Based on the collision of an Air France A380 super-jumbo with a Comair regional jet on the evening of 11 April 2011 at New York’s JFK International Airport, this “Most Wanted” recommendation issued in 2000 by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will doubtless receive...

Up on the top of the fuselage, tiny hairline cracks were creeping between the rivets; suddenly, the cracks connected and a 5-foot section blew open with the sound of a thunderclap as air in the fuselage rushed out. The emergency oxygen masks dropped down to...

With such a bona fide success record, you would think deployment would be accelerated. I am referring to the Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS), which employs specially configured concrete that slows aircraft that have overrun the runway. EMAS has been credited with seven “saves” since 1999,...

A single-engine light plane carrying a patient to the Mayo Clinic crashed into Lake Michigan on Friday, 27 July, raising concerns about the safety of general aviation. The airplane was flown by a private pilot who had volunteered to transport the patient from Alma to...

In the wake of the turbulence that struck United Airlines Flight 767, injuring passengers and flight attendants, the question arises: is the airline industry and is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) doing everything possible to prevent mayhem from convective winds? The answer: probably not. The reason:...