Pilot Proficiency

AOPA has announced the surprising decision to suspend its annual Aviation Summits and instead hold a number of smaller grassroots events at general aviation airports, reaching members “where they fly.” Incoming AOPA president and CEO Mark Baker announced the change, saying it no longer makes sense for the association to invest in one large event. […]

A Schweizer SGS 2-33A sailplane came up a bit short of the intended runway on Sunday. The unidentified teenage pilot, a member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and an experienced glider pilot with a private pilot’s license, landed on the roof of a convenience store a half mile short of his intended runway at […]

It’s a video that makes pilots cringe and prompts airline passengers to question the wisdom of flying coach. A Swiss BAe 146/Avro RJ four-engine jet made a rough landing at London City Airport, slamming onto the runway under what appear to be extreme crosswind conditions. The 48-second video then shows the regional jet skidding and […]

The competition in the Unlimited Class at the National Championship Air Races taking place in Reno, Nevada, this week is off to an exciting start. On Tuesday, during the second day of qualifications for the Unlimited Class, part of the canopy on Strega, the airplane that won the class during the past few years at […]

“Let’s face it , some of the items on the checklist are written in blood,” our sim instructor says. It is day three of recurrent training. My training partner and I sit up straight. These words compel us to think carefully about why we are there and what we are doing. It means that accidents, […]

It’s never a good idea to use a taxiway as a runway (though it’s happened plenty of times). But as you probably know controllers will frequently instruct pilots to do just the opposite — that is, use a runway as a taxiway. We normally accept these special taxi clearances without giving much thought to the […]

The National Transportation Safety Board is holding a safety forum in Washington that is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow. Expert panelists have been invited to discuss advances in safety culture research and ways to improve aviation safety culture. The forum panels, which are being streamed live online here, […]

A Cessna T-50 Bobcat, also known as the Bamboo Bomber, that went missing more than a week ago, on Labor Day, has been found in a cornfield in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. The wreckage was so badly burned that the investigators could not ascertain how many people were aboard the vintage twin-engine taildragger, but it is […]

A teenager was killed last week when a remote-controlled aircraft he was flying struck him in the head, officials say. Roman Pirozek, 19, was flying his RC helicopter, worth about $2,000, in Calvert Vaux Park in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday afternoon when the accident occurred. Some witnesses say he was performing “aggressive” maneuvers with […]

The 50th anniversary National Championship Air Races officially kick off tomorrow at the Reno/Stead Airport outside Reno, Nevada. And there is much to get excited about at this year’s event. The most recent champion, Steve Hinton Jr., is no longer flying Strega, the airplane that he has won the Unlimited race category in during the […]