Category Archives: Aviation News
Isolated California Town Loses Itinerant Doctor to Plane Crash
On the morning of Friday, November 21st, a single-engine Piper PA24 went down near the South Fork of the Eel River in northern California, in southern Humboldt County. The pilot, who was the airplane’s sole occupant, died in the crash. The pilot, Dr. Douglas Pleatman, had taken off from Cameron Park and was en… Read More »
Pilot Dies in Homemade Plane Crash at Big Bear
A plane crash last week at Big Bear Lake resulted in the death of the aircraft’s pilot, who was also the sole person aboard. According to the Preliminary Report filed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the aircraft was about ten minutes into a planned flight from Big Bear to Mesa, Arizona when… Read More »
Over a Dozen Aviation Accidents Riddled California in August
August aviation accidents in California covered the length and breadth of the state, from Winterhaven on the Arizona border about ten minutes from Mexico to Tulelake on the Oregon border, and from Long Beach, Oceanside and other points on the Pacific coast to Tahoma on Lake Tahoe. Of the 13 reported accidents, three involved… Read More »
Southern California Private Plane Crashes Take Several Lives in July
Eleven separate airplane accidents in California have been reported by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for the month of July. Two of those accidents, both occurring in Southern California, involved fatalities. On July 6th, a Piper PA 28R-180, in a flight which originated at French Valley Airport in Murrieta, crashed into mountainous terrain… Read More »
Asiana Flight 214 One Year Later NTSB blames fatal crash in California on pilot error and automated Boeing systems
It was one year ago this month that Asiana Flight 214 from Seoul crashed into the runway at San Francisco International Airport, killing three and injuring dozens more. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is set to release its probable cause determination of the crash, which includes 30 separate findings. The report also makes… Read More »
Is General Aviation Safe or Not?
General aviation, consisting of small private planes, helicopters, gliders, corporate jets and other similar aircraft, make up the biggest component of air traffic overall. While large commercial airliners make the biggest headlines when there is a crash, thousands of accidents and incidents with general aviation craft occur every year, and many go unnoticed outside… Read More »
Los Angeles Air Traffic Control Shut Down Due to Computer Failure
A U-2 spy plane flying over Los Angeles airspace last week confused the computers responsible for primary air traffic control in the region, requiring the system to be shut down. The problem occurred because the U-2 flies under Visual Flight Rules at 60,000 feet, while most aircraft fly under Instrument Flight Rules above 18,000… Read More »
Malaysia Flight 370 Not the First Plane to Disappear for Unknown Reasons
From the vanishing of Amelia Earhart in 1937 to the loss last month of Malaysia Flight 370, an airplane disappearance is a rare yet dramatic event which captures the world’s attention. Although it is hard to believe that something as large as a commercial jet airliner could go missing, the Boeing 777 lost in… Read More »
Wrongful Death Lawsuit Alleges Mechanical Failure and Pilot Error in Plane Crash that Killed Diva of Banda Jenni Rivera
A wrongful death lawsuit was filed last month in the death of popular singer Jenni Rivera, who died in a plane crash on December 9, 2012 about 70 miles south of Monterrey, Mexico. The Learjet 25 was carrying two crew members and five passengers when it crashed in mountainous terrain about fifteen minutes after… Read More »
Commercial Pilots Go Down in Southern California Private Plane Accident
On the afternoon of January 14th, a Morrisey 2150 two-seater aircraft went down in the Pacific Ocean about a mile south of Pismo Pier near the Southern California communities of Pismo Beach and Oceano in San Luis Obispo County. The flight had originated about 20 minutes earlier from Santa Maria Public Airport in Santa… Read More »
