Some air crashes are not really accidents. Todd and John characterize the focus of this week’s episode an event where a perfectly good airplane was destroyed.

“Some pilots have more money than brains, and this seems to be a case of that,” John says.

The 2021 air crash event involved a Cessna Citation flown by a single pilot. Although the pilot had experience in aviation, he had been denied a type rating for the plane and single pilot authorization by an Arizona flight school.

This fateful flight started in the Portland area. Before takeoff, the pilot was not fully responsive to air traffic control. That issue continued as the flight progressed to the Mount Hood area.

“Something was amiss and it wasn’t the aircraft,” Todd notes.

The flight ended with an extended spiral into the ground.
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Also in this episode is advice related to restricted air space riles and risks and the need for student pilots to secure renter’s insurance.

The efforts of the Flight Safety Foundation take center stage. Special guest is Jim Burin, former technical director at the Foundation and chairman of the award committee for the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award.

Greg and John highlight the many accomplishments of the foundation as an independent, international, and impartial non-profit that exists to champion the cause of aviation safety.

The Foundation works to identify global safety issues, set priorities and serve as a catalyst to address these concerns through data collection and information sharing. Foundation studies and publications serve as a key resource for the industry at all levels.
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The Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award recognizes notable achievement in the field of aviation safety. John is a past recipient. The process of selecting the latest winners is underway. Learn more at https://flightsafety.org/foundation/aviation-awards/the-laura-taber-barbour-air-safety-award. 

The Flight Safety Detectives take on two recent events where pilot stunts led to FAA to revoke their pilot certificates. Pilots are counted on for solid decision making and judgement. The FAA found that pilots failed in their duty to fly safely.

The FAA took the action when pilots Andy Farrington and Luke Aikins conducted a stunt for Red Bull that had been denied. In the other incident, Trevor Jacobs was penalized for staging a crash.

Greg, John and Todd share insight into where these pilots went astray. They talk about ways that they could have gotten online attention without jeopardizing safety.

“In the aviation industry we work to make every flight safe” Greg says. “These guys threatened aviation safety for no good reason.”
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The detectives support the strong message sent by the FAA actions.