Commentaries
Arthur Wolk’s and The Wolk Law Firm’s commentaries on aviation disasters and the steps taken to increase aviation safety.
NTSB WRONGLY BLAMES THE PILOT FOR THIS CRASH The NTSB published its improbable “Probable Cause “ determination on this crash and concluded wrongly that pilot error caused the crash. What the NTSB could not and did not explain was why both propellers showed idle power at impact. The reason is simple and had the investigation [...]Continue reading
CONTRAILS PRESENT A CHALLENGE... Hi Joe, I read with interest the latest junk science on climate change, that which attributes more impact than CO2 from contrails on the climate change hyperbole. The article which was well written describes “studies” that confirm that contrails while contributing to global cooling during the day add to the blanket [...]Continue reading
IN MEMORIAM WILLIAM ANDERS Bill Anders lost his life in a tragic accident ending an exemplary career as an aviator an astronaut and a revered and loved husband and father. As he did frequently, Bill took his T-34 ex-military trainer for a routine flight in the beautiful skies over the San Juan Islands in Washington [...]Continue reading
ALASKA AIRLINES’ DOOR DEPARTURE CAME WITHIN 5 MINUTES OF A CATASTROPHE Two things by coincidence prevented loss of life. First no one was sitting in Row 24, and second the airplane was only at 16,000 feet. Five minutes more and the aircraft would have been at 24,000 feet or higher where “max diff” between cabin [...]Continue reading
JAPANESE AIRBUS A-350 CRASH REVEALS DANGERS OF COMPOSITE AIRPLANES The Japan Airlines Airbus A-350, the latest of the Airbus family and made primarily of composites burned like a tinder box after colliding with another aircraft on landing. It should have just smoldered. The conflagration was stunning in its intensity and appeared to be fueled by [...]Continue reading
ARTHUR ALAN WOLK DONATES ANIMATRONIC GENERAL BENJAMIN O. DAVIS, JR. COMMANDER OF THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN, TO THE SAN DIEGO AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM Arthur Alan Wolk is pleased to announce that continuing with his lifelong commitment to the civil rights of all persons, he conceived of and donated an animatronic General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. [...]Continue reading
CHARLOTTESVILLE STATE POLICE HELICOPTER CRASH-NTSB NEVER OBTAINED THE RIGHT VIDEO - LITTLE WONDER WHY THEY GOT IT ALL WRONG The National Transportation Safety Board gets to investigate all fatal airplane crashes. So, when a Virginia State Police helicopter went down in Charlottesville while tending to the demonstrations there, it jumped right in to investigate. Whom [...]Continue reading
VIRGINIA CITATION V CRASH- DON’T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS The sad crash of a Citation V private jet is widely concluded by the media as a hypoxia event. That means loss of cabin pressure that resulted in loss of consciousness of the pilot. First, loss of cabin pressure is a trained for event in all jets [...]Continue reading
ANOTHER NEEDLESS ENGINE FAILURE, ANOTHER TWO NEEDLESS DEATHS, MORE FAMILIES AND CHILDREN GRIEVING A Beechcraft A-36 Bonanza departed JFK Airport in New York on a rainy night returning home to Cleveland where their families awaited their return. The pilot, Boruch Taub and his passenger Binyamin Chafetz took off on a routine flight when all of [...]Continue reading
NEPALESE ATR-500 CRASH APPEARS TO BE LEFT ENGINE FAILURE The tragic loss of life in this crash is appalling and appears to be due to a loss of power on the left engine. The airplane was approaching the airport slowly and as it slowed further it appears that it rolled into the left engine and [...]Continue reading
Arthur Wolk presented with the Wilbur and Orville Wright Master Pilot Award The Federal Aviation Administration presented the founder of The Wolk Law Firm, Arthur Alan Wolk, with the coveted Master Pilot Award. It is reserved for those pilots who have dedicated themselves to aviation safety for fifty years. The Wolk Law Firm is unique [...]Continue reading
DALLAS AIRSHOW MID-AIR COLLISION A COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY ACCIDENT The tragic accident that took the lives of so many skilled pilots and crew members at the airshow in Dallas was totally preventable and the video is disturbing because of the clarity it brings to the cause. YOU NEVER GO BELLY UP TO THE LEADER As a [...]Continue reading
WHAT TO ASK WHEN PICKING AN AVIATION ACCIDENT LAWYER There are many lawyers who claim aviation accident experience but who have little or none but may be successful in other fields. Here are a few important questions to ask. How many aviation accident cases have you handled? How many aviation accident cases have you tried [...]Continue reading
OHIO CRASH OF E-90 KING AIR LIKELY ANOTHER ENGINE LOSS OF POWER WITH FOUR-BLADED PROPELLER. Two pilots are dead in the fiery crash of a Beech E-90 King Air. The aircraft was equipped with four bladed propellers. While giving a quieter ride, these four-bladed propellers are like barn doors in the event of engine failure. [...]Continue reading
VIRGINIA AIRPLANE CRASH KILLING 23 YEAR OLD FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR HAS EERIE SIMILARITY TO SO MANY OTHER SEAT SLIP ON TAKEOFF ACCIDENTS. Witnesses describe the takeoff as a sudden pitch up, the airplane stalled and then crashed to the ground killing young flight instructor Viktoria Ljungman and injuring her student. This has happened time after time [...]Continue reading
