Category: Safety

FDC 6/4280 ZLA CA.. FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS 25 W PALM SPRINGS, CA. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. PURSUANT TO 14 CFR SECTION 91.137(A)(2) TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT WITHIN A 3 NAUTICAL MILE RADIUS OF 340223N/1165315W OR THE PALM SPRINGS /PSP/ VORTAC 281.0 DEGREE RADIAL AT 25.0 NAUTICAL MILES AT AND BELOW 11000 FEET MSL TO PROVIDE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT… Read more →

Just two days after Christmas in 2000, an American Eagle commuter flight developed pitch trim problems immediately after takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.  The pilots had the controls full forward, yet the aircraft was climbing at “3000 to 6000″ feet per minute.  All pitch trim controls were inoperative. Take it from someone who’s been there:  when one of the primary flight controls stops responding,… Read more →

This is very sad.  It seems that Angel Flight West has suffered the loss of one of its pilots while enroute to pick up a patient for transport to the UCLA Medical Center. SANTA MONICA, California (AP) — A former TV game show host and his wife were killed Monday morning when their small plane crashed into Santa Monica Bay,… Read more →

I used to think that “smell” represented the least valuable sense when piloting an aircraft.  On February 8th, however, it turned out to be just the opposite, because the crew of this UPS DC-8 did smell something about 23 minutes prior to their scheduled landing in Philadelphia: smoke.  The crew immediately declared an emergency.  Three minutes before landing, the smoke/fire warning… Read more →

I’ve had a couple of eyebrow raising moments in the cockpit over the past year.  What keeps me coming back for more — besides the fact that I just love to fly — is the notion that a fair number of aviators have been through far worse, often bizzare mechanical breakdowns like the one-in-a-billion United 232 hydraulic failure. Aside from their entertainment value, they teach a valuable lesson:… Read more →

When William Congreve wrote that “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”, the woman he had in mind was probably Mother Nature. Despite the fact that nearly a quarter of a million people are in the air at any given minute of the day, the rarified heights we pilots traverse are Her domain.  And every now and then she reminds of that… Read more →