Five people are dead after an amphibious plane collided mid-air with a Piper PA-28 on May 12 in Saskatchewan, reports The Star Phoenix. The Piper was carrying two men and a teen from Alberta, and the amphibious plane was occupied by a couple.

Even though the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is not speculating about the cause of the accident, one local researcher said it’s likely that one plane landed on top of the other as they both descended toward an airstrip. “It’s a classic situation in that both pilots couldn’t see each other. It sounds like a freak accident.”

Other factors such as bright early morning sun light could have contributed to the crash, or it could have been a mechanical or a medical issue, the researcher speculated.

Now that the bodies have all been recovered, the TSB will focus on three areas: recovery of aircrafts, obtaining all the flight information, and locating possible witnesses.

A mid-air collision complicates the investigation because it means that the planes were damaged twice–once in the air and again when the aircrafts hit the ground.

This plane crash may lead to significant changes in aviation regulations.

If you are someone you know has had his or her safety compromised on a commercial or private airline, the aviation accident attorneys at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy may be able to help.

Denny Fitch died last week at age 69 of brain cancer. In 1989 when he was 46, he was the passenger/pilot who helped to land a disabled jet in an Iowa cornfield and save 184 lives, reports the Daily Herald.

On that infamous day, United Flight 232 lost all hydraulic power when it was flying from Denver to Chicago. Fitch happened to be a passenger on the flight that day.

A turbine blade came apart, sending shrapnel into the engine and disabling the hydraulic system, which was necessary for landing.

Signaling a flight attendant, Fitch told her that he was a flight instructor and a pilot, “If there is anything that I can do to assist, I’ll be happy to do so.”

When he walked into the cockpit, the scene was chaotic with pilots manually trying to control the plane. Fitch sat on the floor and took charge of the throttles, desperately trying to ease the plane down. He pulled every aeronautical trick in the book to control the plunging jet.

The jet crash-landed into a cornfiled, killing 111 people, but Fitch and the flight crew’s resourcefulness in the bringing the aircraft down and saving 184 people became legend in the aviation world.

If you are someone you know has had his or her safety compromised on a commercial or private airline, the aviation accident attorneys at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy may be able to help.

In the National Flight Academy, kids learn math and science skills while learning to fly simulated aircrafts, reports wistv.com.

The academy officially opened Friday, with appearances by former astronauts Mark Kelly, and Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, the first and last men who walked on the moon.

Campers from 7th through 12th grade will experience five days aboard Ambition, an aircraft carrier, and will experience a simulation of conducting a noncombat mission at sea.

The academy is for teens who might be interested in becoming pilots and those who have aptitudes for science and math.

“Unless kids get a spark somewhere, and they get excited about math or science, they are not going to do it. They may not find that they want to be an aviator, but they may be really good at meteorology or geometry,” said Pam Northrup, dean of the college of professional studies at the University of West Florida.

Conceived 15 years ago, the Flight Academy project costs $1,250 to attend, but scholarships are available. Sessions run for five days each week from June through August.

Each participant is assigned to a squadron, which then competes against each other in their flight and communication skills and in how effectively they use their resources.

If you are someone you know has had his or her safety compromised on a commercial or private airline, the aviation accident attorneys at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy may be able to help.

A bill that would make texting and driving illegal in Ohio made further progress Thursday when the state Senate approved the legislation. According to the Chicago Tribune News, the bill will now go before the House of Representatives for a vote to decide its fate.

The legislation would make it a secondary offense to operate a hand held device in order to send or receive messages or email while behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. This means that the offender would have to have committed another crime to be pulled over before an officer could issue a citation for texting and driving.

Violations of the new law would be a misdemeanor offense punishable by a $150 fine. The new legislation would not take precedence over the local codes in towns across the state which already prohibit the activity.

While lawmakers are optimistic that the law will reduce the number of accidents caused by distracted driving, statistics from communities who have had similar laws in place for several years show otherwise. For instance, the town of Conneaut, Ohio, has had a texting and driving ban in place for several years, yet only one ticket has ever been issued for an offense.

The Cleveland Personal Injury Lawyers with Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy want to know—do you think that texting and driving bans will reduce Ohio Auto Accidents? Tell us what you think on our Facebook page.

As a nation, we have gotten heavier in the last 20 years. Yet, seats and seat belts on planes are still the same size and strength. They are made for people weighing 170 pounds, but now the average American weighs 182, reports the News Observer.

Are airplane seats and seat belts strong enough to protect heavy travelers? Some engineers and scientists are wondering.

If the seat collapses or the belt is not sufficient to hold in a heavy passenger during a crash, then not only could the passenger be injured but also those seated nearby could be endangered from “the unrestrained motion of the passenger,” one scientist opined.