In Memoriam F.T. Bradshaw In everyone’s life there are a handful of people who make a difference. Tom Bradshaw was just such a person for me. He was the President of Halton Hall, a first-class insurance agency specializing in aviation insurance risks. What no one else could get underwritten, Tom by his very stature in [...]Continue reading
BEWARE OF OLD AIRPLANES - OLD CESSNA CITATION CRASHES IN THE BALTICS KILLING 4 AND AN EVEN OLDER DEHAVILLAND OTTER CRASHES IN SEATLLE KILLING 9 Old airplanes by definition have been around for a long time. There is something charming about flying in a vintage airplane put to use in romantic settings. There’s a problem [...]Continue reading
ANOTHER CIRRUS SR22 GOES DOWN DUE TO LOSS OF POWER WITHOUT A TURBINE ENGINE THIS MODEL IS DOOMED TO SUFFER MORE ACCIDENTS A Cirrus SR22 piloted by an experienced and well-respected pilot was on approach to Wings Field, Blue Bell Pennsylvania when it suddenly lost power requiring an emergency landing on a golf course. Both [...]Continue reading
Essex County New Jersey Bell 407 Helicopter Crash Is Eerily Similar to Charlottesville Virginia Crash of The Same Model That Killed Two Virginia State Police Troopers. A Bell 407 piloted by an experienced charter helicopter pilot crashed at the Essex County New Jersey Airport injuring the pilot. The craft was seen rotating before the crash [...]Continue reading
STUDENT PILOT’S FIRST SOLO RESULTS IN FATAL ACCIDENT AFTER LOSS OF POWER Young Daniel Perelman was by all accounts an aviation enthusiast realizing his dream of becoming a pilot. He was on his first solo, a landmark event in any young pilot’s life, when he reported engine trouble and crashed suffering life taking injuries. This [...]Continue reading
CYNTHIA DEVERS OF THE WOLK LAW FIRM WINS APPEAL OF THE LALLO CASE This win is especially poignant because of the abuse by the defense. The first trial took three months while the defendant deliberately delayed the trial. It filed no less than 8 appeals that were all thrown out. The first trial ended in [...]Continue reading
AIRLINE WANTS TO REDUCE REQUIRED CO-PILOT FLIGHT TIME TO 700 HOURS FROM 1500. AIRLINE SAFETY DOOMSDAY AHEAD. An airline that maintains its own flight school wants the FAA to reduce the required flight time for its first officers from 1500 to only 700. It claims that in 700 hours its student pilots have enough experience [...]Continue reading
ENGLISH IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF AVIATION WORLDWIDE-EXCEPT IN FRENCH SPEAKING QUEBEC AND FRANCE-NATIONALISTIC ARROGANCE ALMOST MARKED UNE CATASTROPHE FOR AN AIR FRANCE FLIGHT A Boeing 777 was close to landing at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris when suddenly the crew received multiple warnings from the automation that something was awry. It appears that [...]Continue reading
THE BOEING 737 NEEDS TO STOP CRASHING STRAIGHT DOWN The latest Boeing 737 crash in China is very disturbing. This aircraft for no apparent reason entered a steep dive from altitude and crashed straight into the ground killing all 133 aboard. This is reminiscent of a number of other Boeing 737 accidents The Wolk Law [...]Continue reading
MODIFIED BONANZA CRASH IN PERKASIE SHOWS UNMISTAKABLE SIGNS OF POSSIBLE ENGINE POWER LOSS AND AN INADVERTENT SPIN THAT AIRFRAME MODIFICATIONS MAY HAVE MADE RECOVERY IMPOSSIBLE OR DELAYED This Beech F-33 Bonanza crash shows an unmistakable sign of pre-existing engine failure. One of the propeller blades was thrown free of the wreckage and is straight with [...]Continue reading
ONE HUNDRED ELEVEN DEATHS IN PILATUS PC-12 AIRCRAFT IN 98 ACCIDENTS OR INCIDENTS LATEST NORTH CAROLINA ACCIDENT LOOKS LIKE AN IN-FLIGHT BREAK-UP There are about 1800 Pilatus PC-12 aircraft built and flying today. The aircraft is widely used by both passenger carrying private and commercial users but also for carrying high priority freight. It is [...]Continue reading
CRITICAL ENGINE FAILURE LIKLEY CAUSE OF NORTH CAROLINA BARON 58 CRASH Sadly, another critical engine failure on the left was the likely cause of a Beech Baron 58 crash killing an accomplished Army reservist and successful businessman. The airplane crashed on takeoff and photographs from the scene clearly reveal the aircraft in a hard left [...]Continue reading
NEAR MISS AT NON-TOWER AIRPORT POINTS UP THE NEED FOR A BETTER GARMIN TCAS I thought I would share an experience I had Friday December 17th at the Macomb, Illinois airport. I have used that airport, an uncontrolled field, for the past 11 years enroute to California from Philly.It is in the open with no [...]Continue reading
ANOTHER JET CIRCLE TO LAND ACCIDENT-THEY SHOULD BE PROHIBITED AT NIGHT AND UNDER IFR CONDITIONS A Lear 35A ambulance air flight crashed in the dark and in very marginal VFR conditions at Gillespie Field San Diego, Ca. when the crew attempted a circle to land approach. Control was lost at a base to final turn [...]Continue reading
THE FAA AND THE FCC BOTH NEGLECT THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES TO AVOID 5G INTERFERENCE WITH AIRCRAFT SAFETY SYSTEMS The FAA, the agency of Government responsible to ensure aviation safety has been caught flat-footed once again by failing to ensure that frequencies used by 5 G networks do not interfere with aircraft avionics like radar altimeters that [...]Continue reading
BOYNE MICHIGAN KING AIR CRASH-FIVE BLADED PROPELLER CONVERSION COULD BE TROUBLE The BEECHCRAFT E-90 was originally produced with 3 bladed propellers. An engine failure results in a rapid build-up of drag as the propeller windmills. Once it is feathered to be streamlined with the wind the drag is reduced and the airplane can under the [...]Continue reading
