Pilot Proficiency

Red runway status lights used at large U.S. airports such as Chicago O’Hare International and JFK indicate runway status, thereby increasing situation awareness for pilots and vehicle operators. The lights are set in-pavement and illuminate when it is unsafe to enter, cross or begin takeoff. Status lights operate automatically with input from surface and terminal […]

The Flight Safety Foundation says 54 percent of all accidents could potentially be avoided if the flying pilot had executed a timely go-around, simply bringing up the power and returning for another attempt at landing, often because the first approach was in some way unstable. The FSF recently learned that 83 percent of runway excursions […]

Jonathan Smith always dreamed of being a pilot, but with a severe stuttering disorder, he was told it was impossible for him to earn a pilot’s license. In 2010, he reached out to multiple flight schools in New Jersey, but was turned down by each one. “I became interested in flying as a kid, but […]

Despite piloting a Gulfstream G650 these days, Bob Agostino still thinks of himself as a student of aviation safety as well as the art of flying. A former member of Bombardier’s internal accident investigation team, he also happens to be a particularly good source to query about the company’s first safety meeting that he helped […]

From time to time, I get letters suggesting topics for future articles. I welcome them. After several decades of writing “Technicalities,” I sometimes feel panic welling up as I try to think of something new to say. Some readers, sensing that a question may not be large enough, send several. One, who identified himself only […]

As is my normal custom on a two-man crew, I offer to perform the walk-around inspection when it’s the copilot’s leg. I enjoy the stroll, fresh air, and re-engagement with the parts and pieces of the airplane — a reminder of just how big the machine is that I fly. On this particular occasion, performing […]

I borrowed this title from a documentary about Pete Seeger and the Weavers because the phrase “wasn’t that a time” always comes to mind when I ­remember an airfreight company operating out of southwestern Ohio for nearly 30 years — first as Hogan Air and then Miami Valley Aviation. When I came back home to […]

The master mechanic, the inveterate tinkerer, the skilled craftsman who works magic in wood and metal and fiberglass: I am, sadly, none of these things. I know many people who are naturally handy, and I envy them. My own father, a carpenter and then a general contractor for 25 years, is one of these folks, […]

The privately operated Phenom 300, arriving from Milan’s Malpensa Airport with a single ­pilot and three passengers aboard, overflew the Blackbushe aerodrome, southwest of London, before circling to a left downwind for Runway 25. Blackbushe is not a controlled airport, but it once was, and it still has an old-fashioned tower with a glass-enclosed cab, […]

As they approached the outer marker at ­Buffalo in their Q400 turboprop, Capt. ­Marvin Renslow, 47, and First Officer ­Rebecca Lynne Shaw, 24, had allowed themselves to be distracted by an ­extended conversation about their previous icing experience compared to their current icing conditions. They were now too fast for so close in. About 3 […]