Pilot Proficiency

Loss of control accounts for more than 40 percent of fixed-wing GA fatal accidents, a sobering statistic that has prompted the National Transportation Safety Board to put this danger on its “Most Wanted” list of safety improvements. Now, a group of flight instructors in the Washington, D.C. area is tackling the problem as well through […]

David Gowan, a 57-year-old Mooney M20K pilot from North Dakota, had just reached 1,000 feet after taking off from Minnesota’s Hawley Municipal Airport on Tuesday when his engine quit. Searching for a landing spot, he spotted a clear area on Highway 10 and brought the airplane down. After touching down, however, the Mooney caught up […]

The article “Learning to Fly like a Girl” reveals human traits not necessarily gender specific. And “first, fly the airplane” may have little to do with one’s experience level. Each article has everything to do with one’s “mere presence of mind” to have the right flying attitude, all of the time! John King hit the […]

During 18 months in 2003 and 2004, SpaceShipOne, Scaled Composites’ original air-launched spaceplane, made 14 free flights of which six were powered, the rest glides. Although SS1 was a novel design with an untried type of motor and was venturing into inhospitable territory last visited by the X-15 almost 50 years earlier, the privately funded […]

“Calm winds, clear skies, bright sunshine. It’s a wonderful day to fly.” The Flight Service Station specialist was delighted to be giving such a favorable weather report. “No,” I thought to myself. “It’s a lousy day to fly.” This surprising thought illustrates there are special considerations and risks for every aircraft you fly. You see, […]

Chances are you take a certain amount of pride from flying traffic patterns with near military precision, nailing your target altitude and airspeed and squaring off your turns while taking into account the effects of the wind. Not only does this practice demonstrate what a great pilot you are, but it also makes you predictable […]

An Air Canada Airbus A320 touched down about 1,100 feet short of the runway at Halifax International Airport while attempting to land in heavy snow early Sunday, injuring 25 passengers and crew when the jetliner’s landing gear tore off. Photos of the crash scene show the wrecked airliner with its nose cone missing and engines […]

Airlines and aviation safety regulators around the world are considering a range of measures intended to prevent another tragedy like the one witnessed in the French Alps last week when a packed Germanwings jetliner crashed with its copilot at the controls. German prosecutors say the 28-year-old pilot Andreas Lubitz apparently crashed the Airbus A320 intentionally […]

The pilot, 58, was a hotel owner in the northwest England town of Chester. Although he did not fly professionally, he held commercial licenses for both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. In 2002 he had replaced his first airplane, a 160 hp fixed-gear Socata Tampico, with a 1970 Cessna 310, which he flew for 300 hours […]

Two hundred airplanes were planning to depart from a small airport at the exact same time: midnight. Most were jets. There was one ground power unit available for the entire lot. One of the field’s two runways was closed. This gave us something to think about. In fact, we had all day to contemplate the […]