BEAVER ISLAND MICHIGAN COMMUTER CRASH-OLD AIRPLANE, TURBULENT FLYING CONDITIONS The tragic crash of a Brittan Norman Islander twin engine aircraft killing four persons is one reason why flying in old reciprocating powered propeller airplanes is a recipe for disaster. Long ago I represented Wings Airways, a commuter airline that operated the back then old Britten [...]Continue reading
GLEN DEVRIES ACCIDENT MAKES NO SENSE ABSENT AN ENGINE FAILURE Glen Devries and his instructor were no novices in aviation. Devries was an instrument rated private pilot and his instructor an experienced flight instructor. The airplane was a later model Cessna 172 with a glass cockpit with up to date avionics. A training flight in [...]Continue reading
SOUTH CAROLINA FATAL CRASH KILLS YOUNG WOMAN AND INJURES HER AIR FORCE PILOT FATHER The crash of a Piper PA-32R-300 after the pilot, an Air Force Wing Commander, reported engine trouble is made doubly tragic by the jackals on the internet who criticize the airport selection for this emergency landing. Having suffered an engine problem [...]Continue reading
CESSNA 340A CRASHES UPON ARRIVAL AT MONTGOMERY-GIBBS EXECUTIVE AIRPORT SAN DIEGO-CHALLENGING ATC INSTRUCTIONS, ANOTHER POSSIBLE ENGINE FAILURE AND ANOTHER CRASH BECAUSE OF LAX FAA CERTIFICATION The Cessna 340A was Cessna’s first attempt at a cabin-class twin. It was derived from the earlier successful non-cabin class Cessna 310. The critical difference was that the 340A was [...]Continue reading
Midair Collision - No Excuse FAA Order 7110.65, better known as the “Point 65,” sets forth the procedures and phraseology for use by air traffic controllers. Right up front, this order makes clear that “[t]he primary purpose of the ATC system is to prevent a collision involving aircraft operating in the system.” Pretty hard to [...]Continue reading
HIGHLY MODIFIED SILVER EAGLE CESSNA P-210 CRASH AT DEKALB PEACHTREE AIRPORT KILLS 4- MAYBE TOO HIGHLY MODIFIED. A Cessna P-210 was the last iteration of the Cessna Pressurized Centurion airplane model, at least Cessna thought so. The Pressurized Cessna P-210 was equipped with a Continental TSIO-520 piston engine and a three bladed propeller. It cruised [...]Continue reading
MICHAEL MISKA OF THE WOLK LAW FIRM WINS IMPORTANT JURISDICTION CASE IN NORTH CAROLINA Some years back, the United States Supreme Court turned the concept of jurisdiction in this country on its head. Jurisdiction is the power of a Court to hear a case based on either the systematic and continuous activities of a defendant [...]Continue reading
N560AR CITATION 560XLS+ ACCIDENT AT PLAINVIEW CONNECTICUT LOOKS LIKE AN ABORTED TAKEOFF THAT WASN’T SUCCESSFULLY ACCOMPLISHED BECAUSE OF SUDDEN MECHANICAL FAILURE This terrible accident is speculated the result of mechanical failure. There is no question about that. Cessna Citation 560XLS’s do not crash on takeoff on a clear day with two accomplished pilots aboard [...]Continue reading
PETERSON/ CHRISTENSEN CESSNA 182 ACCIDENT IN BOUNTIFUL UTAH MAKES NO SENSE ABSENT MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION Three young beautiful young adults, just beginning their lives are dead in what should have been a no risk simple sightseeing flight and return. They departed Bountiful Utah at 7 P.M., daylight, to view the church of the Peterson’s marriage by [...]Continue reading
MARTIN BEERMAN’S TBM 700 MAY HAVE BROKEN UP IN FLIGHT In a terrible accident well respected physician and internist Dr. Martin Beerman was killed while flying his TBM 700 aircraft. There was no significant weather at the location where radar contact with the aircraft was lost in a flight from Northern Ohio to Cincinnati. The [...]Continue reading
THE WOLK LAW FIRM IS PROUD TO REPORT IT TOOK NO PPPE MONEY FROM THE TAXPAYERS OF THE U.S.A. The Wolk Law Firm took no money from the Government for the Paycheck Protection Program, laid off no one and paid everyone in full, salary, benefits and bonuses during the Pandemic. We are blessed to be [...]Continue reading
CHALLENGER 600 ACCIDENT AT TRUCKEE-TAHOE APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN A CIRCLING APPROACH Corporate jets have an amazingly good safety record. It is rare that one crashes because most are flown by two experienced pilots, there are numerous redundant safety systems and the power reserve is such that going around in the event of trouble is [...]Continue reading
DALE SNODGRASS PERISHES IN AIRPLANE CRASH Dale Snodgrass, one of the worlds most accomplished pilots perished in the crash of his single engine aircraft. Those of us who knew him and flew with him knew ‘Snort” as a magnificent leader, selfless teacher, and fearless pilot. His accomplishments as a Naval Aviator are legend. He could [...]Continue reading
ANOTHER CESSNA 421 GOES DOWN CLEARLY FROM ENGINE FAILURE ON TAKEOFF KILLING 2 The Cessna 421 cabin class twin engine airplane was the queen of Cessna’s attempt to corner the cabin class piston powered twin market in the 1970’s. It was big and was powered by two of the worst engines in modern piston engine [...]Continue reading
MOONEY M20J GOES DOWN RIGHT AFTER TAKEOFF IN DINSMORE CA. KILLING 4 The Wolk Law Firm recently litigated a takeoff crash of a Mooney M20J in Kansas City Mo. In that instance two people were killed when the engine lost power intermittently and finally control was lost and it crashed. The initial NTSB analysis was [...]Continue reading
