A creative non-fiction story about flying a small airplane around Ottawa, a 1947 Piper Cub Supercruiser.
The next time you hear of (for instance) a light aircraft found in a ravine with a pilot and three passengers deceased in an accident which occurred in bad weather, don’t jump to conclusion that pilot error was the cause, or the only cause. Most accidents are far more complex.
Four Reasons Why People Fear Plane Crashes and Why They Should Let Go of that Fear (guest author: Courtney Henderson) The fear of flying is a legitimate phobia that can ground someone for life. Despite statistics reminding us how safe … Continue reading
The Concorde crash judicial saga goes on. In December 2010, more than ten years after the crash of the Air France supersonic Concorde at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, a lower court in France returned a verdict of guilty of manslaughter … Continue reading
Remembrance Day is also a time to reflect on the role civilian pilots played in World War II, especially those hired by the Ferry Command. They helped establish a vital air link between aircraft production facilities in North America and the … Continue reading
The reason this blogger is not responding to the new book on AF447 released last week is that the BEA (+ EASA now?) still has to determine what instruments were in fact available to the 3 pilots in the … Continue reading
Is automation or, conceivably artificial intelligence, gradually taking manual flight control away from airline pilots? This is a tough question few aviation experts are willing to face head-on. Yet, given the spate of mishaps involving highly automated airliners and resulting in in-flight incidents and, much less … Continue reading
The French aviation accident investigation authority (the “BEA”) issued today its third investigation status report in the deadly crash of the Rio to Paris Air France flight AF447. The fatal accident occurred on June 1, 2009, as the long-haul Airbus … Continue reading
A list of ten (10) major transportation safety tips was released today, June 23, 2011, by the American National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The NTSB’s transportation safety jurisdiction covers more than civil aviation. CivAv.com considers it equally important to pass on the … Continue reading
“We no longer have any valid indications” was the ominous statement from the non-flying pilot soon after the captain of AF447 finally emerged from his resting quarters into the cockpit of the Air France flight AF 447 operated with an Airbus 330, on a scheduled run … Continue reading