Mother nature reminds us again that we are not in control. Even with our modern aircraft—marvels of engineering and human ingenuity—there are times we cannot fly. On Wednesday and continuing into Thursday of this week, many airports in the Northeast were closed due to smoke from Canadian forest fires in Northern Quebec being swept south...Read More

Over the New Year’s holiday, I flew to Key West, Florida, which is an awesome destination if you are looking for fun places to fly in south Florida. Warm weather in the 80s and warm water greeted us while the rest of the United States which was experiencing average temperatures around 30-40°F. After a weekend...Read More

It’s officially fall and most of the lower 48 will begin seeing nights with frost if they haven’t already. Frost can greatly disrupt the airflow over your wings and horizontal and vertical stabilizers. Case Study (Accident Number: LAX04FA064) On December 8, 2003, about 0655 Pacific standard time, an Iniziative Industrali Sky Arrow 650 TC, N14XL,...Read More

In this week’s 1-Minute Ground School, we will be discussing standard traffic patterns procedures. We will discuss traffic pattern entries, traffic pattern altitudes, legs, landing, and safety procedures. When entering a traffic pattern, pilot’s should continually scan the airspace for other traffic to have a clear understanding of the congested area. Review the graphics below...Read More

This weekend kicks off the 2022 college football season. It is always the most exciting time of the year for fans who are optimistic about their team’s chances for the season. How many of you have plans to fly yourself to see a game this fall? Are you excited for a certain away game rivalry?...Read More

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions from my in-flight electrical fire blog. A few comments of particular note came from pilots advocating the use of fire containment bags in the unlikely event of a lithium-ion battery fire. While I concur that these bags are great for safety, the FAA does not seem to...Read More

Our summer flying poll showed dehydration tied with low-level wind shear as one of your main concerns during the summer months. Pilots should constantly be aware of the effects of human factors in flight. Many pilots do not realize that lack of hydration can affect their coordination and cognitive abilities. The case studies below are...Read More

In our summer flying poll, the 3rd most concerning weather phenomena during the summer is low-level wind shear.  Our previous 2 blogs discussed thunderstorms, which often can cause low-level windshear, but thunderstorms are not the only cause of it. A Case Study [The following are excerpts from Accident Number: ERA17FA174] On May 5, 2017, about...Read More