Flight Safety Detectives

Greg Feith, Todd Curtis, and John Goglia provide critical insights into an October 1, 2025, ground collision at LaGuardia Airport between two taxiing regional airliners. The collision caused serious damage to both planes operated by Delta Connection.  The NTSB has not yet provided a preliminary report but the detectives gather details that offer initial insights. John has extensive experience as a...

A pilot who was attempting to satisfy FAA requirements for flying at night was killed in another preventable plane crash. The NTSB report of this 2018 high-energy impact into the ocean leaves several key questions unanswered. The NTSB lists a probable cause that the Flight Safety Detectives just can’t support. They add this to a list of insufficient NTSB reports published in the last few years. Th...

A mission to collect crocodile eggs in Australia went horribly wrong after a series of errors. A R44 helicopter ran out of fuel and the pilot had to release an external sling carrying the person collecting the eggs, killing that person and injuring the pilot. The helicopter was one of a group of helicopters participating in a reality show. The accident pilot passed on the opportunity to refuel on...

In this recording of the first Flight Safety Detectives live stream, viewer questions take John Goglia, Todd Curtis and Greg Feith on a deep dive onto aviation safety headlines. Audience questions help bring forward the latest developments in the investigations of the Air India crash, Washington National crash, reports of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) and much more. Why the public will ne...

Deferring maintenance can be deadly. The July 2024 fatal crash of a twin-engine Beechcraft Duke, which killed the pilot and both passengers, provides the perfect case to make this point.  The aircraft had been idle for several months and had been exposed to weather including snow. The pilot was flying himself and his two passengers from upstate New York to Ohio. He did so despite airworthiness iss...

Spotlight on the September 2024 fatal crash involving an Evolution Revo light sport weight shift aircraft (LSA). A CFI and student pilot were killed when the aircraft's wings folded and it entered a steep dive. Todd Curtis and John Goglia explore questions not answered in the recently released NTSB report. How or why did the CFI miss the checklist item to attach a key support cable? Had the aircra...

Calling out inappropriate CFI behavior! John and Todd dig into the details of a fatal September 2023 accident involving a night training flight. The student's regular instructor was not available, and this was the first training with a different CFI. The CFI’s actions were unprofessional and inappropriate. He uploaded posts to Snapchat before and during the flight.  In a post uploaded prior to the...

Viewer questions lead to continued discussion in Episode 288 about a fleet of unknown drones that violated FAA regulations by flying near an airliner for an hour. John Goglia and Todd Curtis provide additional insights. Would cameras in the cockpit be helpful? Probably not. Advances in flight data recorder technology have allowed flight data recorders to track over a thousand inputs about the stat...

John Goglia, Todd Curtis, and Greg Feith discuss the details of a fatal R44 helicopter crash in Australia that involved a pilot who had been drinking and had suspected mental health issues. The pilot took off without permission and made several low-level passes over the city before crashing into a hotel.  The ATSB accident investigation report included a detailed analysis of the flight and of the...

What’s the latest with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370)? The 777 disappeared over 11 years ago. John Goglia and Todd Curtis provide the latest details.  They also look at a 2023 crash of a Robinson R22 helicopter in rural Australia. The evening flight ended in tragedy when the pilot was killed when the helicopter crashed into trees at about 88 knots. The helicopter was not equipped for night f...

August in flight safety: at least 40 reportable events in just 12 days. The Flight Safety Detectives have reason to believe the number of events is even higher. Worse, the NTSB is putting out inadequate reports. They often provide the obvious cause and do not dig in to find the root cause. Significant questions are left with no answers. Greg Feith notes every accident has a safety lesson to learn....

The investigation continues into two unusual high-altitude encounters initially described as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drone sightings. Information gathered since the Flight Safety Detectives’ first look at this incident has made these strange events seem like unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) incidents. In December 2024, a Delta 767 crew reported being shadowed for over an hour at 3...

