Category Archives: Safety

WHY DO WE NEED HARD LIMITS ON JET ENGINES?By Captain Shem Malmquist AN FSI COMMENTARY  We make a number of assumptions about automation, the good, the bad and the problems. I believe that it is time to put some of these … Continue reading →

SHORTLY AFTER A Smartlynx Estonian Airbus 320 took off on February 28, 2018, all four of the aircraft’s flight control computers stopped working. Each performed precisely as designed, taking themselves offline after (incorrectly) sensing a fault. The problem, later discovered, was … Continue reading →

It seems every few weeks there is another news story about a person being denied boarding for wearing something that in the view of the airline is inappropriate. These standards vary and are quite subjective. Some middle eastern airlines will … Continue reading →

On May 5, 2019, an Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet 100-95 crashed when returning to land at the Moscow Shremetyveo airport.  Of the 76 passengers, 41 were killed in the accident.  On departure the flight encountered an area of convective weather. It … Continue reading →

Please click the link here for the full paper.  Most accident analyses are based on ad hoc approaches. Many formal analysis techniques have been proposed, but few are widely used. This case study shows how a structured process called CAST (Causal Analysis … Continue reading →

  Much of my recent work has involved LOC-I, and stalls in particular.  The following may be of interest. First, this from the AA 903 incident in 1997 (from the NTSB report on AA 587, page 106-107):     On … Continue reading →

Microburst detection and avoidance A primer for pilots By Captain Shem Malmquist You’re on final and there are thunderstorms around.  As you line up still 10 miles out you notice that you can see the airport but there is some … Continue reading →

It’s More Than Angle of Attack   By Captain Shem Malmquist       As many in the flight test community know, Pete Reynolds (Learjet, later Bombardier) was one exceptional test pilot. Pete possibly had more time in transport category … Continue reading →

Automation, Pilots and Preventing Accidents   By Captain Shem Malmquist    In recent FSI articles I have put forward the idea that perhaps our problem is not weak pilots who are “automation dependent.” Here I will expand on the topic … Continue reading →

My previous article discussing limits on electronic engine controls elicited a number of very interesting responses that went into several different directions.  I thought I might share some of these with you as well as some additional thoughts.  Unless specifically … Continue reading →

By Captain Shem Malmquist AN FSI COMMENTARY We make a number of assumptions about automation, the good, the bad and the problems. I believe that it is time to put some of these to rest if we are to actually … Continue reading →

THE AOA PROBLEM WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT       By Captain Shem Malmquist AN FSI COMMENTARY The following is based only on an analysis and implications of the FAA airworthiness directive (AD) issued in the wake of the … Continue reading →

A FSI Commentary Editors Note: While the Lion Air 610 investigation continues, it’s important to remember that hindsight bias is no substitute for understanding potential combination system failure events. We welcome reader response to Captain Malmquist’s commentary. On October 29, … Continue reading →

While most of my writing regards pilots, this one is for everyone. That said, please forgive the aviation examples I use! Many people worry about their job security as companies shift manufacturing to other regions of the world while simultaneously implementing … Continue reading →

New Online Course from Curt Lewis Aviation HIGH ALTITUDE FLYING: WHAT EVERY PILOT NEEDS TO KNOW Aimed at all pilots who cruise every day at high altitude, this course shares the critical lessons learned from the Air France 447 disaster and … Continue reading →

Some may be interested in more information on these.  If so, please feel free to contact me. Training to Facilitate Adaptive Capacity in Automated Systems Capt. Shem Malmquist, FRAeS While automation has often been touted as the source of the … Continue reading →

Section 744 of H.R.4 – FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which was introduced on April 18, 2018, states: SEC. 744. SINGLE-PILOTED COMMERCIAL CARGO AIRCRAFT. (a) Program.—The FAA, in consultation with NASA and other relevant agencies, shall establish a research and development program … Continue reading →

Several years ago I wrote an article on the importance of proper phraseology.  You can read that article here. For those interested, you may like the following conference. ======================================

For those interested and in the Tampa, FL area on December 3rd, I will be doing  a talk and book signing following the film.  See below for details.

