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Accident Statistics

Article: Midair Over The Hudson

As a result of its investigation of the August 8, 2009, midair collision over the Hudson River, the NTSB says it’s time for the FAA to improve the information it offers to pilots about avoiding collisions.

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Pilot Talk, Proficiency

Article: Stop Squeezing Them In

Remember the circus act in which a dozen clowns get out of the smallest car you’ve ever seen drive into the center ring?

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, NTSB Reports, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Pilot Talk, Proficiency, Safety

Article: The Crosswind Component

Ensuring that there’s a safety margin in everything we do is fundamental to aviation accident avoidance.

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, NTSB Reports, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Pilot Talk, Safety

Article: Hazards Of Extreme Flying

Ensuring that there’s a safety margin in everything we do is fundamental to aviation accident avoidance.

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Pilot Talk, Proficiency

Article: Buyer Beware

You might think that FAA airworthiness, inspection and record-keeping requirements virtually guarantee that any airplane you buy is going to be in superb condition. ...

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Pilot Talk, Proficiency

Article: Great Places Not To Have An Accident

One of the truly wondrous things about general aviation is the ease with which you can reach vacation sites that would be a hassle via road, ferry or airline transportation.

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, People and Places, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Pilot Talk

Article: From Russia With Love

The Yak 50 is a single-engine, single-seat, low-wing, semi-retractable, conventional-gear aerobatic aircraft designed in 1973 by the Yakovlev Design Bureau in Russia. It’s an honest, friendly airplane—if somewhat extraordinary because of its country of...

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Talk, Safety, Weather Flying, Weather Skills

Article: The Light-Sport Safety Record

While the NTSB’s preliminary statistics show that the number of general aviation accidents dropped again last year, as did the number of people killed, the estimated number of hours flown also dropped, resulting in a slight increase in both the o...

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Pilot Talk, Proficiency

Article: A Pure Form Of Flying

It was a beautiful spring day, and I was a newly minted CFI full of confidence and enthusiasm.

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Talk, Weather Flying, Weather Skills

Article: Monitoring What’s Going On

Individuals who have passed their FAA written exams and practical tests don’t necessarily have the knowledge and skills to become trustworthy pilots. ...

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, NTSB Reports, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Pilot Talk, People and Places

Article: Analyzing Pilot Performance

NTSB investigators were able to assemble plenty of data to reconstruct what happened on board the Colgan Air Bombardier DHC-8-400 that crashed at Clarence Center, N.Y., on February 12, 2009.

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Safety, Weather Flying, Weather Skills

Article: Recognizing You’re In Trouble

One of the most important skills for pilots to possess is the ability to recognize when they’re falling behind in an unfolding scenario. Frequently, pilots who fall too far behind experience accidents and are immortalized in NTSB accident reports.

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Talk, Proficiency, Safety, Weather Flying, Weather Skills

Article: Safety’s Ideal World

In an ideal world, once the probable cause of an accident is identified, there never will be an accident like it again.

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Talk, Proficiency, Safety, Weather Flying, Weather Skills

Article: Getting Ready For NextGen

Recently, NTSB Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman issued a warning that those in the government and aviation industry who are enamored of the planned Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) should get their heads out of the clouds and realize...

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Talk, Proficiency, Safety, Weather Flying, Weather Skills

Article: Muffler Inspection

If you were to make a list of the most fun and glamorous aspects of flying, I’d bet that inspecting an aircraft’s muffler wouldn’t be on it. ...

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Talk, Proficiency, Safety, Weather Flying, Weather Skills

Article: Sweet Dreams

If the NTSB had its way, the FAA would be gauging whether or not you’re having sweet dreams and sleeping through the night cuddled up with your teddy bear. ...

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Talk, Proficiency, Safety, Weather Flying, Weather Skills

Article: The Steve Fossett Accident

The NTSB says the probable cause of the 2007 crash of adventurer Steve Fossett was an inadvertent encounter with downdrafts above mountainous terrain that exceeded the climb capability of the Bellanca Super Decathlon he was flying. Downdrafts,...

Also labeled: Columns, Features, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Proficiency, Weather Flying, Weather Skills

Article: Top Mistakes In Convective Environments

Deep, moist convection, better known as thunderstorms, are the nemesis of all aircraft, big or small. Avoidance is mandatory. Deep, moist...

Also labeled: FAA Regulations, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Safety, Weather Flying, Weather Skills

Article: Flying The Corridors

V­FR corridors have served an important function in U.S. airspace since the creation of the old TCAs (Terminal Control Areas) and TRSAs (Terminal Radar Service Areas), now less telegraphically renamed Class B and Class C airspace, respectively.

Also labeled: ATC, FAA Regulations, Flight Hazards, Learning Center, Navigation, Decision Making, Flight Training, Safety

Article: Blocked Pitot Tubes

The crash of Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, in the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, during a flight from Brazil to Paris focused attention on pitot tubes, although many people had never heard of them before.

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, Pilot Talk, Winter Weather, Aircraft Maintenance, Emergency Situations, In-Flight Failures, Maintenance, Safety

Article: Knowing When To Cancel

The other evening, I got a call from a friend who operates a Piper Navajo for his business. He filled me in on what had happened with a flight from his home airport in the Northeast to Miami, Fla.

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, Pilot Talk, Weather Skills, Winter Weather

Article: Should You Reset A Circuit Breaker?

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Talk, Safety, Weather Flying, Weather Skills, Winter Weather

Article: More Than Monitoring

While I was...

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Talk, Safety, Weather Flying, Weather Skills, Winter Weather

Article: Survivable Ditchings

Without...

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Talk, Safety, Weather Skills, Winter Weather

Article: Icing Awareness

Ten years ago, the...

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Talk, Safety, Weather Flying, Weather Skills, Winter Weather

Article: Parachute Jump Operations

Also labeled: Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Talk, Safety

Article: Glass-Cockpit Blackout

The NTSB doesn’t just investigate...

Also labeled: Columns, Decision Making, Features, Flight Hazards, Flying Skills, Learning Center, NTSB Reports, Pilot Skills, Safety

Article: True Confessions

If aviation...

Also labeled: Columns, Decision Making, Features, Flight Hazards, Flying Skills, Learning Center, NTSB Reports, Pilot Skills, Safety

Article: Weather Encounters

There’s never b...

Also labeled: Columns, Decision Making, Features, Flight Hazards, Flying Skills, Learning Center, NTSB Reports, Pilot Skills, Safety

Article: Waking Up To Fatigue

The FAA is paying renewed attention to human fatigue in...

Also labeled: Columns, Decision Making, Features, Flight Hazards, Flying Skills, Learning Center, NTSB Reports, Pilot Skills, Safety