The pilot of a Bellanca 8GCBC Scout, Registration N4116Y, died when the aircraft crashed at Byron Airport on May 9th.  According to a witness, the tow plane took off pulling a glider. While still at a low altitude, the glider climbed abruptly.  The maneuver pulled the tail of the tow plane into the air, pointing its nose down.  “The tow plane cut the cord and tried to recover but it was too late.” The…

From the outset it looked to me as though the Kobe Bryant crash was a simple case of “continued VFR into IMC” — a crash caused by a pilot wandering into clouds and fog and losing control of the helicopter and crashing. The NTSB’s update seems to confirm just that.   Here are the four important points from the update: A photograph of the helicopter seems to show it entering clouds. The pilot was on a…

Helicopters come to grief all too often after encountering clouds or fog. In fact, it seems that it was an encounter with low clouds that lead to the fatal Safari Helicopter Crash on Kauai just a few weeks ago. Fog can lead to a helicopter crash in two ways. First, the pilot can, upon encountering clouds, lose track of the horizon. Once that happens, the pilot may not know which way is up. The disoriented…

A passenger boarded a United flight from Rome to San Francisco. He asked for food. The flight attendant refused. The two exchanged words. Eventually, another flight attendant heard the argument and brought the passenger some crackers. The passenger ate the crackers, took his seat, and went to sleep. While the passenger slept, the flight attendant convinced the pilot to land the plane. The pilot diverted to Belfast. On landing, the flight attendant reported to the…

Of course it’s too early to know why the Safari Helicopters AStar crashed this week, killing all aboard. But it sure looks like a long line of other Hawai’ian tour crashes that fall under the category “Controlled Flight Into Terrain,” or CFIT for short. Hawai’i is subject to “microclimates.” The weather can be fine at the helicopter’s point of departure, but the pilot can encounter clouds, rain or fog along the route. The pilot…