NASA Wasting Millions Studying Aircraft Contrails as a Source of Global Warming Arthur Alan Wolk Responds in no Uncertain Terms Contrails are water vapor, H20. Water is clean, does no harm to anything, replenishes some of that which evaporates, serves to help offset some of its loss due to deforestation and is of no consequence […]Continue reading
New acronyms from the FAA. Fresh from being caught red-handed in the Boeing 737 MAX scandal that killed 346 people, the FAA, ever the agency of Government with no clue about aviation safety, has a new Acronym for pilots who have used the previous terminology for a century. Instead of referring to contaminated runways as […]Continue reading
The Barnes TBM crash has bizarre twists. The crash of prominent New York City Lawyer Stephen Barnes bears some very unusual twists as the NTSB decides not even to travel to the scene to commence its investigation. While the NTSB blames COVID-19 for its decision not to travel, it apparently ignored CDC guidelines about how […]Continue reading
Is There No End to NTSB Laziness and Incompetence in Air Crash investigations? While Nazi’s were running amuck in Charlottesville Va. a Virginia State Police Helicopter manned by one of its most experienced pilots, Lt. Jay Cullen, who with Trooper Berke Bates had just chased down the driver of the car that crashed into counter […]Continue reading
Mountain flying is a dangerous undertaking in most general aviation aircraft. Recently an old Cessna 172 flying in the mountains crashed in a valley in Utah. No one has looked at the wreckage to see if a mechanical failure brought the airplane down but examination of pictures of the wreckage reveal that it did not […]Continue reading
The seaplane midair accident over the lake in Cour d’Alene, Idaho brings to tragic attention how dangerous sightseeing flights over scenic areas can be for the occupants of these aircraft. As an Airline Transport Pilot also for single and multi-engine seaplanes, I can attest first hand that the concept of “see and avoid” which is […]Continue reading
Pete Parish was 100 years old when he passed away last evening. He led a full life everyone would say and be correct. He was a Marine Corp. pilot, President of Upjohn Pharmaceuticals, father, husband and co-founder of the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum. He was an extraordinary pilot, a modest man, and loyal to his […]Continue reading
In These, the Toughest of Times, The Wolk Law Firm Will Always be There to Serve our Clients. All of us at The Wolk Law Firm are complying with the directives of our political leaders for COVID-19 by working from home to maintain the continuity of service that our clients deserve and expect. You may […]Continue reading
There have been a number of recent advertisements by Law Firms claiming to have obtained more large verdicts than any other Pennsylvania Law Firm. Such advertisements are right on the edge of ethical lawyer advertising because there is no guarantee that any client’s case will also generate a large verdict. However, such claims are unfounded […]Continue reading
Here is a Kobe Bryant crash update. More information about the circumstances of the flight hint that weather was likely the major factor and not a mechanical malfunction. The communications between air traffic control and the pilot were normal but this flight was flown under Special VFR rules. Those rules allow an aircraft or helicopter […]Continue reading
The Wolk Law Firm extends its condolences to the family of basketball great Kobe Bryant and at least one of his children who passed away today in the crash of his Sikorsky S-76 helicopter. The crash occurred in low ceilings and visibility in a hilly area near Calabasas, California. No flight plan had been filed […]Continue reading
The FAA’s misinformation about airframe icing is like getting a gift of ice in the wintertime. For years we pilots have been taught that airframe icing can be expected when the outside air temperature is within 10 degrees F. of freezing and we are flying in visible moisture. The same information is made applicable to […]Continue reading
Don’t quickly accuse the pilot in the Louisiana Cheyenne crash, it was likely not his fault. The Piper Cheyenne II is a very capable airplane when everything is working. It has a good safety record but it’s been out of production forever so it is old. The engines are normally pretty reliable Pratt and Whitney […]Continue reading
The myth about wake turbulence at flight levels debunked. The FAA says that its ok for heavy airplanes to overfly small airplanes while at flight levels and they need not worry about severe turbulence from the wake upsetting the smaller aircraft.. That of course is how the United States adopted RVSM airspace which reduces the […]Continue reading
Why would anyone fly a helicopter into the mountains in bad weather?Seven people dead, three families shattered and another sight-seeing helicopter crash in Hawaii. Now it is understandable that vacationers want to get up close and personal with the majestic features of the Hawaii landscape, it’s beautiful. Some sight-seeing helicopter operators have a great track […]Continue reading
I lived in the Warbird movement for eleven years before my Panther Jet Fighter crashed due to a fuel control malfunction. I had a full time mechanic, spared no expense on maintenance and sent the fuel control out for overhaul three times. I thought as I recovered for seven months that no one could have spent more […]Continue reading
