Pilot Proficiency

Nineteen tourists were killed Monday in a hot air balloon crash near Luxor, Egypt, making it the deadliest balloon crash worldwide in decades. Details of the episode are still emerging, but the Washington Post reported that a landing cable got caught around a helium tube, which caused a fire and subsequent gas explosion. The balloon […]

Canadian TV director John Driftmier was killed on Sunday in an airplane crash while filming the second season of “Dangerous Flights,” a reality program for the Discovery Channel that follows fliers as they “risk their lives in the high-danger, high-stress business of aircraft delivery.” While little is known about the crash, it reportedly took place […]

Detailed weather conditions at airports are easy to obtain through a metar, ATIS, AWOS or ASOS. Conditions such as winds, temperatures, cloud conditions and visibilities are measured by ground-based equipment and can be obtained through frequencies, phone numbers, iPad apps and some panel-mounted avionics. But weather conditions are harder to measure in the air. That’s […]

As we passed our first waypoint of 20 degrees longitude westbound over the North Atlantic, my copilot and I studied the TCAS symbol on the navigation display. Another airplane was approaching us from behind at the 5 o’clock position. Our 777 was cruising at FL 390. The other airplane was 1,000 feet below at FL […]

There’s now an easier way to browse NTSB reports. Aircraft Incidents is a new online source for aviation accidents. The website contains the entire database of NTSB reports and allows readers to narrow their searches by various criteria, including categories such as “Top 10 Airlines” and “Top 10 Aircraft.” It also breaks down the data […]

Sarah Yensen and Ted Lester, pilots who have been dating for several years and who have flown together to Oshkosh from the Boston area six different times, recently had what Yensen described as an “in-flight incident” for which she determined there was no checklist. Yensen, who works at Lincoln Labs, and Lester, who works at […]

The NTSB is investigating the crash of a Beech Premier IA on Wednesday night as the pilot was attempting a go-around at Thomson-McDuffie Regional Airport (KHQU) near Augusta, Georgia. Five people died in the crash shortly after 8 p.m. and two others were taken to a hospital, according to officials. NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt […]

Three months after his harrowing collision with an SUV during an approach to Northwest Regional Airport (52F) near Roanoke, Texas, Will Davis has earned his Private Pilot Certificate. The pilot’s wife witnessed the collision and shot a video, which went viral and created a lot of media attention. In interviews shortly after the accident, Davis […]

Facing looming sequestration budget cuts that are due to take effect on March 1, the Air Force has decided to cancel a number of popular upcoming airshows. At the same time, the Defense Department says it is prepared to put a halt to all “non-essential” military flying on April 1, including performances this year by […]

Richard Bach’s near-death experience six months ago has led him to finally finish his iconic novella, Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The book, published in 1970, was originally written in four parts, but only the first three were published. A former Flying writer, Bach has made final edits and sent the completed fourth part to his publisher, […]