Jamal Barki

Even novice pilots understand that weather affects a plane in flight very differently than it affects a car driving down the freeway. Although weather conditions can compromise your safety both in the air and on the road, the stakes are higher in flight because you can't pull over to the shoulder if the severity of weather exceeds your abilities. To better understand the forces that weather exerts on planes, it's important to realize that the atmosphere is not empty space.

The fixed-wing aircraft gets its lift from a fixed airfoil surface. The helicopter gets lift from rotating airfoils called rotor blades. The word helicopter comes from the Greek words meaning helical wing or rotating wing. A helicopter uses two or more engine-driven rotors from which it gets lift and propulsion. The helicopter's airfoils are the rotor blades. The airfoils of a helicopter are perfectly symmetrical.

Man has always wanted to fly. Legends from the very earliest times bear witness to this wish. Perhaps the most famous of these legends is the Greek myth about a father and son who flew with wings made of wax and feathers. It was not, however, until the successful flight by the Wright bothers at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, that the dream of flying became a reality.

Most accident investigation authorities impose time and resource constraints, and we can all think of cases where the resulting pressure on investigators has caused poor quality reports. At the same time, our work is increasingly subject to critical review, both in the Press and in the Courts. We need a way to argue effectively for the time and resources we need, so that we can do our jobs properly. If at the same time we can work in such a way that our work can stand up to critical inspection,

When the following terms are used in the Standards and Recommended Practices for Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation, they have the following meaning:

Humans experimented and developed ways of flying. Lighter-than-air methods that have successfully been used include hot air balloons and blimps. On December 17, 1903, brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first successful heavier-than-air flights near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. They had built their airplane after studying the writings of other aviation pioneers and experimenting with gliders, kites, and wind tunnels. Helicopters and gliders are the two other types of heavier-than-air craf

The typical image people have of air traffic control (ATC) is that of a group of people in an airport tower who coordinate aircraft activity by staring at radar screens that use points of light to represent aircraft. While not fundamentally incorrect, this isn't a fair representation of the extent of ATC operations. This article will flesh out that simplistic image and introduce you to the equipment, technologies, and procedures that go into keeping aircraft and air travelers safe in the air and

Aviation Safety. In many cases, the origins of the accident began well before the aircraft left the ground. Prefight preparation or planning includes the pre-flight check of the aircraft, flight planning and weather briefing. The fuel gauges of light aircraft can be unreliable and pilots are expected to visually check the amount of fuel in the tanks before flight. The following example illustrates how a minor error during this pre-flight inspection apparently led to an in-flight fuel loss.