Lallo – A Win For The Wolk Law Firm. The Wolk Law Firm is honored to announce it has prevailed in the case of Lallo v. Continental Motors, Inc. A Philadelphia jury awarded 9 million dollars for the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. John Lallo in the crash of their Mooney M20J aircraft. We proved that the […]Continue reading
Runway incursions still happening. FAA’s Latest Solution More Lights The problem of runway incursions has been around for as long as there are runways. But at big airports, especially at night, the problem has been more frequent and more dangerous. Big airports have radar to tell the tower where airplanes are on the surface [...]Continue reading
The Wolk Law Firm has been hired as plaintiff’s counsel by the family of a passenger in the crash of Ethiopian Flight 302 and is under consideration by many others. The United Nation’s employee left a disabled husband and young child. What Boeing ought to do since according to its President it “owns this” is […]Continue reading
Boeing 737 software upgrade flight tests are bogus. The FAA and Boeing are running around trying to put the world-wide firestorm about the Boeing 737 Max certification and the two unnecessary crashes of the Max models overseas killing 346 people. Boeing claims to have developed a software fix that will solve the Max’ uncontrollable pitch […]Continue reading
It seems incomprehensible that American Airlines and Southwest Airlines can refuse to ground their B-737 Max 8’s while the rest of the world grounds theirs in the face of two accidents that have claimed the lives of nearly 350 people. There would not be enough money in the world to pay the punitive damages claims […]Continue reading
Boeing has announced and the FAA has agreed to software changes to the MCAS system, the anti-stall system suspected in causing 300 deaths in the last 4 months on the Boeing 737 Max 8. The Boeing announcement says the enhancements include updates to “the MCAS flight control law, pilot displays, operation manuals and crew training. The […]Continue reading
Two crashes within a few short months of each other, hundreds dead, experienced crews aboard each and a known absent control redundancy? This airplane needs another look by embarrassed regulators. The Boeing 737 MAX is a further lengthened version of the most popular airliner ever conceived, the 737. But the differences in the MAX are […]Continue reading
No lawyer in the world has as much experience with the Boeing 737 MAX control system malfunctions as Arthur Alan Wolk of The Wolk Law Firm. The crash of Lion Air Flight JT610 is beyond a tragedy for the 189 souls aboard. It is a disgrace. The Boeing 737 MAX is equipped with a flight [...]Continue reading
I have recently reviewed a number of discount fuel contracts, usually for jet aircraft, and imbedded in them is a surprise about which most owners and their pilots are completely unaware. Every one of the contracts I read require the aircraft owner to release, indemnify and hold harmless not only the discount fuel company but […]Continue reading
Finally waking up after its year and half long nap, the FAA decided to follow the lead of the manufacturer and order an immediate inspection of certain CFM-56 engines that power Boeing 737 aircraft. The Emergency Airworthiness Directive which should have been issued days after the uncontained failure of the fan of another Southwest Airlines […]Continue reading
The death of a beautiful wife and mother did not have to happen. When she boarded Southwest Flight 1380 in New York she could not have known that both the airline she trusted, the FAA, part of the Government that is thought of as the watchdog for flight safety, and the NTSB the independent government […]Continue reading
Two beautiful families on vacation in Costa Rica were killed along with their guide and flight crew when the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan crashed on takeoff on December 31, 2017 in Nandayure, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica. The NTSB, en route from the United States along with representatives of Cessna, the airplane’s manufacturer and Pratt and […]Continue reading
Technology is changing rapidly in aviation. The old 6 pack design has given way to the glass cockpit. Computer screens have replaced round dials. Electric airplane instruments have replaced unreliable gyroscopic instruments. GPS navigation is the norm while old style VOR’s and ILS approaches are being phased out. To effectively litigate airplane crashes it is […]Continue reading
Few outside the air crash litigation world know how the party system at the NTSB works. When an airplane crash happens, it isn’t just the NTSB investigator-in-charge who goes to the scene to investigate. Under NTSB rules, manufacturers’ accident investigators are invited as parties to the investigation. Thanks to former NTSB Chairman Jim Hall, a […]Continue reading
Aircraft wings and tails have forever been the collectors of enough ice to make them quit working like wings and tails. All it really takes is visible moisture, a cloud for example, and temperatures that approach freezing. The movement of the metal surfaces through the air is often enough to lower the temperature below freezing […]Continue reading
In a bizarre twist the NTSB, never at a loss for confusing the causes of accidents with how much it can do for aircraft manufacturers, has suggested that pilot training needs improvement to handle double engine failures at altitude. First, double engine failures on multi-engine airplanes are illegal if a common cause can result in […]Continue reading
