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Fly the Airplane

Plane and Pilot

Suddenly, one of the Airbus three redundant pitot tubes clogged with ice crystals. While some wreckage was recovered within days, it took nearly two years to retrieve the flight and cockpit voice recorders from the ocean floor. One sunny upstate New York afternoon, he lifted off gracefully for a local flight.

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Mach Number Explained: What It Is and Why Pilots Use It

Pilot Institute

That’s the speed your airspeed indicator shows based on ram air pressure in the pitot tube. Lift, drag, and handling correlate well with IAS in the lower atmosphere. This means the inboard wing loses lift first, while the wingtips might still be lifting. This nose-down pitching moment is called Mach tuck.

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Airspeed and Altitude Control Simplified: Tips for Stable Flying

Pilot Institute

Combining the data shown on your cockpit instruments helps you make better judgments. The faster an aircraft goes, the more lift it generates. Lift is the upward force that keeps you in the air. If airspeed is too slow, the aircraft could lose lift and stall. miles per hour. It’s usually measured in feet.

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The Hazards of Aircraft Icing: Explained

Pilot Institute

And ice doesn’t just make things slippery, it messes with the airflow over the wings, cuts down on lift, and ramps up drag. This leads to a serious loss of lift and an increase in drag. This roughness adds to friction drag, which can reduce lift and increase drag by as much as 50% on a wing’s leading edge and upper surface.

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Dealing with volcanic ash

Professional Pilot

It can also become lodged in pitot tubes or other ports, making altitude and airspeed readings unreliable. Heeding VAAs is important because they define areas of ash concentration that present dangers to aircraft, and that concentration is frequently too low for an ash cloud to be seen by a pilot from the cockpit.

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Two injured as Southwest Airlines flight dives to avert a ‘midair collision’ (click photo for details)

World Airline News

com) (46) Jet2.com FC Union Berlin 1time 1time.co.za

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Transavia Netherlands takes delivery of a new Airbus A321neo in its original 1966 Transavia Holland livery to mark its 60th anniversary

World Airline News

The majority of KM’s cockpit crew pr. The pilot strike at KM Malta Airlines began on July 21, 2025, as a result of longstanding tensions surrounding recruitment practices and pilot seniority. com) (46) Jet2.com FC Union Berlin 1time 1time.co.za