Probable cause: The student pilot’s decision to fly the weight-shift-controlled airplane with no training in the airplane type, which resulted in a loss of control and impact with terrain shortly after takeoff.
Picture of the Day: Little did we know…
Larry Portouw submitted this photo and note: “This is sunrise Jan. 1, 2020, taken by my wife, Charlotte, from our 1969 Mooney M-20C, at 11,500 feet in the vicinity of Tombstone, Arizona, and the Dragoon Mountains looking out into New Mexico and beyond. The Chiricahua Mountains are visible on the left side of the frame. The goal was to make it back down to home plate at Benson Municipal Airport (E95) and watch a second sunrise. We didn’t quite make it as it came up again in the base to final turn to Runway 10 at E95. I’ve done this before in a Tri-Pacer and it is great fun and a good excuse to practice emergency descents. The year started with this and lots of promise. Little did we know….”
Want to build your own airport?
Tips and advice from pilots who have done the work to build their own grass runways.
Improvements planned for Fort Kent Airfield
“This is a Phoenix of an airport.”
New study could improve how aircraft fly in gusty winds
“We know birds cope amazingly well in conditions which challenge engineered air vehicles of a similar size but, until now, we didn’t understand the mechanics behind it.”
Pilots honored for Public Benefit Flying
The awards recognize the fact that aviation plays a key role in our ability to respond to a variety of emergencies from natural disasters to the transport of patients, medical supplies, and organs.
Failure to secure canopy leads to loss of control
Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to secure the canopy latch before takeoff, which resulted in the canopy opening in flight and the subsequent loss of airplane control.
Picture of the Day: Autumn sunset
Frederic Smet submitted this photo and note: “Ready for an IFR flight on a wet autumn night in my Cirrus SR20-G3 out of Ostend, Belgium, to our home base in Antwerp, Belgium. Pretty quiet on this ramp! Enjoying the beautiful sunset though, with some dew already forming on the airplane’s surfaces.
Confession: I’m superstitious about shoes
In real life I’ve only ever known two people who made it a habit of wearing cowboy boots in the cockpit. One is still with us. One is not.