Post-maintenance is the time to preflight like your life depends on it — because it does as shown in this accident where a veteran pilot is killed in a crash when the trim tabs on his Piper PA-31 are installed incorrectly after the plane’s annual.
Questions from the Cockpit: Buckle up, baby!
Gracie, a private pilot in Montana, writes: I took a flight with a fellow pilot the other day, and he took the time to give me the flight attendant speech. It got me wondering, why the stupid seat belt speech? I mean, I know it’s the law, but — really? — who doesn’t know how to unbuckle a seat belt?
Human Factors: Not your average VFR into IMC
A mother and son die in a tragic accident caused by VFR into IMC. The NTSB investigation reveal he’s a student pilot facing pressure to complete the flight to see his father in the hospital. What can we learn from this accident?
A new flock descends on Redbird Migration
The 12th annual Redbird Migration flight training conference was cutting edge, with new content throughout, including a new conference track for an emerging segment of the flight training industry: K-12 educators in STEM and Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.
Questions from the Cockpit: What’s so mean about mean sea level?
Cassandra, working on her Sport Pilot ticket on the Florida coast, writes: I’ve just started my flight training, and have learned about the two different ways that altitude is expressed: AGL and MSL. Above Ground Level is self-explanatory, but I’m having a harder time wrapping my head around Mean Sea Level. I mean, I get that it’s the altitude above sea level, but what’s the “mean” all about?
Human Factors: No gentleman
In a strange case of life imitating art, an Oregon pilot crashes into the ocean after learning he has Stage 4 cancer. Can we learn anything from this crash?
Questions from the Cockpit: ADM for Dummies
The dad of an airline-bound student pilot writes: I know I probably shouldn’t, but I find myself reading about pretty much every small airplane crash online, and much of the time I find myself shaking my head and asking myself, “What was the pilot thinking?” So that’s my question: Don’t they teach pilots to think in flight school? Or is it all just about how to operate the controls?
Human Factors: Batten down the hatches…and all the other stuff too
This accident is a good reminder that while loose lips sink ships, it’s loose items in the cockpit that can wreak havoc with flight controls.
Paying for pilots
How does a public charter school manage to offer private pilot certificates — for free — to any student who wants one? It all comes down to a unique funding system for schools in New Mexico.