoshna, Russia, on Wednesday, killing most of the members of the elite Russian hockey team Lokomotiv. The flight was on its way to Minsk, Belarus, for the opening game of the team’s hockey season. Reportedly among the dead are Lokomotiv head coach Brad McCrimmon, an NHL […]

The third midair collision this summer in Alaska has claimed another life. Scott Veal, 24, died when his Cessna 208 Caravan collided with a Cessna 207 flown by Kristen Sprague, 26, six miles north of Nightmute, according to Alaska State Troopers. At the time of the collision, the two pilots were the sole occupants of […]

The NTSB has released a preliminary accident report after reviewing video of the recent Kansas City Air Show crash that killed pilot Bryan Jensen. The report is the Board’s first official review of the accident that shocked air show visitors and the aviation community alike late last month. According to the NTSB, Jensen appears to […]

(September 2011) Most general aviation pilots operate by themselves. While they may experience internal or external pressures, the pilot basically determines how the flight will be conducted in total isolation from any other inputs or organizational pressures. Pilots who fly for a company, airline or other organization, on the other hand, typically operate within a […]

Former Platinum Jet pilot Francis Vieira, 61, was sentenced to six months in federal prison on Monday for his role in fraudulent activity that led up to the crash of a Challenger 600 charter jet in 2005, which veered off the runway after a failed takeoff attempt from Teterboro Airport. During court hearings last year, […]