Flight Safety Detectives

Deferring maintenance can be deadly. The July 2024 fatal crash of a twin-engine Beechcraft Duke, which killed the pilot and both passengers, provides the perfect case to make this point. 

The aircraft had been idle for several months and had been exposed to weather including snow. The pilot was flying himself and his two passengers from upstate New York to Ohio. He did so despite airworthiness issues that included visible landing ge...

Spotlight on the September 2024 fatal crash involving an Evolution Revo light sport weight shift aircraft (LSA). A CFI and student pilot were killed when the aircraft's wings folded and it entered a steep dive.

Todd Curtis and John Goglia explore questions not answered in the recently released NTSB report. How or why did the CFI miss the checklist item to attach a key support cable? Had the aircraft recently been transported? Was wo...

Calling out inappropriate CFI behavior! John and Todd dig into the details of a fatal September 2023 accident involving a night training flight. The student's regular instructor was not available, and this was the first training with a different CFI.

The CFI’s actions were unprofessional and inappropriate. He uploaded posts to Snapchat before and during the flight. 

In a post uploaded prior to the flight, the CFI complained about how...

Viewer questions lead to continued discussion in Episode 288 about a fleet of unknown drones that violated FAA regulations by flying near an airliner for an hour. John Goglia and Todd Curtis provide additional insights.

Would cameras in the cockpit be helpful? Probably not. Advances in flight data recorder technology have allowed flight data recorders to track over a thousand inputs about the state of the aircraft, including most of...

John Goglia, Todd Curtis, and Greg Feith discuss the details of a fatal R44 helicopter crash in Australia that involved a pilot who had been drinking and had suspected mental health issues. The pilot took off without permission and made several low-level passes over the city before crashing into a hotel. 

The ATSB accident investigation report included a detailed analysis of the flight and of the helicopter wreckage, but didn't prov...

What’s the latest with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370)? The 777 disappeared over 11 years ago. John Goglia and Todd Curtis provide the latest details. 

They also look at a 2023 crash of a Robinson R22 helicopter in rural Australia. The evening flight ended in tragedy when the pilot was killed when the helicopter crashed into trees at about 88 knots.

The helicopter was not equipped for night flying and lacked an artificial horizo...

August in flight safety: at least 40 reportable events in just 12 days. The Flight Safety Detectives have reason to believe the number of events is even higher.

Worse, the NTSB is putting out inadequate reports. They often provide the obvious cause and do not dig in to find the root cause. Significant questions are left with no answers. Greg Feith notes every accident has a safety lesson to learn.

The NTSB preliminary report for a fa...

The investigation continues into two unusual high-altitude encounters initially described as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drone sightings. Information gathered since the Flight Safety Detectives’ first look at this incident has made these strange events seem like unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) incidents.

In December 2024, a Delta 767 crew reported being shadowed for over an hour at 34,000 feet by multiple flashing red-...

A Cirrus SR22T in North Carolina killed the pilot and his entire family. The known details of this July 2025 crash raise serious questions about pilot decisions throughout the flight.

The pilot was flying from Florida to North Carolina and ran into trouble early in the trip. The plane experienced electrical problems that worsened throughout the trip. Despite having opportunities to land at several airports, the pilot continued. The ...

The NTSB just finished a 3-day hearing about the fatal January 2025 midair collision between an airliner and a U.S. Army helicopter over the Potomac River. Greg Feith, John Goglia and Todd Curtis tuned in and share their takeaways.

The hearing covered many issues, particularly the role that FAA and Army procedures and systems played in the crash. They credit NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy and Member Todd Inman with assertive questionin...

We bring you to AirVenture 2025 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This annual event attracts hundreds of thousands of aerospace professionals, aerospace enthusiasts, and their families for a unique aviation experience.

John Goglia, Greg Feith, and Todd Curtis talk about the amazing quality and quantity of aircraft at the show. Hear about historical and cutting-edge aircraft on display and in flight and the people from across the aviation indus...

India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has issued an appeal to the public and the media to stop speculating about the cause of the Air India crash. This comes less than a week after the agency released a preliminary report that raises more questions than provides answers. 

The Flight Safety Detectives share this latest development in an investigation that has been poorly handled from the start.

The AAIB has raised many...

A Cessna Citation crash in March that killed all aboard appears to be the result of bad pilot decision making. Responding to the interest of numerous listeners, John Goglia and Todd Curtis dig into what happened.

The pilot was completing a cross-country flight in the early morning hours of March 22, 2025. He took off after 11 pm the previous night in Teterboro, NJ, and crashed hours later in San Diego.

John and Todd explore the quest...

Former US Air Force and NASA Flight Surgeon Dr. Gregory Rodgers discusses first-hand experiences with the NASA space shuttle program. Among his efforts, he helped change NASA procedures that endangered shuttle crews. 

Among his efforts to improve space safety, Dr. Rogers tried to convince NASA to add a repair kit to Shuttle missions to deal with the ongoing issue of protective heat-resistant tiles being damaged during missions. Part...

Yesterday’s special episode generated a lot of questions about the Air India preliminary report. Facts in hand, the Flight Safety Detectives tackle them head on.

The preliminary report does not identify any issues with the aircraft that directly contributed to the crash. It focuses on the actions taken by the flight crew. 

Hear more detail on why the design of fuel cutoff switches makes it unlikely that a mechanical or electrical iss...

The preliminary report on the June 12, 2025, fatal crash of an Air India 787 is most notable for what is unstated, vague, and even misleading. The detectives start with the omission of who turned off the engines just after takeoff. Their list of unanswered questions grows from there. 

This crash appears to not be an accident, but rather an intentional act by at least one member of the flight crew. The engines were shut down shortly ...

India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau plans to issue a preliminary report on the June 12, 2025, fatal crash of an Air India 787 tomorrow. Todd Curtis, Greg Feith, and John Goglia detectives have serious concerns about the credibility of this investigation and the upcoming preliminary report.

They discuss several irregularities with the investigation, including the unusual decision not to include Air India as a party to the ...

An update on the Air India crash investigation, with focus on the flight data recorders installed and recovered from the aircraft.

John explains the identical dual flight data and voice recorders installed on the plane. Viewer questions led to further investigation and clarification of the Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFR) installed on the plane.

In other news, the NTSB has issued more than 30 findings related to the January ...

AirVenture 2025 is approaching fast. With it comes the transformation of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, into the busiest airport in the world. Pilots flying in must be prepared for the unique air traffic procedures. 

In this episode, aviation experts Greg Feith, Todd Curtis, and John Goglia take us behind the scenes of the annual event and discuss the critical safety protocols all pilots must follow.

The team also revisits a powerful case study...