A Cirrus SR22T in North Carolina killed the pilot and his entire family. The known details of this July 2025 crash raise serious questions about pilot decisions throughout the flight. The pilot was flying from Florida to North Carolina and ran into trouble early in the trip. The plane experienced electrical problems that worsened throughout the trip. Despite having opportunities to land at several...

The NTSB just finished a 3-day hearing about the fatal January 2025 midair collision between an airliner and a U.S. Army helicopter over the Potomac River. Greg Feith, John Goglia and Todd Curtis tuned in and share their takeaways. The hearing covered many issues, particularly the role that FAA and Army procedures and systems played in the crash. They credit NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy and Member...

We bring you to AirVenture 2025 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This annual event attracts hundreds of thousands of aerospace professionals, aerospace enthusiasts, and their families for a unique aviation experience. John Goglia, Greg Feith, and Todd Curtis talk about the amazing quality and quantity of aircraft at the show. Hear about historical and cutting-edge aircraft on display and in flight and the p...

India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has issued an appeal to the public and the media to stop speculating about the cause of the Air India crash. This comes less than a week after the agency released a preliminary report that raises more questions than provides answers.  The Flight Safety Detectives share this latest development in an investigation that has been poorly handled fro...

A Cessna Citation crash in March that killed all aboard appears to be the result of bad pilot decision making. Responding to the interest of numerous listeners, John Goglia and Todd Curtis dig into what happened. The pilot was completing a cross-country flight in the early morning hours of March 22, 2025. He took off after 11 pm the previous night in Teterboro, NJ, and crashed hours later in San D...

Former US Air Force and NASA Flight Surgeon Dr. Gregory Rodgers discusses first-hand experiences with the NASA space shuttle program. Among his efforts, he helped change NASA procedures that endangered shuttle crews.  Among his efforts to improve space safety, Dr. Rogers tried to convince NASA to add a repair kit to Shuttle missions to deal with the ongoing issue of protective heat-resistant tiles...

Yesterday’s special episode generated a lot of questions about the Air India preliminary report. Facts in hand, the Flight Safety Detectives tackle them head on. The preliminary report does not identify any issues with the aircraft that directly contributed to the crash. It focuses on the actions taken by the flight crew.  Hear more detail on why the design of fuel cutoff switches makes it unlikel...

The preliminary report on the June 12, 2025, fatal crash of an Air India 787 is most notable for what is unstated, vague, and even misleading. The detectives start with the omission of who turned off the engines just after takeoff. Their list of unanswered questions grows from there.  This crash appears to not be an accident, but rather an intentional act by at least one member of the flight crew....

India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau plans to issue a preliminary report on the June 12, 2025, fatal crash of an Air India 787 tomorrow. Todd Curtis, Greg Feith, and John Goglia detectives have serious concerns about the credibility of this investigation and the upcoming preliminary report. They discuss several irregularities with the investigation, including the unusual decision not to...

An update on the Air India crash investigation, with focus on the flight data recorders installed and recovered from the aircraft. John explains the identical dual flight data and voice recorders installed on the plane. Viewer questions led to further investigation and clarification of the Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFR) installed on the plane. In other news, the NTSB has issued more tha...

AirVenture 2025 is approaching fast. With it comes the transformation of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, into the busiest airport in the world. Pilots flying in must be prepared for the unique air traffic procedures.  In this episode, aviation experts Greg Feith, Todd Curtis, and John Goglia take us behind the scenes of the annual event and discuss the critical safety protocols all pilots must follow. The tea...

Greg Feith, John Goglia and Todd Curtis find the lack of information emerging about the Air India 787 crash surprising. They wonder if safety critical information is being withheld from the aviation community and the public at large. The flight data recorder (FDR) is in the US for analysis, while the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) remains in India. The CVR and FDR are typically read out simultaneous...

Todd Curtis and John Goglia share the unfolding information surrounding a October 20, 2024 crash of an air tour R44 helicopter into a radio tower in Houston. The NTSB investigation continues. The air tour helicopter apparently crashed into the radio tower while the pilot in command was reading back a traffic advisory about a second helicopter in the vicinity. The second helicopter was operated by...