Pilot Proficiency

The future of AgustaWestland’s AW609 civil tiltrotor program has been thrown into doubt after the crash of a prototype in Italy on Friday that killed the two test pilots on board. Radar data appears to confirm that the aircraft, Prototype 2, went down about 10 minutes after takeoff near Santhia in northern Italy, near the […]

Back in March, Harrison Ford made headlines with his emergency landing in a Ryan PT-22 on a golf course in Santa Monica, California. The forced landing was successful, and while Ford suffered serious injuries, he was back in the skies after only three months. However, it appears that he doesn’t remember all of the forced […]

It goes without saying that safety has to be the first priority for any airline, but reliability certainly runs a close second. If an airline is perceived as unreliable, no amount of travel vouchers or complimentary cocktails will restore a negative image. A carrier’s scheduled performance is a direct measure of its product quality. The […]

A dramatic scene was captured on video today as a Boeing 767 caught fire while taxiing for departure at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida. Passengers could be seen evacuating via slides onto the taxiway though there are reports of injuries. Plumes of black smoke billowed from the jet as passengers streamed to safety. A […]

Space-geeks rejoice! NASA recently released into the public domain a collection of thousands of digital photos from the Apollo era, including a wide collection of spectacular shots from the lunar landings. The collection includes images from Apollo missions 7 through 17. Many of the images have never previously been released. In addition to loads of […]

Over the weekend, the board of directors of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) created a new “associate member” category for electric and hybrid-propulsion aircraft. The reason for the new membership category is to hasten the worldwide development, growth and airworthiness certification of electric airplanes, which very well could play an important role in securing […]

While we all love flying, there are times when there is not a whole lot to do in the cockpit. Once you have climbed to your cruise altitude and configured the airplane for cruise you may ask yourself “what’s next?” After you’ve enjoyed the view for a while, the idle time in cruise is a […]

Tornadoes had caused extensive damage and loss of life in central Kansas — the area from which we had departed in our airplane that very morning. There had been a wild weather rampage all the way from Oklahoma to Nebraska. The video on TV that evening was dramatic. Had I taken an extreme risk to […]

It’s a deepening mystery that probably will only lead to more questions than answers as we try to get to the bottom of the case of a stolen Piper Cub by an absconder that can only be described as, well, “skinny.” YouTube poster Gizmo brought us the creepy video of Mr. Skeltal, a decent-enough pilot […]

An F/A-18C fighter jet based at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar outside San Diego crashed in a farm field near the Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, yesterday. The airplane was part of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 and was on its way back to California from a mission in Bahrain, MCAS Miramar reported. The […]