Flight Safety Detectives

The crash of a Pilatus PC-12 this February 24 killed all five aboard. John Goglia and Greg Feith use their investigation prowess to examine whether the air crash was caused by pilot loss of control or structural inflight breakup that led to loss of control. Greg and John discuss the preliminary NTSB accident report and analyze ADS-B data from the flight. They review the facts that show why this ac...

A Cessna 441 Conquest had an engine issue and landed without incident. A fix was made, but that’s not the end of the story. A second incident occurred that revealed damage not initially discovered. The Flight Safety Detectives share major safety takeaways from this sequence of events. The focus is on an Australian investigation of a 2021 incident. During some engine maintenance, two adjacent oil l...

The Flight Safety Detectives examine the preliminary accident report from the fatal January 2023 crash of a Yeti Airlines ATR 72. They discuss professionalism and crew resource management as the central cause. “Pilots needs to execute with purpose,” Greg Feith says. “That means that before you do or touch anything in the cockpit you have to be clear about your purpose.” Greg, Todd Curtis, and John...

Major League Baseball player Cory Lidle was killed when he flew his Cirrus SR20 into a building alongside the East River in New York. The accident shows the consequences of failure to do preflight planning and poor aeronautical decision making. Todd Curtis, Greg Feith, and John Goglia discuss the circumstances around the October 11, 2006 crash. The aircraft was on a VFR flight beneath the Class B...

Vintage airframes are creating modern-day safety issues. Todd Curtis and John Goglia discuss the recent P63 -B17 crash at a Texas air show as one example. They also examine a 2020 crash of a Vietnam era UH-1H helicopter that crashed during fire suppression operations. The Flight safety Detectives talk about the challenges of keeping older airframes safe. Metal ages and fatigues. Maintenance record...

Words matter. Todd Curtis, Greg Feith, and John Goglia discuss several aviation incidents with a common thread of communication issues. They cover two runway incursions that were dangerously close to becoming runway collisions. One was at JFK Airport in January 2023, and the second in Austin in February 2023. These air carrier events are an opportunity to look phraseology and communication as fact...

“A sloppy operation all around.” That’s John Goglia’s summary of a helicopter and truck accident that’s the subject of this episode. John counts 19 operational errors listed in the accident report that all contributed to the crash that destroyed a police helicopter. John and Todd Curtis share insight and amateur video that provide a close look at the 2020 ground collision in Brazil. The helicopter...

John Goglia and Todd Curtis discuss a recent event where an A320 lost part of its left elevator during takeoff in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The focus is on the differences in aviation safety systems around the globe, the challenges of tracking service bulletins on aircraft, and pilot decision making. In this Jan. 29 flight, the flight control system was damaged and the aircraft was una...

Even highly experienced pilots can be overcome by severe weather. Todd Curtis and John Goglia discuss the fatal crash that took the life of famed test pilot Scott Crossfield. A thunderstorm boxed him in, leading to loss of control of his Cessna 210A. John and Todd examine the weather information available to the pilot and to air traffic controllers. Failure to pay attention and communicate about t...

A pilot in training paid with her life when a flight instructor chose a poor location to practice engine failure maneuvers. John and Todd review the evidence collected following the air crash in California to offer flight safety advice. Being a pilot is not easy. Pay attention to everything. Anticipate what could go wrong and have a plan. In the 2017 accident reviewed in this episode, a flight ins...

Spatial disorientation can happen to any pilot. It led to the fatal crashes that killed John F Kennedy Jr and Kobe Bryant. John, Greg and Todd are joined by expert Andy Watson to talk about ways pilots can avoid a deadly air crash. Andy Watson is a professional air traffic controller, pilot, and author of the book, The Pilot’s Guide to Air Traffic Control. He describes the FAA accident briefing th...

The helicopter crash that killed musician Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry was primarily caused by improper maintenance. The Flight Safety Detectives share why they find fault with the NTSB assigning the primary cause to the pilot. “It is clear that the basic cause of this accident occurred in the hangar,” says John Goglia. John and Todd review the information in the NTSB report. They applaud the...

