All Ops & safety articles
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NewsFlight recorders found after Libyan army chief’s Falcon 50 crashes in Turkey
Recovery personnel have retrieved flight recorders from a Dassault Falcon 50 executive jet which crashed some 40min after departing Ankara on 23 December. The Maltese-registered aircraft was transporting figures including Libyan army chief of staff general Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad. Turkish interior minister Ali Yerlikaya states that the aircraft departed ...
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NewsHawker 900XP spun and crashed during stall test after ice contaminated wings
US investigators believe the pilots of a Hawker 900XP were insufficiently prepared for a post-maintenance stall test, during which the aircraft encountered icing and entered a fatal spin.
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NewsInvestigators strive to understand crashed Citation’s low approach to Statesville
US investigators are still trying to understand why a Cessna 550 Citation II was flying at a low height as it attempted to return to Statesville regional airport, before the jet collided with lighting and trees. It had departed the airport about 10min beforehand and the inquiry has yet to ...
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NewsA319 aborted low approach to Paris Orly after ILS signal ‘not switched on’: inquiry
French investigators have indicated that an absent ILS signal for a Paris Orly runway preceded a Volotea Airbus A319’s aborting its approach after triggering a low-altitude warning. The aircraft had been operating a domestic service from Rodez to Orly on 4 December. Provisional findings from investigation authority BEA state that, ...
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NewsCrashed Citation II struck lights and trees far short of Statesville runway: inquiry
US investigators have disclosed that the Cessna 550 Citation II which crashed while attempting to land at Statesville airport struck approach lights and trees far short of the runway. Seven occupants were on board the aircraft (N257BW), says the National Transportation Safety Board, none of whom survived the 18 December ...
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NewsUS investigators open probe as Citation II crashes after turnback
Sixteen investigators from the US National Transportation Safety Board have been sent to the scene of a Cessna 550 Citation II business jet crash in North Carolina. The aircraft crashed while attempting to land at Statesville regional airport on 18 December, from where it had departed some 10min beforehand. It ...
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NewsUS government admits fault in deadly mid-air collision between airliner and army helicopter
The US government has formally admitted liability for the January 2025 collision between a US Army Black Hawk helicopter and a PSA Airlines CRJ700 near Ronald Reagan Washington National airport that killed 67 people, citing multiple failures by military and civilian authorities.
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NewsHydraulic sequencing and ice left 757 freight door unsecured before it opened in flight
German investigators have determined that a complex interaction of hydraulic, mechanical and icing problems resulted in a DHL Air Boeing 757-200 freighter’s cargo door opening as it climbed out of Leipzig. Several separate illuminated status lights on the door control panel normally extinguish in turn as the door is closed, ...
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NewsSun visor detachment preceded Malta Air 737 Max engine shutdown: investigators
Polish investigators have disclosed that a Malta Air Boeing 737 Max 8-200 experienced an engine shutdown, apparently after a sun visor detached in the cockpit.
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NewsCrashed Mexican Citation III entered excessive left bank during final approach to Toluca
Mexican investigators have opened a probe into a serious Cessna 650 Citation III accident south of Toluca airport on 15 December. The country’s transportation ministry states that the executive jet had departed Acapulco’s runway 24 for Toluca. Its flightplan indicated eight passengers and two pilots were on board, the ministry ...
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In depthMaterial failure involved in more than half of serious Osprey safety incidents since 2021
A multi-year review conducted the US military’s airworthiness authority for the V-22 tiltrotor found that out of 12 Class A mishaps in recent years, seven featured material failure as a causal or contributing factor.
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NewsAirbus details next round of fuel-saving fello’fly tests following GEESE success
Airbus will next year launch a further round of flight tests under its fello’fly initiative as it bids to bring the fuel-saving Wake Energy Retrieval (WER) concept into commercial service in the first half of next decade.
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NewsJetBlue A320 crew startled by encounter with ‘unseen’ military tanker north of Venezuela
A JetBlue Airbus A320 crew reported a close encounter with a US Air Force tanker aircraft operating without an active transponder during climb-out from Curacao on 12 December, forcing the commercial flight to halt its ascent.
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NewsVueling flight data supports validation of European gate-to-gate emissions model
Flight-data monitoring from Spanish carrier Vueling has been used to validate a European methodology for calculating carbon emissions based on fuel burn for gate-to-gate scenarios. Pan-European air navigation service Eurocontrol developed the estimation methodology – which uses radar and aircraft performance data – and has published results since 2019. Under ...
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NewsAerosucre 727 freighter damaged on landing after main-gear problem
Colombian investigators are probing a landing accident involving an Aerosucre Boeing 727-200 freighter at Barranquilla. The aircraft had departed Barranquilla on 12 December but returned after “experiencing a failure” in its left-hand main landing-gear, according to the Colombian regulator Aerocivil. Some 70min after take-off, much of it spent in a ...
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NewsCues missed before Southwest 737 began take-off roll on parallel Orlando taxiway
US investigators state that a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 captain did not adhere to runway-verification procedures before the jet commenced its take-off roll from a parallel taxiway at Orlando earlier this year. The aircraft, bound for Albany on 20 March, had been cleared to taxi from its Airside 2 apron ...
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NewsUS military helicopter ADS-B exemption sparks safety backlash
Safety investigators and lawmakers are opposing provisions in the US defence spending bill that would exempt some military helicopters from aircraft-tracking requirements, citing risks highlighted by January’s fatal Potomac River collision.
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OpinionWhy US Congress should give ATC privatisation another look
Recent fatal accidents, system outages and government shutdown expose fundamental flaws in the US air traffic control system that privatisation could address, industry expert says.
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NewsTractor pushed 737 into Stansted blast fence as driver focused on instructing trainee
UK investigators believe a tow-tractor instructor was focused on training another driver when the vehicle pushed a Boeing 737-800 into the blast fence at London Stansted. The Malta Air aircraft – before engine start – was undergoing a long pushback from stand 63R, to the end of a cul-de-sac abeam ...
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NewsAir France A350 crippled by collapsed radome after bird-strike damage undetected
French investigators believe inadequate maintenance checks on an Air France Airbus A350-900’s radome led to its collapsing during a turnback to Osaka. The inquiry found that a bird-strike a month earlier had probably debonded the inner surface of the radome. But French investigation authority BEA says this surface had not ...