General aviation accidents continue to occur for many of the same reasons. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued five specific recommendations aimed at pinpointing the most common hazards, while offering potential remedies.
Disaster
March 18, 2013 - 11:56am
In its Question of the Month, the International Association of Flight Training Professionals (IAFTP) asks cockpit crews and instructors, “How does a flight training organization manage compliance?” While regulatory agencies around the world issue standards, you can’t manage safety, according to IAFTP. “You can manage and measure only compliance to specific standards that the industry believes should ultimately result in acceptable levels of safety,” the group concludes.
March 18, 2013 - 11:40am
New en route air traffic control radar for the Nigerian flight information region should be operational by April 12, according to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). A NAMA spokesman said a considerable number of air traffic controllers have already been trained in preparation for the new Lagos and Kano sectors opening for live traffic. The implementation of new voice communications has also been completed at 13 airports in Nigeria.
March 13, 2013 - 1:00pm
Spectro and its associated company, Jet-Care, have been named approved suppliers for debris and oil analysis services for all AgustaWestland AW139s. Spectro and Jet-Care use scanning electron microscopes to examine debris recovered from oil samples, filters and chip detectors. Identifying the particle size and composition of metallic and non-metallic debris can help to flag the components responsible for the debris for replacement before they fail.
March 12, 2013 - 5:38pm
After a “thorough” review, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday approved Boeing’s certification plan for a redesigned battery system for the 787 Dreamliner.
March 12, 2013 - 3:52pm
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) sent a letter today to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, urging him to stop cuts from sequestration that will “disproportionately” affect the safety of general aviation operations. “The recommended cuts will have unacceptable consequences for the nation and the flying community,” AOPA president and CEO Craig Fuller wrote to Huerta.
March 11, 2013 - 7:00pm
If there is a drawback to the Internet, then it is the overwhelming amount of information being created and disseminated. Anyone interested in anything can find more articles, blogs, e-newsletters, YouTube videos, Facebook posts, Twitter tweets, Instagram photos, Pinterest pins etc. about any subject, more than one person could possibly consume in a lifetime. For those who work on aviation safety issues, this presents a problem.
March 11, 2013 - 12:25pm
The FAA says recent evaluations of error reports occurring over oceanic airspace show that deviations, especially vertical large height deviations (LHD), have increased in numbers to the point where they exceed the agency’s safety target levels. That means increased risk for both private and commercial operators. An LHD occurs when an aircraft strays more than 300 feet from its assigned altitude.
March 11, 2013 - 12:20pm
A UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch’s special bulletin [preliminary report] on the January 16 helicopter crash in central London appears to blame the pilot and sole occupant of the Agusta A109E for failure to maintain sufficient forward visibility while flying in congested airspace over the River Thames. The helicopter struck a building crane on the south side of the river killing the pilot and a pedestrian on the ground after the aircraft fell to the street.
March 11, 2013 - 12:15pm
Helicopter pilots unexpectedly straying into IFR conditions and losing control of their aircraft has been identified as the cause of the greatest number of rotorcraft fatalities, according to the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST). The group, which is focused on greatly reducing helicopter accidents by 2016, has reported that NTSB figures from 2011 indicate that 45 of 52 such accidents proved fatal to occupants. “That means the chances of surviving an inadvertent encounter with IFR are just 14 percent,” according to IHST.
