Safety

Avoiding Severe Turbulence

Thursday, April 12th, 2012

The Cleveland skyline glittered, shards of light spraying out upon the lake on this clear and bitterly cold evening. The flight attendant was sleeping in the back of the plane all alone this quiet evening. We had no passengers on this repositioning flight so she was taking a break from the long day. Our groundspeed [...]

A Captain’s Perspective: How Passenger Disturbance Affects Your Safety And Comfort.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

(Note: This is a guest post I wrote for AirTransparency.com a blog created because “It has become an American pastime to hate the airlines.” Air Transparency is trying to change that.) Clear skies, smooth ride, and tail winds means we should arrive at our destination a few minutes early. It is a great day to [...]

How Reliance On Automation Has Decreased Our Flying Skills

Monday, August 8th, 2011

I’ll never forget training to become a flight instructor, not only because it is one of the toughest pilot certificates to achieve but also because of an interesting incident that happened during my training. While taxiing during a windy day I had the flight controls placed in the correct position to counteract the affects of [...]

Why A Bad Landing Is Safer Than A Go Around And How We Can Change This Fact.

Friday, July 15th, 2011

It was a clear VFR day, winds were light and variable with a maximum speed of six knots. This was a perfect day for golf in a mountain resort in North Carolina. But what was to be a fun golf outing ended in tragedy. While landing at the fly-in community the plane bounced twice and [...]

A Review Of Wake Turbulence After The First Lady’s Go Around Incident

Friday, April 29th, 2011

On Monday April 18th a Boeing 737 carrying the First Lady was required to discontinue their approach to Andrews Air Force Base because they came too close to a C-17. For those of us who fly often we know air traffic control may accidentally bring us too close to a larger plane in front of [...]

Bird Strikes Hazards and Avoidance

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

Due to the recent accident of a US Airways jet landing in the Hudson River caused by a possible bird strike, I have decided to publish my presentation on Bird Strikes Hazards and Avoidance. You will need powerpoint to view the presentation. http://www.expertaviator.com/images/BirdStrikesHazardsandAvoidance.ppt

GIFT of Flight: An After Takeoff Checklist

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

A morning flight is truly a treat. The air is smooth and the the sun presents a spectacular natural light show, transitioning from an amber glow to a yellow beam of light. An anticipatory smile grew on my face as I woke one fall morning, expecting an exciting day of flying ahead. This seemed a [...]

Know Your Radar: Is that a thunderstorm ahead?

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

Flying towards Houston on a clear night, I sat reclined in my seat, watching the brilliant and sparkling cities slipping slowly under the aircraft. As I gazed through the front window, the area ahead appeared to me as a large black hole devoid of the familiar small dots, signifying civilization ahead . It was at [...]

Phones on Planes

Wednesday, April 11th, 2007

I am glad to see the FCC has upheld the ban on Cell phone usage on airplanes. I feel more research is needed to determine the effect of cell phones on both the communications and navigation equipment on aircraft before allowing unconditional use on airplanes. I have seen first hand the dangers of allowing the [...]