Uncompleted modification leaves lots of questions and too few answers At 35,000 feet, the Airbus A330, the Air France 447 plane that crashed, is only about 25 knots between cruise speed and aerodynamic stall. Thus, if wind shear and turbulence are sufficiently violent, the aircraft can stall and the air data computers will take the […]Continue reading
Gus Fossum was a simple guy on a mission. Raised on a farm in Minnesota, he never attended high school – while still a teenager in 1924 he went to the city to study automobile engines. He wanted to become an Army pilot, but obeyed his father and instead moved to Los Angeles in 1927. […]Continue reading
There is only one level of safety. The problem is the experience level of the people who carry out that mission & the airplanes they must carry it out in. There is no substitute for years in the cockpit and hours in make and model to ensure safety. A pilot can’t be worried that he […]Continue reading
Tuning the other radio to approach while monitoring the advisory frequency can save your life. These few words mean so much and are so misunderstood. When Air Traffic Control utters these words while a pilot is conducting an instrument approach to an uncontrolled airport or one where the tower is closed what it means is […]Continue reading
Dark, snowy, limited visibility, slick runway, short runway, inadequate safety areas, all ingredients for a disaster. The data must be analyzed but based on our litigating these accidents before here is what must be carefully looked at. This is an old airplane with lots of time on it. The aircraft swerved after making a normal […]Continue reading
The Wolk Law Firm has received a demand letter from NTSB General Counsel that it clarify comments made about the NTSB’s role in investigating the fiery crash of a Gulfstream IV at Bedford, Massachusetts. Earlier commentaries focused on the elevator controls as the likely cause of that tragedy. In fact another GIV suffered a similar […]Continue reading
The Wolk Law Firm has received a demand letter from NTSB General Counsel that it clarify comments made about the NTSB’s role in investigating the fiery crash of a Gulfstream IV at Bedford, Massachusetts. Earlier commentaries focused on the elevator controls as the likely cause of that tragedy. In fact another GIV suffered a similar […]Continue reading
MADRID MD-82 CRASH, DÉJÀ VU The flight path of both the Northwest and Spanair aircraft are eerily similar… Two decades ago in Detroit Michigan, Northwest Airlines Flight 255, an MD-82, crashed on takeoff, killing all aboard except for a toddler. The crew had failed to extend the wing flaps and the takeoff configuration warning was […]Continue reading
The National Transportation Safety Board has asked the FAA to help in coming up with mandatory technology to be installed in aircraft so their location can be pinpointed within 6 miles of the crash. These two technology challenged agencies of Government will no doubt, meet for years, establish a task force, contract with industry to […]Continue reading
LATEST AIR ASIA 8501 THEORY PREPOSTEROUS Aviation Attorney Arthur Wolk says a recent emergency airworthiness directive may explain what could have caused crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501. The latest word from the Government of Indonesia is that the cause of the crash was entry into a thunderstorm that resulted in so much ice accumulations that […]Continue reading
Pilatus PC-12 Crash Stinks: Answers are needed! Fourteen people killed in an aircraft that can only carry ten has the stench of carelessness all over it. Most PC-12s can safely hold only six to nine passengers and one or two pilots. Why were there so many aboard the Pilatus PC-12 and where were they seated? […]Continue reading
TWA 800 STILL AN EXPLODING FUEL TANK ACCIDENT (06/26/2013) Seventeen years after the crash of TWA 800, some of the crash investigators have disavowed the findings of the NTSB that an explosion of the center fuel tank caused this tragedy. They claim that a missile, not the same kind of explosion that blew the sister ship to […]Continue reading
What excuse will the FAA and industry give us the next time hundreds of families suffer the needless loss of their loved ones? (2006) Ten years after TWA Flight 800 exploded over Long Island killing all aboard and thirty two years after its sister ship exploded over Madrid killing all aboard, the FAA still has no rule in […]Continue reading
TSA REVERSES RULE AGAINST CARRYING KNIVES ABOARD AIRCRAFT (March 6, 2013) In an inexplicable move, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has reversed its ban on the carrying of penknives aboard commercial aircraft. It is now legal to do so, provided the blades are 2.36 inches or less in length, and less than ½ inch in […]Continue reading
(March 6, 2013) The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has decided that certain non-federal agencies, police departments for example, will soon be able to have their own UAS’s. A UAS is an unmanned aircraft system, essentially a fancy name for a “drone” – like the ones that lob missiles at bad guys overseas on a daily […]Continue reading
Recent fires, short circuits and thermal runaways of Boeing 787 Lithium Ion batteries demonstrate that Boeing’s choice of this technology was misplaced and it is a life threatening hazard that affects all Dreamliners. The Wolk Law Firm handled a UPS Boeing 747 crash, an almost new airplane, where it is said that a thermal runaway […]Continue reading
