The pilot of the drone that damaged a firefighting aircraft has pled guilty to causing the damage that grounded the Candian SuperScooper for several days. The event was detailed in Episode 253.

The pilot, a successful video game developer, paid over $65,000 to repair the aircraft, will reimburse the government Quebec for additional costs, and faces up to a year in prison. In the words of the Department of Justice, the pilot "recklessly flew an aircraft into airspace where first responders were risking their lives in an attempt to protect lives and property."

The pilot did more than damage the plane. He violated aviation safety practices. The pilot should have known that what he was doing was dangerous.

• Flying a drone into an area where firefighters and firefighting aircraft were dealing with an emergency
• Flying the aircraft out of his visual line of sight, violating one of the basic regulations for flying a small drone

John Goglia and Todd Curtis discuss the risks related to drone flights. They offer advice for all drone pilots.

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The midair collision between an airliner and a military helicopter in Washington D.C. has led to actions that may hinder aviation safety and national security. And, it has highlighted issues caused by the current air traffic control system as well as vacant leadership positions at the FAA.

Greg Feith, John Goglia and Todd Curtis talk about the aviation safety issues surrounding the tragic air crash and the impact of political reactions. They cover the information released by investigators.

Knee-jerk reactions from authorities like halting certain flight operations, leadership gaps in the FAA, and politicians, including President Trump, speculating on the cause of the accident before the facts were all in have all added to the complication of understanding these tragic events.

Midair collisions with airliners are rare. It has been 38 years since the last airliner midair in the U.S. John Goglia shares his personal experience with a midair accident when he had released the accident aircraft just a few hours before everyone on board was killed in a midair collision.

Greg, John and Todd offer meaningful proposals to allow for continued safe operation of Reagan National Airport and a full and complete independent investigation of the accident. This accident presents a meaningful opportunity to examine the current air traffic control system in the U.S.

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Nick Lappos, former Vietnam AH-1 Cobra helicopter pilot and Lockheed Martin Senior Fellow for Rotary and Mission Systems, offers insights on the future of air mobility. The focus is on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and advanced air mobility (AAM).

Nick was part of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) certification task force that just published the report "Challenges to the Commercialization of Advanced Air Mobility.” He shares his expertise on air traffic management.

Together with Greg Feith, John Goglia and Todd Curtis, he digs into the challenges of integrating UAVs into the air traffic control system. They explore what will be needed to manage all types of air vehicles. The AIAA report outlines a technological framework reminiscent of cell phone networks where UAVs are handled in real time in an autonomous or semi-autonomous way.

UAVs are expected play a significant role in delivery services and other commercial uses. The discussion covers various aspects of UAV integration, including the certification of vehicles, electronic systems, air traffic control issues, and the economic implications of UAV technology.

Extensive planning and cooperation should begin now to ensure a safe future for air space.

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Details emerge of a possible encounter between a 767 and about 25 unidentified UAP flying near Santa Fe, New Mexico. The plane was headed from JFK to LAX. The UAS followed the aircraft at high altitude for about an hour over hundreds of miles.

The FAA or some other organization needs to investigate events like this to assess credible risks and ensure safety of air space. There are significant national security concerns as well.

Increased reports of UAP sightings may not be from more events happening, but from there being less stigma around the subject of UAP and a greater acceptance that something is going on.

John Goglia, Todd Curtis and Greg Feith also discuss comments made by the White House press secretary claiming that the drones seen over New Jersey and New York in late 2024 were authorized by the FAA for research purposes. The detectives agreed that the comments are not credible given the lack of corroborating information from the FAA or any other entities.

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NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his family survived the August 15, 2019 crash of a Cessna Citation Latitude jet caused by bad pilot decisions. John Goglia, Greg Feith and Todd Curtis go beyond the NTSB report to explore what led to an “unstabilized, ridiculously fast” landing that destroyed the aircraft.

