A Facebook Kinda' Investigation

The proliferation of cameras isn't just food for the bottomless pit that is You Tube. Very, very soon, air accident investigators will be saying a big "Thank You" to the army of people armed with iPods, smart phones, and digital cameras who are recording aviation accidents. They are already a source of valuable investigative data.

Need I remind you of the close encounter of the behemoth kind at JFK Airport this past April? The Air France A380 whacked a Delta Connection commuter plane, while inside the terminal someone recorded the whole thing.

It was the bump heard - correction - seen 'round the world. But it was far from the first, or even the most dramatic video caught by a bystander that turns out to be beneficial to the folks who try to understand why accidents happen.

A Day of Simple Flying - A Time of Complex Questions

Is there any better way to start a week of aviation-related travel than by flying in an open cockpit biplane through the canyons of Utah? That's a rhetorical question, the answer is no. 

Stearman pilots, Patrick Veillette (left) and Steve Guenard

My first day in Salt Lake City, where I have come to attend and write about the annual conference of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators, was dedicated to spending some time with my friend Patrick Veillette, who is also my partner in the Comprehensive Medical Aviation Safety Database, and a pilot qualified to fly an astonishing array of aircraft: hot air balloons, gliders, helicopters, business jets, and even the lovely yellow Stearman above with the tail number N1387V.

Turning Aviation Upside Down - The Legacy of September 11th

My sons, Antonio, Sam and Joseph in 2001

Through the window of the room my three sons shared in 2001, they could lie in bed and watch airplanes on approach to New York City's many airports. A few days after September 11, my youngest son, Joseph, then seven, asked me to close the blind. He was worried that the planes would fly through the window. 

It saddened me that airplanes would become a source of fear to my children but as far as aviation is concerned this is the legacy of September 11.

You Want a Smile? That's Gonna Cost You

I have to laugh at the timing - in the span of two days two very different air travel stories appeared in The New York Times.

The first, in Sunday's Travel Section and reported by Michelle Higgins reveals that for a fee, American Airlines is offering to treat its passengers like VIPs.

On a recent flight, Higgins and her husband coughed up $200 for the airline's Five Star Service program, which entitled them and their young child to an escort from curbside at New York's LaGuardia airport through bag check, into a lounge with snacks and finally, priority boarding. In assessing the program, Higgins wrote that she bought a "civilized airport experience."

When a Patient Dies, It's a Different Story

Read the update on this story by clicking here.

There's a frightening sameness to the accidents that continue to plague the helicopter ambulance industry, but the crash that killed 58-year old Terry Tacoronte in in Missouri last Friday is notably different. Tacoronte, of McFall, Missouri was a patient, and though there have been 19 helicopter ambulance accidents in since 2009, this is the first time a patient has been killed since October 2008 when the toddler, Kirstin Reann Blockinger died in a crash in suburban Chicago.