Continental 3407 is just the most recent example of why turboprop passenger aircraft are unable to safely fly during icing conditions. The American Eagle ATR 72 in Indiana, the Embraer 120 in Michigan, and some fifty Cessna Caravan crashes, all demonstrate the need to reassess whether turboprop aircraft, all equipped with long outdated and discredited […]Continue reading
Air France decided to wait and see and now we have seen over 200 dead Air France 447 was the arch typical confluence of a number of factors that figure in any aircraft accident. The conditions were night out over the South Atlantic. The Tropical Convergence Zone, that area of our earth’s atmosphere where the […]Continue reading
That of course allows those neat tracking sites like Flight Aware and FlightPlan.com to track each flight and show it graphically over the geography and with weather depicted as well. The flight’s aircraft number, its altitude and ground speed, its expected time of arrival and its destination are portrayed. It is therefore possible for anyone […]Continue reading
AS CLOSE AS IT GETS It’s time for us, the passengers, to take control of aviation security The recent Northwest Airlines near terrorist disaster brings back into focus just why we are in this horrible security predicament in aviation. Before 9/11, we as a people were let down by our Government. The Bush 41, Bush […]Continue reading
REPEAT LESSON: Landing in thunderstorms is dangerous American Airlines learned yet again that attempting a landing in a thunderstorm can be very tricky. This is the second such accident suffered by the carrier in 10 years when its crew landed in very heavy rain from a thunderstorm over the airport. Here’s the problem. Thunderstorms generate […]Continue reading
The captain, the first officer, and the Department of Homeland Security Recently, two events captured the news media’s attention. One was a Delta Airlines Boeing 767 that landed on the taxiway instead of the runway at the Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. The other was a Northwest Airlines Airbus A320 whose crew failed to communicate with […]Continue reading
Nine people dead and everyone is wondering how this could happen. The nut cases are out in force, shrieking that small aircraft are a menace and should be banned from New York airspace. The NTSB sent a go-team along with representatives of each of the aircraft makers and their engine builders to investigate the mid-air […]Continue reading
More information than previously reported was transmitted in real time As additional details about the crash of Air France 447 are released, we now know that more information than was previously reported was being transmitted in real time including speed and altitude excursions, g-forces and all system read-outs, including computer faults. Prior to the crash, […]Continue reading
Air France Flight 447 is down. Sadly, it is expected that all 228 aboard are lost. The earmarks are all too familiar. Severe weather and a loss of radar contact usually mean in-flight break-up and rapid descent. This would, of course, explain the lack of a distress call and automatic reporting of electrical failure and […]Continue reading
HAWKER 800 CRASH IN MINNESOTA Cockpit voice recorder transcript released The NTSB just released a transcript of the cockpit conversations of the captain and first officer of a crash that took their lives and six others in Minnesota last summer. There were no surprises here. The flight crew flew into an area of very severe […]Continue reading
CRIMINALIZATION OF AIR DISASTERS – While such proceedings may satisfy the public’s zeal to punish those responsible, the result is that the flow of information necessary to correct aviation problems dries up over the long term because of the fear that such information will be used for criminal prosecution in the event of accidents. It […]Continue reading
At this stage of aviation history, there is no reason for this disaster and both the horror and pain it has caused to so many families One hundred fifty-three people were killed when a fully-loaded Spanair MD-82 crashed on takeoff from the Madrid airport on August 20, 2008. Witnesses describe an explosion in the left […]Continue reading
A Hawker 800 executive jet aircraft crashed at a small airport in Minnesota, south of the Twin Cities on July 31, 2008. Witnesses describe a touchdown on a wet runway, a roll-out, then the application of power and a crash just beyond the end of the runway. All aboard were killed, either from impact or the […]Continue reading
NASA DEEP SIXES IMPORTANT AVIATION SAFETY INFORMATION By Arthur Alan Wolk NASA ordered the contractor to destroy “embarrassing” information (October 22, 2007) NASA spent $8,500,000 of our money to study aviation safety the right way: interview pilots in strict confidence so they would feel free to disclose what they see as critical safety failures in our […]Continue reading
Composite Structures For Aircraft Not All They Are “Cracked Up” To Be Recent NTSB safety recommendation concerning A recent NTSB Safety Recommendation should be of great concern to aircraft manufacturers, airlines and their passengers. It concerns the “disbonding” of the composite rudders on some A300 Airbus airliners. It seems hydraulic fluid delaminates the bonding agent […]Continue reading
Swissair and McDonnell Douglas/Boeing have perpetrated the most cruel hoax possibly imaginable on the victims of Swissair 111 In open court before the Honorable James T. Giles, those defendants in some 170 lawsuits filed following the crash, told the court that they have agreed to share in the responsibility for the crash of Swissair 111 […]Continue reading
