I hadn’t seen him in more than two years.  At last check, my original flight instructor John had a healthy heap students, and was flying a Pilatus for a nearly-famous family. That was then.  This was now. 26 months and thousands of layoffs later,...

The NTSB has commented on a crash that our Amateur Accident Investigator thought he had solved.  Turns out, he was partially right. A first we thought it was a bad landing.  Then someone said it was wind sheer.  But we “concluded” the Cessna...

My rented Cessna had just come out of maintenance, and the school’s chief flight instructor was with me, looking over the aircraft on the ramp, when his phone rang. “What?!  He crashed?  On Runway 4L, just now?  Is he okay?” He turned away from...

Come on now.  Is there really any doubt the pilots of Northwest Flight 188 fell asleep and overflew Minneapolis by 150 miles? The crew might claim otherwise, but even if you’re engaged in a “heated discussion over airline policy,” you just can’t...

Ever been a bit high or fast on an approach?  Or sometimes both? I sure have.  If there’s enough runway in front of me, there’s usually enough time to let her float, bleed off the speed, and call it a sloppy but safe landing. But what if the...