In my previous article I posted a link to a paper I had written originally in 2014 and presented at a conference for the South East Regional meeting of ISASI.  The topic of investigations came up last Spring when I … Continue reading →

At the time I wrote this I was working with various methods to investigate accidents. I have since found that Leveson’s STAMP provides the most robust method.  This paper may be useful in a technique to help the field investigator … Continue reading →

There is much concern in the pilot community of the exposure to radiation as a consequence of high altitude flight.  There are FAA and NOAA pages that discuss the issue and the amount of radiation can even be tracked.  So, … Continue reading →

Fuel.  It is an ongoing issue.  We all want to ensure that we arrive with enough fuel at the destination so we have options.  The best way to accomplish that is to have more fuel on departure, right?   Well, maybe … Continue reading →

If you’re on LinkedIn, check out The Bluecoat Forum An international Forum on the subject of FMS, EFIS and EICAS displays, automated subsystems, flight mode annunciators, flight directors, autopilots, and the integration of all avionics equipment in the modern cockpit. … Continue reading →

I just thought I’d share something fun.  Pilot briefings are very important, and it is critical that these are, literally, “brief”, as well as hit the issues that are actually important.  Things that are just standard and expected are not … Continue reading →

NOW AVAILABLE FOR ORDER  Finally, the definitive book on the Titanic of aviation accidents, a state-of-the-art jet that couldn’t stall until it did and took the lives of 228 Air France passengers and crew. Based on exclusive interviews with the … Continue reading →

I came across this article today which I had written quite a few years ago.  How many years ago?  Well, TWA was still in business!  I should add that my more recent article, here, is a worthy follow-up if you’ve … Continue reading →

I am going to shift gears a bit and move into a discussion of resilience engineering.  I was able to attend the recent symposium of the Resilience Engineering Association (http://www.resilience-engineering-association.org/) of which I am a member.  A common thread of … Continue reading →

This post is to honor someone who deserves to be recognized.  Sometimes the job of flying puts us in contact with amazing individuals.  I have been fortunate to meet quite a few in my lifetime and perhaps that will be … Continue reading →

The Final Report of the Air Asia 8501 has been released.  This was a loss of control accident that does contain some lessons that are worthwhile sharing. There had been an ongoing maintenance item that resulted the ECAM message of … Continue reading →

  High Altitude Stalls – how well do you understand them? By Captain Shem Malmquist Acknowledgements Credit for the impetus of this article must be given to my friend, aerodynamicist Clive Leyman, who initiated a discussion on these issues.  He … Continue reading →

________________________________________________________________ There are those that dislike using a Heads Up Display, or HUD ( such as pictured above), but in my experience, once a pilot is used to the HUD it becomes as indispensable as the Primary Flight Display (PFD), … Continue reading →

Are you an “expert”?  Do you think that the industry, the public and regulatory agencies expect you to be an “expert”?  Are you being provided the tools you need to become an “expert”?  Do you need to be an expert? … Continue reading →

For those interested, I often post articles I come across that are pertinent to my Jet Safety Facebook site:  https://www.facebook.com/jetsafety. These include items I have written as well as articles I have come across that are of interest to flight … Continue reading →

By Captain Shem Malmquist On Monday, April 11, 2011, an Air France A-380 was taxiing at JFK when it hit a regional jet (RJ) that was waiting for a gate.  There is video footage, and it is pretty clear from the … Continue reading →

Ten seconds. When this crew was at 500 feet they were exactly on glideslope and exactly on their target speed. Ten seconds later they had too low energy to recover. Think that would never happen to you? How many times … Continue reading →

More to follow, but this is a teaser for an upcoming article: Pilot Error? It is exceedingly easy (and a lot less cognitive work) to just capture the hindsight bias (a type of confirmation bias, really) aspects and say “that … Continue reading →

By Captain Shem Malmquist While thunderstorms can occur during any part of the year, we all think of Spring as “thunderstorm season”.  With the warming of the weather comes an increase in convective weather. This is an excellent time to … Continue reading →

By Captain Shem Malmquist One area of flight performance that is misunderstood by some pilots is the affect of pitch changes just prior to landing.  Specifically, some pilots will aggressively lower the nose just prior to touchdown.  While this technique will … Continue reading →

(image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380) By Captain Shem Malmquist There has been much emphasis on the importance of the stabilized approach.  I recently came across an interesting analysis of the time saved by flying an approach at higher speed as opposed to configuring … Continue reading →

  (Image from http://www.mountainflying.com/) By Captain Shem Malmquist Barometric altimeters are prone to various errors. Most pilots understand the effects of non-standard pressure. We correct for this below transition altitude by setting the local altimeter setting as provided by ATC. We … Continue reading →