Flight Safety Detectives

A pilot doing his first banner tow with a Piper PA25 crashed and died. Todd and John examine this devastating banner tow plane crash. They urge pilots to educate themselves about all types of flight …

A former major league pitcher who had a Hall of Fame career died when doing stunt-type maneuvers in his plane. Todd Curtis and John Goglia discuss Roy "Doc" Halladay’s risk-taking behavior that led t…

The recent event where an off-duty airline pilot who was flying in an airplane jump seat allegedly tried to shut off the engines leads to a discussion of crimes in the air. John and Todd talk about s…

An experienced pilot and mechanic made risky decisions, causing a plane crash that killed himself and a passenger. Todd Curtis and John Goglia discuss the 2021 crash and the many decisions made that …

Not too long ago, anyone who reported a UFO, or UAP as they are called today, was deemed crazy. The most likely follow up was a psychiatric exam. John Goglia and Todd Curtis report on the growing eff…

Special guest former NTSB Board Member Richard Healing and Greg Feith and John Goglia cover the recent fatal crash involving Richard McSpadden. McSpadden was executive director of the AOPA Air Safety…

People have seen unexplained objects in the skies for decades. The US Government and other entities are finally discussing these events publicly, an important development for aviation safety.

“These …

The sheer number of helicopter accidents in the last six months is raising safety alarms. Todd Curtis and John Goglia focus on the conditions that helicopter pilots, and specifically medical helicopt…

Here’s a true aviation stinker ripped from the headlines! Todd and John discuss a recent event where a Delta A350 traveling from Atlanta to Barcelona had to return to Atlanta due to an uncontained di…

A recent gender reveal party turned tragic when the Piper ag plane used crashed and killed the pilot. John, Greg and Todd observe that the plane appeared to be poorly maintained. They share insight i…

The discussion of unidentified anomalous phenomena – UAP – continues as Todd and John look at the record of JAL Flight 1628. The 1986 UAP event was investigated in detail by the FAA. The investigati…

Aerobatic fun led to tragedy in the fatal plane crash that killed composer James Horner. His aerobatic maneuvers in a high performance Tucano aircraft ended with a high speed crash in the canyons of …

Todd Curtis, Greg Feith, and John Goglia discuss the risks of aviation thrill-seeking. They look at aviation disasters from the NTSB database that involve experiences outside of standard FAA regulati…

Todd Curtis, Greg Feith, and John Goglia interview historian and author S.C. "Sam" Gwynne, about his latest book, "His Majesty's Airship." The book tells the story of the crash of the British R101 in…

Todd Curtis and John Goglia discuss the use of carbon fiber in the Boeing 787 airplane and the Titan submersible. Prompted by listener questions, they explain why the carbon fiber is subjected to com…

A F28 airliner crashed shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport due to icing that degraded the lift on the wings. Just 3% leading edge wing contamination would have been enough to cause this avia…

Dollars over lives? Greg Feith and John Goglia discuss Part 135 and “Part 134 ½” charter operations. They offer numerous aviation safety benefits of being (and using) a properly certificated charter …

A flight instructor chose to have a pilot take his first flight in an airplane into a special use airport and the result was a different learning experience than planned. The aircraft experienced a h…

This episode dives into the design and maintenance of aircraft cargo doors. Many aviation safety incidents with cargo doors are documented as maintenance issues, but some have caused notable air cras…

Some flight plans have aviation safety risks baked in. Todd Curtis and John Goglia discuss a runway excursion accident involving a student pilot who in the same flight was attempting to satisfy both …