Rapid decision making and impressive aviator skills saved Harrison Ford from a deadly result in a 2015 air crash. The Flight Safety Detectives review the facts that show that Ford had a clear plan and was decisive as he dealt with engine failure shortly after takeoff in his vintage plane. Ford quickly determined that returning to the Santa Monica airport would not work. He landed on a golf course....

Episode 146 A pilot lost engine power in his single engine plane shortly after takeoff. He did a controlled ditch into the Pacific. The plane is largely intact, yet the pilot and his passenger die. The Flight Safety Detectives dig into the NTSB final report of the Peter Tomarken air crash to look at how this event could have been survived. TV personality Peter Tomarken and his wife Kathleen were k...

More than 53 dogs being transported from New Orleans to Milwaukee had a bumpy ride when their cargo flight crashed on a golf course. This is a good news story with just a few minor injuries. John and Todd take the opportunity to put the focus on aviation safety for animals. Animals are transported by air for a variety of reasons. There are some regulations to ensure their safety. However, Greg and...

"See and Avoid" is widely recognized as a method for avoiding collision. This accident shows that approach has limits. The term "See and Avoid" is part of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Regulation 14 CFR Part 91.113 (b), calling for pilots to actively search for potentially conflicting traffic. John and Todd discuss a 2014 accident where two planes crashed because they were not able to see...

Did get-there-itis and lack of preflight planning lead to the crash of a Mooney M20J into a power line tower in Montgomery County, Maryland on November 27? The Flight Safety Detectives think so. The aircraft had taken off from Westchester County, New York, and was bound for the Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg. Around 5:40 PM, for reasons still under investigation, it crashed about a few...

Episode 142 The NTSB has issued an urgent aviation safety recommendation for all operators of DHC-3 Otters to conduct an immediate one-time inspection of the horizontal stabilizer actuator lock ring. This is the result of the NTSB’s initial findings in the ongoing investigation of the Sept. 4, 2022, crash of a De Havilland Canada DHC-3 in Mutiny Bay, Washington. Wreckage recovered from this accide...

Episode 141 The NTSB database has just 74 events involving suicide and the focus of this discussion is the only one that involves a passenger rather than a pilot. The event took place in 2000, when a passenger on a Twin Otter plane intentionally opened the emergency exit door in flight. As we enter the holiday season, this accident is a reminder of the additional pressures many people experience....

Episode 140 A look inside the world of experimental aircraft is prompted by John Denver’s fatal crash 25 years ago. Denver was flying an experimental aircraft he had recently purchased. The non-standard placement of the fuel selector valve was found to be at the heart of the issues that lead to the crash. John, Greg and Todd talk about how experimental aircraft are built and maintained. They talk...

Episode 139 A pilot in a Cessna 150 making a short trip in Australia got himself into trying circumstances that led to a crash into trees. This episode dissects the preplanning failures that doomed this 1994 flight. The pilot took off at 3:50 a.m. on a schedule that would get him home for Christmas. Predicted bad weather caught up with him, and a partial failure of the instrument control panel add...

Episode 138 Flight Safety Detectives examine the crash of a Sabreliner twin engine plane in Ironwood, Michigan. The pilots flew into severe weather and did not follow standard procedures to avoid engine flameout. The pilots were on a day trip transporting two business executives. They flew into a level 5 thunderstorm and lost both engines. The investigation showed they did not use the established...

Episode 137 The investigation of an issue involving a RJ100 in Sweden is relevant to everyone who flies sophisticated aircraft. Specifically, this investigation revealed issues related to the high angle of attack stall sensor that is commonly used in the aviation industry. The Swedish authority that investigated the issue deployed a multi-person team. They were able to identify the maintenance err...

Episode 136 Was the fatal crash of a Piper PA46-500TP airplane the result of a plane with unresolved maintenance issues or a pilot with insufficient skills? The Flight Safety Detectives find that the NTSB report of this accident has no educational value or safety benefit. Calling the single engine turbo-prop plane “not your father’s 172,” Greg brings to light the complexities of the aircraft invol...

Episode 135 The investigation into a June 2022 Cessna 182G crash in Texas is ongoing. The Flight Safety Detectives share initial facts and offer safety insights. “A mechanical malfunction is high on my list to look at. Anything out of place, even a simple cotter pin, could have led to problems,” says John. The detectives share the indications that there was loss of flight controls in the final sta...