WHEN IT COMES TO AVIATION SAFETY, WHO IS REALLY TO BLAME? The FAA … the agency that is supposed to protect us… Why does it take an air crash to raise public concern about aviation safety? Even though air travel is still the safest means of transportation (based on the percentage of fatalities compared to […]Continue reading
Statements made mislead the public On January 18, 2000, the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, decried the publishing on Dateline ABC of portions of the audiotape from the cockpit voice recorder of the Cali, Colombia American Airlines crash in 1995. On that audiotape were communications among the flight crew that clearly show that […]Continue reading
Portion of fee used to establish group to improve aircraft fire safety PHILADELPHIA – (10/27/1999) Arthur Alan Wolk, internationally-known aviation attorney based in Philadelphia, on Friday, October 22, achieved a landmark first domestic settlement from Swissair flight 111. Today, Wolk announced that he is donating a portion of his fee to establish a panel of […]Continue reading
Letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Dockets By Arthur Alan Wolk August 24, 1999 U.S. Dept. of Transportation Dockets Docket No. FAA-1999-6001 400 Seventh Street, S.W. Room Plaza 401 Washington, DC 20590 Re: Docket No. FAA-1999-6001; Notice No. 99-14 Gentlemen: I oppose the introduction of a regulation that would allow the Federal Aviation Administration to […]Continue reading
Attorney Arthur Alan Wolk’s Opinion PHILADELPHIA – (03/23/1999) In response to the NTSB’s March 23, 1999, hearings on the USAir 427 accident, Attorney Arthur Alan Wolk, who has focused his efforts in the field of air crash litigation, issued the following opinion: The National Transportation Safety Board, which is about to announce its long […]Continue reading
Aviation Attorney and Pilot Expert Arthur Alan Wolk weighs in Aviation attorney and pilot expert, Arthur Alan Wolk, says that if Swissair’s simulator studies, which claim that the crew could not have descended from 33,000′ to land at Halifax in 70 miles, nor landed overweight on the more than 8,000′ of runway available are correct, […]Continue reading
Kapton a hazardous wiring for use in aircraft Aviation attorney, Arthur Alan Wolk, who has done substantial research in the field of aircraft fires, notes that the United States Navy refused to allow the continued use of Kapton in Navy fighters because of its poor performance, specifically its propensity for arcing and the propagation of […]Continue reading
MD-11 plane got 4 FAA-mandated “Airworthiness Directives” in 5 years PHILADELPHIA – (09/04/1998) Preliminary information surrounding the crash of Swissair Flight 111 in Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia on Wednesday, September 2, 1998, raises serious concerns, says aviation attorney and crash investigator, Arthur Alan Wolk, Esq. Specifically, Wolk is worried about the quality of FAA oversight […]Continue reading
But Nationally-Known Aviation Attorney says, “It’s too little too late.” PHILADELPHIA – (01/15/1997) What is perhaps the most appalling irony yet in the Boeing 737 air crash investigation debacle, is the announcement today by Al Gore that Boeing has agreed to modify their 737 rudder control to prevent rudder hardovers and the resulting complete lack […]Continue reading
It’s Déjà vu of TWA 800 An Air China Boeing 737 Next Generation airliner recently pulled up to the gate, caught fire, and moments after the passengers deplaned through emergency exits, the center fuel tank exploded and destroyed the aircraft. Had the explosion occurred just minutes before, all 152 passengers would most likely have been […]Continue reading
Better look at the rudder Yet another Boeing 737 crashes, but this time no one was killed. The flight crew masterfully rejected a takeoff that went wrong. Loud noises were heard that were reminiscent of the sounds identified just before domestic flights on United 585 and USAir 427 rolled over and dived to the ground, […]Continue reading
The spin doctors take over The latest from the Continental Airlines B-737 accident at Denver is the claim that a sudden gust of wind caused the aircraft to swerve off the runway. So, a pilot with 11,000 hours of flying time and a very experienced first officer couldn’t do a successful crosswind take-off in one […]Continue reading
Ignoring the obvious: a jamming servo valve, NTSB fails to protect future passengers PHILADELPHIA – (11/17/1995) Today, the NTSB wraps up three days of investigative hearings regarding the cause of the Pittsburgh crash of USAir Flight 427 on September 8, 1994, which resulted in 132 fatalities. Yet, the NTSB and the FAA still refuse to […]Continue reading
September 8, 1995 marked the one year anniversary of the crash of USAir Flight 427 in Pittsburgh, and the cause of the crash is still unknown. Yet, an estimated 60,000 – 70,000 people board approximately 2,000 Boeing 737’s daily — planes that have a proven defect, according to nationally known aviation attorney Arthur Alan Wolk, […]Continue reading
Nationally known Aviation Attorney Arthur Alan Wolk questions a control system malfunction in the USAir Flight 427 crash. PHILADELPHIA – (09/09/1994) – Last night’s tragic plane crash of USAir Flight 427 in Pittsburgh bears a haunting resemblance to the 1991 United Flight 585 crash which happened in Colorado Springs, Co. Witnesses’ descriptions of the last […]Continue reading