NTSB

On January 29, 2019, a Bell 407 helicopter operating as an air ambulance flight by Batesville, Arkansas-based Survival Flight crashed near Zaleski, Ohio, killing the pilot, the flight nurse and the flight paramedic. The helicopter impacted heavily forested terrain just before 7 am local time in deteriorating weather while enroute to transfer a patient from […]

One takeaway from this tragedy: Altitude is the best defense.

A Fact Sheet released recently by the FAA lists several National Transportation Safety Board safety recommendations, followed by the FAA actions being taken or considered. Of note is the record showing that NTSB and FAA “agree on a course of action about 80 percent of the time.” Here are some interesting points in the FAA/NTSB […]

Pilots are endowed with the right to take risks.

The FAA last week ruled the Collings Foundation could no longer accept money from people who wanted to ride on the organization’s World War II aircraft. The ruling included a critical look at the NTSB and the agency’s finding following the October 2, 2019, crash of the foundation’s B-17G, “Nine O Nine” at Bradley International […]

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced a new FAA rule in the Federal Register created to enhance the professional development of pilots operating at Part 121 and Part 135 commercial carriers. A DOT news release announcing the effort said, “All captains are now required to receive leadership and command training, as well as mentoring […]

When an accident’s cause is not easily found.

The National Transportation Safety Board on Friday published a number of details the board has gathered from ADS-B tracking data, ground-based video camera footage and witnesses since the January 26 crash of a Sikorsky S76, N72EX, in the hilly terrain near Calabasas, California. The flight, operated under Part 135 by Island Express Helicopters Inc., was […]

Investigators at the site of the January 26 crash of a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter—which claimed the lives of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his young daughter and seven others—said the aircraft missed clearing the hill it struck near Calabasas, California, by some 30 feet. National Transportation Safety Board investigator Bill English made a point during a […]

While it is still too early to draw any final conclusions about what brought down the Pilatus PC-12 this past Thanksgiving weekend, the NTSB’s preliminary report published December 18 does highlight some disturbing facts about the single-engine turboprop’s short flight after it departed Chamberlin Municipal Airport, South Dakota (9V9). The accident killed the pilot and […]