Most children are happy when their homework assignment gets them a good grade, but after writing a report about David Warren, the Australian who invented the black box,  11-year old Eve Cogan of Sydney, Australia, set her sights on convincing the executives of her country’s capital city airport in Canberra to name the airport after him. For her assignment to research a famous Australian, Eve could have studied Peter Blamey, of Bionic Ear fame. But having spent many an evening watching air crash documentaries with her dad, the child found the late David Warren a more interesting choice. “I’ve seen a lot of episodes of air crash investigation and a lot of the time it’s the… Read More…

I’m starting a crusade for a more judicious use of the term “pilot error” and I nominate as my campaign poster boy…Tada! — Capt. Chesley Sullenberger. The newest member of the formerly obscure community of aviation safety commentators has a new gig on CBS News. From that platform he can say what many others who don’t have his good looks or American hero status have been saying, and he can make these points to the very people who have recently been given a somewhat mangled version of what happened on Air France Flight 447. By that I mean that when Capt. Understatement said on television… Read More…