Flight Safety Detectives

A fatal midair collision involving a Cessna 172 illustrates several aviation safety concerns related to pilot training in and around airports with commercial operations. The incident involved a stude…

Boeing should use a third-party organization that would act on behalf of the FAA to monitor the design and production of its aircraft. That’s the proposal of special guest and Kilroy Aviation CEO Mik…

Hypoxia is a significant danger in aviation and an insidious killer of passengers and pilots. Special guest Miles O'Brien hosts a discussion with aviation experts Todd Curtis, Greg Feith, and John Go…

Planes that experience turbulence in flight are getting a lot of headline attention lately. During one widely covered incident of turbulence in May 2024 a passenger aboard a Singapore Airlines flight…

As Boeing continues to be the subject of investigations and congressional hearings the concept of criminalization has come to the forefront. This could have a devastating impact on aviation safety in…

Missing equipment and inexperience led to a plane crash that killed 3. Precipitation, turbulence, and icing were factors in the crash of a Piper PA-30 Comanche in Oklahoma. The pilot did not have an …

The fatal crash of Hughes 369 helicopter being used to trim trees has a backstory that gives insight into what went wrong. This workhorse of a helicopter apparently had damage from previous incidents…

Training flight gone wrong! An examination of a February 2024 accident that involved an unstable approach, a tail strike, and a near collision with an airplane hanger.

Both the instructor and student …

The crew of a United Airlines 727 tried to turn back shortly after takeoff from Los Angeles, but did not make it back to the airport. The plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

Greg Feith, Todd Curtis,…

Oil and oxygen don’t mix on airplanes. A crew doing maintenance on the Air Force One oxygen system ignored safety procedures resulting in $4 million dollars of damage the plane.

The damage was caused …

New evidence calls into question the NTSB's conclusions – and our reporting in Episode 193 - about a 2020 midair collision. Video and other information shows that there were two helicopters in the ar…

Two Piper airplane crashes show that pilots’ bad decisions can have devastating results. This episode covers two avoidable fatal crashes. 

A 1991 accident involves a Piper Seneca in Florida. The NTSB …

Coming to you from the 2024 AMC Competition in Chicago! Miles O'Brien, Todd Curtis, John Goglia, Greg Feith, and aircraft mechanic and accident investigator Jason Lukasik share the experience of the …

Special guest Henry Gourdji shares the work of the Laura Taber Barbour Foundation, which presents the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award. The air safety award has been given in recognition of aviat…

Miles O'Brien joins Todd Curtis and John Goglia to discuss two fatal general aviation accidents that involved aircraft that were just out of maintenance. In focus are the decisions and actions pilots…

A Beech Hawker 900XP jet crashed while doing a flight test of a stall warning system. Special guest Miles O'Brien joins Todd Curtis and John Goglia deconstruct the February 2024 aviation incident. 

Th…

A photo shoot in a dry Nevada lakebed went horribly wrong when the wing of an airplane hit the model in the head. Miles O’Brien, Todd Curtis, and John Goglia discuss the June 2023 accident that invol…

Home-built aircraft are dangerous. Special guest Miles O'Brien joins Todd Curtis and John Goglia to discuss an August 2023 crash of a Kit Fox Model 3 aircraft that seriously injured the pilot.

The FAA…

An experienced flight instructor and student were killed when stall and spin practice in a Cessna 172 went horribly wrong. Flight data recorded by the aircraft and other evidence shows that the aircr…

More than 50 people were injured on March 11 when a Boeing 787 flying from Australia to New Zealand experienced a precipitous drop. John Goglia shares inside information that indicates one of the pil…