Both crew members had hundreds of hours of flight experience in this aircraft model, and the copilot was also the director of operations for the airplane operator. In spite of their experience, the crew decided to continue the approach after realizing the aircraft was in an unstabilized approach.

The aircraft landed too fast, was not configured properly for landing, and bounced several times before one of the main landing gear collapsed. The plane then departed the runway, came to rest just outside the airport, and caught fire. Fortunately, everyone was able to escape.

The detectives explore several factors:

• Lack of planning by the flight crew
• Use of nonstandard procedures to salvage an unstabilized approach
• Answers missing in the NTSB analysis of the accident.

This accident is similar to a 2004 event involving a Gulfstream jet headed to Houston to pick up former president George H.W. Bush. Like the crash with Dale Earnhardt Jr, the experienced crew found themselves in an unstabilized approach, failed to follow standard procedures, and crashed.

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Lax oversight by the FAA and questionable maintenance practices by both a flight school and the previous owner of a Cessna 172P aircraft led to a fatal plane crash. The Flight Safety Detectives find this is another aviation disaster that could have been avoided.

The NTSB report points to a corroded aileron control cable that failed just after takeoff as the cause of the event. Todd Curtis, Greg Feith, and John Goglia discuss the circumstances that led to the crash, killing a student and an instructor.

The aircraft involved had been sitting idle for about a year before a flight school purchased it. The original maintenance manual had been lost, and a partial maintenance record was provided to the new owner.

Incomplete maintenance logbooks should have prompted a reasonable potential owner to conduct an extensive inspection to uncover issues with the aircraft, yet none was done. The NTSB report does not mention any efforts taken to find maintenance-related records at FAA or elsewhere, actions that would have been reasonable.

A pre-buy inspection was done less than a month before the accident. Although some issues were noted, the inspection failed to identify extensive aileron cable corrosion.

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A midair collision between a private drone and an aircraft fighting the Los Angeles area fires caused damage to the plane and an evacuation of all firefighting aircraft from the area. John Goglia and Todd Curtis explore the tragic effect on firefighting as well as the violations of aviation rules.

This event was a major setback in firefighting efforts. The FAA had taken steps to restrict flying around the fire area that were not followed. They expect federal action to be taken against the drone pilot.

The collision with the DJI Mini 4 Pro drone punched a hole in the leading edge of the left wing and grounded the Canadair CL-415 SuperScooper amphibious aircraft for several days. The FBI recovered the drone wreckage from inside the wing and is looking for the pilot.

The Canadair SuperScooper amphibious aircraft is designed to pick up about 1,600 gallons of water from lakes or oceans and drop it on large fires. It was one of the largest aircraft types operating over the fires in California.

Most drone operators have no certification and are unaware of the FAA regulations restricting where and when drones can fly. Todd and John highlight the basics. Drone operators must educate themselves on FAA regulations and follow the rules.

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Sailplane pilot Bob Pett had a close encounter with an unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) that exhibited extraordinary speed and maneuverability. Bob shares the experience with John Goglia and Todd Curtis in his first public statement about the encounter.

While the first UAP flew in close formation off his left wing during the encounter, two similar UAPs descended from a cloud and joined up with the first. Seeing the next two UAPs approach raised the hair on the back of Bob’s neck.

Bob and his passenger documented what they saw on August 9, 2015, including sketches of the event. Richard Haines of the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP) later published a detailed report of the encounter. Bob was not identified by name in the report.

Several aspects of this encounter, including pilot decision-making under stress, reporting hazardous events to the appropriate authorities, and the lingering effects of experiencing a potentially catastrophic event in the air, are relevant to aviation safety with or without the involvement of a UAP.

The aviation industry has not taken the UAP issue seriously. Despite the increased acceptance of the issue at the highest level of government, resistance to discussing the issue remains.

UAP-related aviation safety issues should be reported by pilots, mechanics, flight attendants, other aviation professionals, and passengers. NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) is an excellent and anonymous reporting system that ensures that anyone reporting a UAP event will not be identified.

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