The Chicago Tribune reports that a flight originating from Fort Lauderdale airport was forced to make an emergency landing after the aircraft suffered a mid-air mechanical failure. The airplane had left the Florida airport at approximately 7:45 on Sunday morning. The engine failed shortly into the flight and the plane was forced to return to Fort […]
Aviation
Airplane collisions with wildlife an issue at Wisconsin airports
In January of 2009, a US Airways flight taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York struck a flock of Canadian Geese and was disabled. You likely remember the amazing water landing and rescue in the Hudson River. This dramatic event brought to light the dangers posed by wildlife collisions to aircraft during take-off and landing. Different […]
Pilot rescued from frozen Wisconsin lake after plane crash
The pilot of a small airplane was rescued by snowmobilers after crash-landing on a frozen lake in southern Wisconsin. Rescue and dive teams from the Rock County sheriff’s department also responded at the scene after the crash was reported last evening. Fortunately the plane did not break through the ice of Lake Koshkonong during the […]
NTSB Study Shows Benefits of Airbags and Shoulder Harnesses In General Aviation Aircraft
The National Transportation Safety Board has adopted a study confirming the safety benefits of shoulder harnesses in general aviation accidents and concluding that airbags can provide additional protection for occupants of such aircraft. Everyone is familiar with airbags in cars, where they have been mandatory for more than a decade, but the general public may not be […]
NTSB to Report on Airbags and Shoulder Belts for General Aviation Planes
The National Transportation Safety Board is set to meet today to release a report on the effectiveness of airbags in mitigating injuries in survivable general aviation accidents. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, the report will examine 138 accidents in planes equipped with airbags and look specifically at several accidents in which an airbag […]
The NTSB Updates Its ‘Most Wanted’ List Of Transportation Safety Improvements; Underscores The Critical Changes Needed To Reduce Transportation Accidents And Save Lives
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency created in 1967 to investigate transportation accidents and promote transportation safety. The NTSB recently issued its updated Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements. The list highlights important safety actions that federal transportation agencies and all 50 States need to take to prevent accidents […]
FAA: Serious Runway Incursions Cut In Half For Second Year In A Row; New Runway “Traffic Lights” Proving Effective
Providing some very encouraging news for frequent fliers and those concerned about aviation safety, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced last week that the number of serious runway incursions during this fiscal year dropped 50 percent from 2009, marking the second straight year where the occurrence of serious […]
Study: A Sleep-Deprived Person Behind The Wheel Or In The Cockpit Is Just As Dangerous As A Drunken Driver
A comprehensive investigation into the effect that fatigue has on the ability to safely operate vehicles within the nations four major modes of transportation has revealed some daunting information about just how powerful fatigue is – and how lightly the responsible federal agencies seem to regard it. The Center for Public Integrity, a non-profit investigative […]
FAA Hits American Airlines With Biggest Civil Penalty Fine In History
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced last week that it has decided to fine American Airlines a whopping $24.2 Million for the airline’s alleged failure to inspect and repair elements in the wiring systems and rudder components of its fleet of McDonnell-Douglas MD-80 and Boeing 757 jets. The record-setting fine relates to FAA inspections of American’s fleet, conducted in 2008 […]
NTSB: Some Airbus Series Aircraft Contain A Rudder Design Flaw; Cited As Cause Of 2001 American Airlines Crash That Killed 265 In New York
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released information from the investigation into the circumstances of the second-worst airline disaster in U.S. history that sheds new light onto its causes. American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into a residential suburb of New York City shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy Intl. Airport on November 12, […]
New NTSB Alert Seeks To Inform Parents Of The Perils Of Opting To Fly With Children Unsecured On Their Lap
In the U.S., parents flying with children under the age of two can avoid having to purchase tickets for those children by agreeing to hold them in their laps during the flight. However, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently issued a Safety Alert urging parents to consider the many safety concerns related to children flying […]
“Are Airliners So Automated That Pilots Are Becoming Complacent?”
The title question was posed by a recent New York Times article examining a trend of behavior in the cockpit that is both alarming because of its prevalence, and disturbing because of its potential for disaster: pilots relying on automated piloting systems to do their job while they shift their attention elsewhere. The topic of autopilot-based pilot […]
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt: “We Can Never Stop Working Toward That Next Level Of Safety”
At the 2010 World Aviation Training Seminar on April 27th, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Randy Babbitt delivered a speech that focused on the crucial role that human involvement plays alongside the ever-advancing realm of flight technology. In his speech, Administrator Babbitt underscored the point that the availability of flight technology should supplement, […]
DOT Denies Airlines’ Requests For Exemptions From New Rule Limiting Time They Can Keep Passengers On Tarmac
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has denied the exemptions requests made by five airlines in relation to a new federal rule that will limit the amount of time an airline can force passengers to remain onboard a flight stopped on the tarmac. JetBlue Airways, Delta Airlines, US Airways, Continental Airlines and American Airlines all petitioned the DOT […]
NTSB Says Poor Maintenance, Including Extremely Under-Inflated Tires, Caused 2008 Plane Crash That Killed Four And Critically Injured 2 In South Carolina
On April 6, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its findings in the investigation into the fatal, September 19, 2008 plane crash of a chartered, Bombardier Learjet at South Carolina’s Columbia Metropolitan Airport. The jet, carrying 6 people on board, was operated by Global Exec Aviation and was destined for Van Nuys, California, when […]
FAA Cracking Down On American And Northwest Airlines For Repeated Safety Maintenance Violations; Proposes Fines In The Millions
March is shaping up to be a rather expensive month for air carriers American and Northwest. On March 12, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it was seeking $787,500 in fines against American Airlines stemming from three cases of alleged maintenance violations in 2008 and 2009. The first case involved the deferral of repairs to […]
NTSB Study Reveals “Glass Cockpits” No Safer In Single Engine Planes Than Traditional Instruments
In a somewhat surprising conclusion to a study conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), it was recently announced that airplanes equipped with ‘glass cockpits’, or digitized flight data displays, have not proven to be any safer than planes that operate with conventional, non-digital instrumentation. The study, which examined over 8,000 single engine planes […]
NTSB Releases Its 2010 List Of ‘Most Wanted’ Transportation Safety Improvements: Aircraft Icing and Reducing Operator Fatigue Included
In the middle of February, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced its 2010 Federal Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements, addressing concerns in the areas of rail, marine, aviation and highway safety. Each issue within the individual areas was assigned a status color related to actions taken thus far in response to the […]
FAA Slaps American Eagle Airlines With Proposed $2.5 Million Fine For Flying With Improper Cargo Weight Calculations
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Monday that a $2.5 Million fine was being proposed against American Eagle Airlines for operating a multitude of flights with erroneous cargo weight data. The FAA stated that between June and October of 2008, American Eagle operated no fewer than 154 flights where the logged baggage weight entered in cargo […]
American Airlines Flight 331 Governed By Montreal Convention
The December 22, 2009 crash of American Airlines Flight 331 at Kingston, Jamaica’s Norman Manley International Airport ended a year wrought with many highly publicized – and several devastatingly tragic – aviation disasters. Flight 331, which originated in Miami, Florida, crash landed in bad weather and skidded off the runway, crossed a road and came […]
