Why doesn’t the FAA do a better job of promoting aviation safety?
1. The FAA’s Inherent Conflict of Interest. When the FAA was created, it was charged with both
regulating aviation and promoting it. But most aviation regulations don’t promote aviation — they constrain it. The FAA’s inherent conflict of interest explains why the
At first glance, one might expect that high density altitude was the cause of last week’s fatal Comanche crash at Truckee-Tahoe airport. The pilot first attempted to depart with three aboard, but aborted the takeoff. He then offloaded his two passengers and tried again. It was on the second attempt that the pilot crashed into
Pilots have come to accept that aircraft fuel gauges just don’t work well. In fact, many pilots simply assume the fuel gauge is wrong, believing it’s safer to rely on their own calculations concerning the amount of fuel remaining rather than on the gauge. As the old saw goes, “never trust your life to
More than 30 Cessna 208 and 208B Caravans have crashed when their wings iced up in flight. Victims’ families have filed many product defect lawsuits against Cessna, claiming that Cessna concealed from the pilots defects in the aircraft’s deicing system. Silvey v. Cessna is the first case to reach trial. At least the first that I
No conclusion yet as to exactly what caused the Galloping Ghost to crash last September at the Reno Air Races. But the interim report the NTSB issued today disclosed that the Galloping Ghost experienced an “upset” 6 seconds before it lost its left elevator trim tab. That, in turn, caused the aircraft to go out of control.
Can any question remain about the R44’s tendency to roll over and catch fire? It happened again yesterday, in Glendale Arizona. This time, the helicopter had barely gotten off the ground. 
Fortunately, no one was hurt. But the story is becoming all too familiar. According to the Arizona Republic:
A mechanic was testing
Foreign countries routinely bring criminal charges against pilots after an accident. But in the US, criminal charges are very rare. And that’s a good thing because "criminalizing negligence" usually does little to promote safety.
But perhaps there are exceptions.
Pilot Steven Fay bought his 1960 Cessna in June 2010. He crashed it
The pilot says he warned Lauren Scruggs away from his propeller. According to the NTSB’s preliminary report:
After [the pilot] opened the door, [Scruggs] started to get out of the airplane.
Upon noticing that she was exiting in front of the strut, the pilot leaned out of his seat and placed his right hand
The NTSB says that during tomorrow’s hearing, it will be looking to industry leaders to give it a “deeper understanding of regulations” bearing on the operation of the nation’s air shows. Of course, the only regulatory body that has the authority to control air shows is the FAA. But what the Board will find —
Some say that Cirrus aircraft are improperly designed because they tend to catch fire on impact more frequently than other aircraft, such as those manufactured by Cirrus competitors, like Diamond or Cessna. And there are plenty of examples of post-crash Cirrus fires to talk about. Critics argue that those fires prove that the aircraft is unduly dangerous