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Article: Air Race Accidents

The death toll quickly rose to 11, including the pilot with about 70 injured.

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

Article: Landing Without Flight Controls

The airplane had been climbing through 8,000 feet out of Baghdad for Bahrain when it was hit in the left wing by a shoulder-launched, surface-to-air missile, fired by a Fedayeen terrorist.

Also labeled: Features, Pilot Guide, Pilot Resources, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Situational Awareness

Article: Fire In Front

According to a search of NTSB data, in 2010, there were only four general aviation fixed-wing accidents investigated that involved in-flight engine compartment fires. ...

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

Article: Winter Flying Tips

Winter is as inevitable as aging, and for pilots who live in or fly to the northern latitudes, every winter will present significant challenges.

Also labeled: Adventure Flying, Features, Emergency Situations, Flight Hazards, Flight Planning, Flying Skills, Journeys, Pilot Guide, Pilot Resources, Pilot Safety, Safety, Situational Awareness, Weather, Weather Flying, Weather Skills, Winter Weather

Article: The Ted Stevens Accident

The NTSB says cockpit recorders might have helped shed better light on exactly what happened in the accident in which former U.S.

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

Article: Fear Of Dunking

From two miles up, big water looks pretty much the same all over the world.

Also labeled: Features, Flying Skills, Learn To Fly, Learning Center, Pilot Guide, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills

Article: Muscle Memory

One of the basic clichés in life is that learning anything is quite often a matter of doing it over and over until you get it right. ...

Also labeled: Features, Flying Skills, Learn To Fly, Learning Center, Pilot Guide, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills

Article: Getting A Few Winks

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt led the outcry of indignation when news broke that the lone controller on the overnight shift at Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Washington had fallen asleep

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

Article: How Tight Is Tight?

Prominent on its list of Most Wanted Safety Improvements for 2011 is an assessment by the NTSB that the FAA needs to speed up improvements to procedures and equipment in order to help eliminate runway incursions.

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

Article: Adding Air Bags And Harnesses In The Air

Prominent on its list of Most Wanted Safety Improvements for 2011 is an assessment by the NTSB that the FAA needs to speed up improvements to procedures and equipment in order to help eliminate runway incursions.

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

Article: Greasing It On: 20 Tips To Get ’Er Done

We all know "those" kinds of pilots: They never bounce, are always down in the first few hundred feet, and put it on slicker’n a squashed gopher (I dare you). ...

Also labeled: Decision Making, Features, Flight Training, Flying Skills, Pilot Guide, Pilot Resources

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: Accident Statistics, Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Pilot Talk

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: Accident Statistics, 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: Accident Statistics, Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Pilot Talk

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: Accident Statistics, Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Pilot Talk

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: Accident Statistics, Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Pilot Talk

Article: Water, Wind & Floats

Be prepared to have fun,” Frances Brown told me. That was one of those phrases I had heard before with little payoff.

Also labeled: Flying Skills, Learn To Fly, Learning Center, People and Places

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

Article: Dream Makers: Everyday Pilots Reaching For The Sky

Dreams of flight are special. They beckon you from your earliest memories, and they’re insistent—always calling you to look up at the sky when an airplane passes overhead, or crane your neck at the nearest airport.

Also labeled: Advanced Ratings, Aviation Careers, Features, Flight Training, Flying Skills, Getting Your License, Jobs and Schools, Learn To Fly, Learning Center, People and Places, Pilot Safety, Pilot 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: Accident Statistics, Columns, FAA Regulations, Features, Flight Hazards, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Pilot Talk, Safety, Weather Flying, Weather Skills

Article: Uphill/Downhill Landings

What are the best conditions for landing uphill/downwind or downhill/upwind? It may seem dangerous to land into the wind but downslope on a snowy runway; yet landing upslope with a tailwind seems equally precarious.

Also labeled: Advanced Ratings, Flight Training, Getting Your License, Learn To Fly, Learning Center, People and Places, Pilot Safety, Pilot Skills, Warbirds

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

Article: From Tailwheel To Turbine

Bill Stewart, until recently a lapsed pilot, sounds like something between a fighter jock and a kid in a candy store as he recounts his latest aerial exploits on the ramp at Chicago’s Aurora Municipal Airport (ARR).

Also labeled: Advanced Ratings, Flight Training, Getting Your License, Learn To Fly, Learning Center, People and Places, Pilot Skills, Warbirds, Pilot Safety

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

Article: Be A Great Pilot!

The sheer enormity of the subject is a little intimidating. You probably could name several thousand characteristics of a “good pilot.” The she...

Also labeled: Advanced Ratings, FAA Regulations, Flight Training, Getting Your License, Learn To Fly, Learning Center, People and Places, Safety

Article: Kings Of The Sky

"So what are they like in person?” is the first question my pilot friends ask when I tell them I’ve spent a day with John and Martha King, the well-known founders of King Schools.

Also labeled: Advanced Ratings, Features, Flight Training, Learn To Fly, Learning Center, People and Places

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

Article: The Checkride Chronicles

Who’s the judge beside you in the cockpit, deciding whether you’re worthy of receiving aviation’s highest honor (a license to learn)? Hopefully, it’s someone who’ll make your entry into the world of aviation less than turbulent.

Also labeled: Advanced Ratings, FAA Regulations, Flight Training, Getting Your License, Learn To Fly, Learning Center, People and Places, Pilot 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: Accident Statistics, Columns, Features, In-Flight Emergencies, NTSB Reports, People and Places, Weather Flying, Weather Skills

Article: Formation Flying! Part II

Formation flying is a dangerous and, for me, compellingly beautiful and engaging experience. Formation flying is a dangerous and, for...

Also labeled: Aerobatics, Air Shows, Decision Making, Features, Flight Hazards, Flying Skills, Journeys, Learning Center, People and Places, Pilot Skills, Safety


Which of the following military aircraft do you think is the sexiest?

P-51D Mustang
B-2
SR-71 Blackbird
F-16
F-22

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