Category: Safety

Aviation safety

US Airways 1549 Damage Photos

by Ron Rapp on January 23, 2009 in Safety • 0 Comments

Fascinating damage photos taken during the salvage of US Airways Flight 1549 illustrate just how tough aircraft are built. Read more →

US Airways Flight 1549

by Ron Rapp on January 19, 2009 in Safety • 4 Comments

A look at two factors which may have affected the positive outcome of a dual engine failure in a US Airways Airbus A320 Read more →

MOA Flying

by Ron Rapp on July 12, 2008 in Aviation, Safety • 1 Comment

Stay out of MOAs? I don’t think so. MOAs are joint-use airspace, and we need to use them, too. Read more →

Limitations

by Ron Rapp on November 9, 2007 in Aviation, Safety • 8 Comments

Analysis of a Hawker 800XP accident which occurred when the flight crew exceeded the aircraft’s published limitations. Read more →

Another Reason to Fly GA

by Ron Rapp on March 19, 2007 in Safety • 3 Comments

A bit of a “sticky wicket”, as the Brits would say: what to do with the body of a person who dies during a flight. Just strap him down in first class. Read more →

Legacy/Gol Accident: Ignorance Is Bliss

by Ron Rapp on March 14, 2007 in Safety • 2 Comments

Who’s to blame for the Brazilian Legacy/Gol midair collision? It might not be the pilots at all. Read more →

“Over The Airwaves” and the GA Fatal Accident Rate

by Ron Rapp on March 12, 2007 in Safety • 4 Comments

Is the GA fatal accident rate getting worse? I take issue with that assertion using facts, not hype and hysteria. Read more →

Bells and Whistles

by Ron Rapp on October 15, 2006 in Aviation, Safety • 2 Comments

I perused the recent archives here at the House of Rapp and was surprised at how often I write about aircraft accidents.Â It may seem morbid.Â But ever since I started working as a CFI, I am conscious of the fact that with my own personal approval, pilots go hurling off into the clouds in new, high tech, 3/4 ton… Read more →

Forced Landing

by Ron Rapp on July 6, 2006 in Aerobatics, Aviation, Safety • 2 Comments

Conventional wisdomÂ — and statistics — tell us that a mechanical engine failure in a properly maintainedÂ aircraft isÂ quite rare. Engine stoppage is usually caused by the dummy in the pilot seat.Â Â Fuel exhaustionÂ isÂ by farÂ the leading cause.Â Engine and fuel system mismanagement are also possibilities.Â There’s no shortage of creativity in this department.Â Until recently, I didn’t know very many people who’d ever… Read more →

Keep It Flying

by Ron Rapp on May 30, 2006 in Aviation, Safety • 1 Comment

I spent the weekend up in Susanville with some friends.Â We departed out of Oxnard Airport on Friday and apparently made the front page of the newspaper as we did so: That’s our Skylane in the background.Â According to the newspaper article, the Warrior in the foreground had experienced an engine failure after takeoff and the pilot elected to return… Read more →