General Aviation Safety on NTSB Most Wanted List

Earl Weener, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (“NTSB”), recently released a video concerning the need for improvement in safety of general aviation (”GA”). GA, in basic terms, is any flight that is not military, airlines or charter. …

Terrible Weekend for Commercial Aviation

This past weekend was marred by two tragic airplane crashes. By now, everyone has heard about Saturday’s crash of Asiana Airlines flight 214 in San Francisco that killed two young girls and injured dozens of other passengers. Just over 24 hours later, …

Doing The Bump – Delta Airlines Style

It’s not an old disco move or a knuckles on greeting between friends. Nope. Delta Airlines (Delta) was recently fined again for its practices and procedures with respect to bumping passengers. As we all know, airlines routinely oversell flights. If too …

FAA Considers Loosening Restrictions on Portable Electronic Devices

Current Federal Aviation Regulations prohibit the use of all portable electronic devices below 10,000 feet. In other words, if it has an on/off switch, you are supposed to turn it off until the captain tells you it is safe to use it. There are reports, …

Bankrupt American Airlines Now Requiring The Rest Of Us To Tighten Our Belts As Well.

We all know that flying commercial – at least in coach – is SO comfortable. I particularly love it when the passenger in front of me slams the seat back into the recline mode, crushing my kneecaps when I least expect it. Really, it’s not the passenger’ …

FAA Issues Safety Alert For Defective Wiring on Boeing 737 Aircraft

The FAA has issued a Safety Alert regarding defectively installed wiring on certain 737 aircraft. The alert, issued on May 8, 2013, states that at least three aircraft have experienced serious chafing, arcing and smoking due to an improperly installed …

Continental Motors Increases TBO For Certain Aircraft Engines

Continental Motors has decided to increase the time between engine overhauls (“TBO”) by 200 or 400 hours on certain newer engine models. In a revision to Service Information Letter SIL98-9B, dated April 8, 2013, the company set forth its specific guide …

Australian Crash Prompts Decisive Action Against Operators of Robinson Helicopters

In February 2012, I wrote about an Australian crash that killed two film makers sparking a debate about the safety of Robinson helicopters. Now, another crash in March of this year has added fuel to the fire (so to speak) and is prompting the Australia …

Airport Control Towers on the Chopping Block

The FAA has stated that it will publish its final list of control tower closures on Friday, March 22, 2013. The forced government spending cuts that began earlier this year has among its casualties 189 of the nation’s 251 contract control towers. The t …

Is The Dreamliner a Nightmare?

It appears that the Boeing 787 “Dreamliners” may not be so dreamy. The Federal Aviation Administration grounded U.S. registered 787’s for precautionary inspection, and authorities in other countries quickly followed suit. Why were the planed pulled out …