Pilot Proficiency

Scores of classic cars, boats and airplanes recently descended on Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, Florida, for the 19th annual Vintage Weekend, an event that celebrates immaculately preserved machines of past eras. The event drew countless rare conveyances in every category, making Ocean Reef an antique-lover’s paradise for the four-day long experience. Some of […]

As Russian investigators are working hard to piece together the cause behind last month’s tragic crash of a commercial 737 jet, which killed all 50 people on board, fingers are being pointed at the operations of the airline itself. Multiple reports by Russian news media including The Moscow Times claim that Rosaviatsia, Russia’s Federal Air […]

In what could be a more frequent sight in the era of government sequestration, on Sunday, November 24, EAA’s B-17 “Aluminum Overcast” performed a pre-game fly-over at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field before the NFL game between the hometown Packers and the Minnesota Vikings. Pilots Sean Elliott and George Daubner timed their approach to the closing […]

The crash of a Learjet 25 that killed famed Latin singer Jenni Rivera was caused by a “series of factors,” according to a report released this week by Mexico’s General Civil Aviation Administration. The report comes just a few days shy of the one-year anniversary of the accident, which fatally injured all seven occupants on […]

Passengers who survived the crash of a Cessna 208 Caravan near St. Mary’s, Alaska, over the weekend have told investigators the airplane “dropped out of the sky” without warning during the flight in conditions described as low ceilings and freezing rain. The pilot and three passengers, one of them a five-month-old baby, were killed in […]

The operator of the police helicopter that crashed through the roof of a Glasgow pub last Friday grounded its entire fleet of Eurocopter EC135s for a time last year amid serious concerns about rotor hub shaft cracks, according to public records. Accident investigators in the U.K. haven’t indicated that the grounding played a role in […]

The trend among aviation educators to ingrain in students the importance of keeping their eyes looking outside the cockpit is excellent counsel in an increasingly digital world. But an equally important piece of the safety puzzle is to use everything in our arsenal, from our eyes to our ears to the avionics in the panel, […]

Four people died over the weekend near St Mary’s, Alaska, after a Cessna 208 Caravan crashed in conditions described by local news outlets as freezing rain and low ceilings. According to the Anchorage Daily News, the passengers killed include a retired couple, a five-month-old baby and the pilot. Six additional passengers survived with injuries and […]

The investigation into the crash of a police helicopter through the roof of a packed Glasgow pub on Friday night continues as emergency workers sift through the rubble in search of more bodies. At least nine people died and 30 were hospitalized when the Eurocopter EC135T2 went down at about 10:30 p.m. local time straight […]

In 1973, the end of American involvement in the Vietnam War signaled the end of the draft. A few months prior to leaving for college in 1975, the Selective Service System no longer required me to register. It wasn’t long thereafter that the Air Force dramatically reduced its demand for pilots. My secondary alternate status […]