Pilot Proficiency

The National Transportation Safety Board says preliminary flight data recorder information downloaded from the Embraer Phenom 100 that crashed into houses while on approach to Montgomery County Airpark in Maryland on Monday shows that the stall warning system sounded continuously for the last 20 seconds of the flight, indicating that the twinjet had slowed dangerously […]

Over the past year there has been plenty of aviation news for us to report on, much of it ranging from horrifying to concerning. From the tragic, baffling and as yet unsolved disappearance of Malaysia Flight 370 to an FAA challenged by a changing landscape, the need for regulatory reform and challenges with ambitious programs […]

A mother and her two young children were killed on Monday when an Embraer Phenom 100 crashed into their house about a mile short of Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, Maryland, just before 11 a.m. local time. Three people on board the jet were also killed, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, including the […]

A recent report in the journal Human Factors found that the prevalence of automated cockpits may be hindering pilots’ ability to perform some key tasks, such as navigating without the aid of a moving map and troubleshooting systems problems. Researchers studied 16 experienced pilots as they flew routine and nonroutine flight scenarios in a Boeing […]

The FAA yesterday issued long-awaited rules that increase the number of hours pilots may log toward an instrument rating using approved aviation training devices, raising the limit to 20 hours in advanced training devices versus 10 hours under the old rules. In reality many simulator makers had received special authorizations from the FAA to allow […]

A Robinson R44 apparently broke apart in flight and crashed into a the roof of a building in North Salt Lake, Utah, on Tuesday, bursting into flames and killing the two men on board. Witnesses reported seeing the helicopter break into several pieces midflight. Debris was found over a widely scattered area, according to local […]

“Did you do something to my nav radios?” John was clearly confused, and I didn’t know why. But John had just realized that steady needles didn’t necessarily mean he was flying well. The flag for the glideslope confirmed his suspicion. We were flying an ILS approach in our old Comanche 250, in the clouds with […]

One of the best things about flying general aviation airplanes is the freedom it provides. You can go and check out almost any place you want, as long as you stay above regulated altitude limits and away from major tourist attractions, such as the Grand Canyon. Aside from being able to see new places from […]

A U.S. Air Force pilot assigned to bomb ISIS targets in the Middle East was killed when his F-16 fighter crashed on Sunday, military officials said. The Fighting Falcon reportedly suffered a mechanical malfunction shortly after takeoff. The pilot attempted to return to an airstrip in Jordan but crashed short of the runway, according to […]

The National Transportation Safety Board’s final report on the June 2012 inflight breakup of a Pilatus PC-12 over Central Florida highlights the risks of flying a high-performance airplane in IMC with minimum training and experience. Weeks after the accident the NTSB issued a safety alert to pilots warning about the inherent latency of in-cockpit Nexrad […]