Flight Safety

AVweb’s Flight Safety section offers in-depth coverage of aviation safety topics, including accident analyses, risk management strategies, regulatory updates, and pilot training insights. Designed for pilots, instructors, and aviation professionals, this section provides timely information to enhance situational awareness and promote best practices in flight operations.

Unlatched Door Suspected In RV-10 Fatal Accident

The National Transportation Safety Board Preliminary Report (posted below) on the Jan. 2 crash of a Vans RV-10 in Fullerton, California, confirms earlier reports that multiple witnesses observed the pilot’s side clamshell door swinging open on takeoff. The report further reveals that Vans sent the builder-owner a retrofit kit for a secondary door latch in […]

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Helicopter Operator Arrested 16 Months After Crash

A man who was flying a helicopter and allegedly abandoned his three injured passengers after it crashed has been arrested 16 months after the incident. Vincent Matthew Porteous, 38, of Enderby, British Columbia, is facing a list of criminal charges relating to the crash, which occurred in a river about 20 miles east of Enderby […]

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NTSB Delayed In Altitude Verification Of Collision Aircraft

The NTSB says it will have to build a timeline for the data obtained from the flight data recorder on the Blackhawk helicopter involved in last week’s collision in Washington because the data wasn’t time stamped. The Board had hoped to get definitive answers on the discrepancy between the radar data and the FDR and […]

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Sporty’s Acquires PilotWorkshops

Sporty’s has acquired PilotWorkshops in a deal that both companies say will create more comprehensive training opportunities for pilots. “Combining forces with PilotWorkshops and their talented team of educators creates natural synergies and sets the stage for incredible new learning opportunities,” Sporty’s said in an announcement. Sporty’s has offered flight training and supporting materials for […]

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Seven Dead, 22 Injured (So Far) In Philadelphia Crash

Philadelphia officials are asking anyone who have not heard from friends or relatives who may have been in the area of a plane crash on Friday to report them missing as they try to finalize the search for victims. All six onboard the Jet Rescue Learjet 55 were killed as was a person in a […]

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Cop, Bystanders Pull Survivors From Burning Cirrus

It will be properly recognized as a Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) “save” but the occupants of an SR22 in California more accurately owe their lives to the heroics of a state highway patrol member and a couple of bystanders. The California Highway Patrol member, identified in a news release as Officer Ayala, had a […]

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Radar, FDR Disagree On DC Black Hawk Altitude

The scope being used by the controller working both the American Eagle flight and Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided Thursday in Washington, D.C., showed the helicopter about 125 feet lower than the CRJ700 it met over the Potomac River. At a press briefing on Saturday, NTSB member Todd Inman said the flight data recorder […]

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Backup NOTAM System Activated

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday updating the FAA’s NOTAM system will be expedited by his administration after another outage took the primary system out late Saturday. In announcing the outage on X Duffy said “there is no impact to the National Airspace System because a backup system is in place.” The main system was […]

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Drone Operator Offers Plea Deal For Damaging Water Bomber

The Los Angeles Times is reporting a drone operator whose aircraft damaged the wing of water bomber working the Palisades fire in Los Angeles last month has offered to pay a five-figure repair bill and do 150 hours of community to avoid jail for the mishap. Peter Tripp Akemann, 56, of Culver City, offered to […]

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FAA Report Highlights Staffing Issues Amid Reagan National Midair Collision

A preliminary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report obtained by AP News noted that air traffic control staffing at Reagan National Airport was “not normal” during Wednesday night’s midair accident in Washington, D.C.   According to the report, the controller responsible for managing helicopters near the airport was also overseeing aircraft landing and departing on the […]

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