Pilot Proficiency

An AV-8B Harrier jet from the Third Marine Aircraft Wing based at the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma crashed yesterday afternoon into a neighborhood in Imperial, California. According to a press release issued by the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, the pilot ejected safely prior to the crash and no one on the ground was […]

A 24-year-old woman was accidentally killed on Tuesday when she walked into the spinning propeller of a Twin Otter on the ramp at the Ohio skydiving business where she worked. Sarah Rhoads, a well-liked manager for Start Skydiving at Middletown Regional Airport, was pronounced dead at a local hospital after suffering severe head injuries, authorities […]

A former F-16 pilot died on Sunday when his 1993 Yak-55M crashed during an aerobatic performance at Stevens Point Air Show in Wisconsin. Video of the accident shows the airplane in a downward spiral before it crashed into a wooded area approximately 1,000 feet from the runway. Pilot Bill Cowden, 47, was pronounced dead at […]

Every airplane has a power curve. And every power curve has a backside. It’s an area of the performance envelope in which induced drag rises dramatically, necessitating considerably more power to maintain a given airspeed and altitude. Venturing into this “region of reverse command” on approach can be particularly hazardous because as you “drag it […]

When you lay your towel down on a beach mere feet from the arrival end of an active runway, do you assume any of the responsibility for your personal safety? A German sunbather is likely contemplating that very question after a Piper Archer nearly landed on top of him recently as he relaxed on an […]

Jan. 21, 2000. 5:30 a.m. I huddle over the wheel of the tug, savoring the warmth of the dashboard heater though it adds to my early-morning stupor. I’m not sure when I fell asleep last night, but it had to be mere hours before the alarm jolted my head from its resting place on my […]

Seven people in a Gulfstream IV were killed Saturday night in a fiery crash at Hanscom Field in Massachusetts, approximately 20 miles northwest of Boston. Hanscom is one of the busiest business aviation airports in the country and is a popular destination for bizjets going into Boston but wanting to avoid Logan International. The airplane […]

With aviation technology advancing all the time, we’re always asking the question: what will they think of next? Well, how about using only your brain to control an aircraft? Scientists at Technische Universität München and the TU Berlin have put the futuristic idea to the test and successfully demonstrated that brain-controlled flight is feasible — […]

Timetables, safety cards, even sick bags. Classic aviation and airline memorabilia has a legion of collectors around the world. And while you can pick up a an orange Braniff Summer 1981 timetable on eBay for less than $10, rare pieces at the most coveted end of the spectrum fetch significantly more. Here are five of […]

Flying is a risky activity. Many pilots like to think otherwise, but this basic truth is being officially acknowledged by the FAA. It has recruited groups of highly qualified instructors, examiners and course designers to collaboratively design an improved pilot evaluation system. The latest working group is charged with assisting in the implementation of Airman […]