Who's Got What Aboard Your Plane? Like it or not, the quickest way to catch a deadly disease or infection is to be admitted to hospital. That's a statistical fact. But it's now looking like the next best way to become seriously ill is to travel regularly by air. It used to be the second-hand smoke ...

A research project in California's Sierra Nevada mountains is attempting a major leap forward in unraveling the mysteries surrounding one the biggest atmospheric hazards in modern aviation -- a wind phenomenon known as a "mountain rotor." Both rotors and a related phenomenon, mountain ...

When President Ronald Reagan said, "Trust but verify," it was uttered in the context of strategic nuclear arms control. But it also can be applied to aviation. Herewith, two examples: Example 1: Safety Defenses Breached in Landing Attempt "The inadvertent slip by the approach ...

The Deadly Tail-Strike Strikes Again Above and beyond the aging of airframes and normal wear and tear on structural components, there are valid concerns with accumulated and hidden misrepaired damage. The absolute importance of structural integrity in the pressure vessel has been graphically ...

The root cause of more than half of aviation accidents can be traced to design deficiencies, according to a new study by the Eurocontrol Experimental Center in France. The study contradicts the widespread belief that pilot error is the predominant cause of aviation accidents and nearly triples a ...

'To make an intractable problem go away - redefine it.' - Anonymous The plan to provide a stable vision of progress toward a higher level of safety is itself unstable, with some measures of safety performance dropped and others likely to be modified significantly to put the best face on an expected ...

"The sensitivity of the system is critical and needs to be addressed." Safety Board Member Debbie Hersman Modifications are needed to nearly 500 Airbus A300-600 and A310 aircraft in order to provide pilots with greater protection from hazardous rudder pedal inputs at high airspeeds that ...

Airbus disagrees sharply over cause of Flight 587 crash The outcome of a bitterly contested investigation into a crash that occurred 10 years ago should guide the probable cause of an investigation that is being resolved this week, according to American Airlines [AMR] officials. The current case ...

A backlogged safety recommendation is less likely to be resolved satisfactorily than one that is settled routinely, according to an ASW analysis of about three dozen cases in which National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials met with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) counterparts ...

Earlier breeding > more young birds > more strikes with aircraft BALTIMORE, Md. - Global warming may be involved in the explosive growth of certain bird populations, placing new pressure on airport wildlife control programs to mitigate the hazard of bird strikes to aircraft. Although couching ...