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 aviation disaster.

Todd Curtis, Greg Feith, and John Goglia highlight the safety findings related to the 1992 plane crash of USAir Flight 405. The aircraft had no devices to keep the leading edge of the wing clear in the cold and snowy weather conditions. The crash caused 27 fatalities.

John shares firsthand knowledge of the deicing procedures in place in 1992. Those procedures have have changed, in part because of this accident.
​
Greg, Todd, and John compare this plane crash with similar events to provide insights related to this aviation disaster. The result is valuable aviation safety insight for pilots, mechanics and anyone involved in aviation today.

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 company. It costs more but leads to safer operations.

John and Greg cover the plane crash of Lear 25A in Teterboro, New Jersey to illustrate the value of proper charter operations.  They review key findings of the NTSB report, including the lack of planning for a short repositioning flight and lax enforcement of Part 135 rules.

The first officer was only cleared to act as second in command of this flight, but the captain allowed the first officer to fly all but the last 15 seconds of the flight. At that point of the flight, the aircraft was in an unstable approach, and crew actions allowed the aircraft to stall and crash short of the runway.
​
Hear how increased use of flight data recorders with quick access recorder capabilities can help Part 135 operators as well as safety investigators improve the aviation safety of charter flights. John and Greg argue the equipment can help avoid aviation disasters.

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 hard landing that led to a fracture of the right wing spar.

Todd Curtis, Greg Feith, and John Goglia discuss this accident in Puerto Rico that involved a Britten-Norman Islander aircraft. The instructor pilot chose to take a new pilot on his very first flight with the airline to a small airport that had a very challenging approach.

The new pilot was a highly experienced 737 pilot who had no recent experience flying this aircraft model. The instructor allowed the new pilot to continue the approach even though the aircraft was about 100 feet above approach altitude shortly before landing.
​
The Flight Safety Detectives question the instructor pilot’s decision to choose this challenging approach for the transitioning pilot’s first flight with the operator as well as the decision to allow the landing to continue. Also discussed is the NTSB’s decision to not investigate or nor report key issues about events leading up to the crash, including the aircraft operator’s training and procedures.

John shares his long history dealings with cargo door issues. He shares how door engineering has evolved over time. He also explains the rush to convert passenger aircraft to cargo aircraft that came about in the 1980s due to many airlines getting into the air cargo business.
​
Todd and John discuss several aviation disasters involving cargo doors, including one involving a United Airlines plane near Honolulu.