Even though the Federal Airlines Administration (FAA) updated the average passenger weight to 190 pounds in 2005, an engineer said that airline-seat manufacturers’ tests have been done using the 170 pound dummies.

The National Transportation Safety Board recommended that the FAA start collecting information about the weight and size of people flying in private planes. There have been no such recommendations concerning commercial airplanes.

What do you think about this issue, and what should be done, if anything?

If you or someone you know has had his or her safety compromised on a commercial or private airline, the aviation accident attorneys at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy may be able to help.

“There’s not a lot of people left who saw it, let alone who flew on it,” said a member of the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society, on the 75th anniversary of the Hindenburg tragedy.

Almost 200 aviation enthusiasts and surviving witnesses, along with 350 members of the public who were allowed rare access to the naval base, gathered together on Saturday to remember the Hindenburg disaster, according to the Daily Record. The hydrogen-fueled aircraft crashed and burned 75 years ago at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937.

Of the 97 people on board, the crash killed 36 crew members and passengers. The Hindenburg disaster ended a brief period of civilian lighter-than-air travel across the Atlantic.

Experts say the accident was “almost an eventual certainty” even though the Germans were safety conscious, and a fire erupted as the Hindenburg approached its landing. There are still debates on how the fire occurred.

If you are someone you know has had his or her safety compromised on a commercial or private airline, the aviation accident attorneys at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy may be able to help.

A small two-seater helicopter crashed onto the roof of a home in an East Phoenix residential neighborhood about four miles from Sky Harbor International Airport, reports AJC.

No one on the ground was hurt, and there was no fire. The two men aboard the helicopter were rescued by the local fire department and appeared to be in stable condition. They were taken to a nearby hospital.

A neighbor said that he heard the whole thing, but had no idea what it was. He ran outside and saw the wreckage sticking up out of the tree. “It didn’t dawn on me that it was a helicopter because that’s such a rare thing to happen in the middle of Wednesday.”

The copter appeared to have fallen straight down from the sky onto the roof of the house. Then it slid off and landed in a nearby tree.

The aircraft was registered to Canyon State Aero in Gilbert, which specializes in pilot training.

The accident will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

If you or someone you know has had his or her safety compromised on a commercial or private airline, the aviation accident attorneys at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy may be able to help.

It seems as though some people just do not learn from their mistakes, especially drunk drivers. Statistics from the non-profit organization, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), show that 50 to 75 percent of convicted drunk drivers will continue getting behind the wheel of a car despite having a suspended license. A large percentage of these individuals will continue to drive drunk and potentially injure others.

Take, for instance, the case of a 34-year-old Elyria, Ohio, man who was charged with his seventh Operating a Vehicle while Intoxicated (OVI) charge Wednesday evening.  According to News Channel 5, the accident happened just before 8:00 p.m. on Cambridge Avenue.

Elyria Police say that the man was riding a motorcycle with a passenger on the back when he struck a tree branch and crashed the bike. The man then attempted to flee the scene on foot. Police eventually caught up with him and looked up his record, and upon realizing his involvement in the crash and noticing six prior OVI convictions, asked that he submit to a blood alcohol test. It was then determined his blood alcohol level was 0.14 percent, nearly double the legal limit.

Drunk drivers who cause Ohio Auto Accidents not only cost innocent victims hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, but potentially their lives as well. That’s why the Ohio Injury Lawyers with Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy ask that you never drink and drive.

During an aviation safety experiment, a 1977 Boeing 727 was deliberately crash-landed, according to the Examiner.

As part of a documentary film, the experiment took place in a barren area on the Sonoran Desert in Mexico.

The primary goal of the planned crash landing was to further understand a serious, but survivable, crash and to improve aviation safety.

Video cameras on the ground and inside the airplane and on the helmet of the pilot, who parachuted to safety, recorded every moment of the planned destruction. Taking the place of passengers and crew members, there were 170 mannequins, who were biometric and could respond to the situation.

The crash data is already being reviewed by aviation experts and scientists, who are compiling their findings for a documentary, which will later be shown on the Discovery Channel.

The last controlled crash of a commercial plane took place in 1984, and it did not go as planned. Technology has made controlled crashes safer. For example, in this 2012 deliberate crash, the jet was controlled by a chase helicopter flying above it.

Commercial aviation safety has dramatically improved in the last three decades. The chance of dying on a scheduled flight in the United States is one in 14 million, but experiments like this one make traveling by air even safer.

If you are someone you know has had his or her safety compromised on a commercial or private airline, the aviation accident attorneys at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy may be able to help.

This weekend, Saturday, May 5, from 9 am until 5 pm, and Sunday, May 6, from 10 am until 5 pm, Alaska is having its 15th annual Great Aviation Gathering.  With attendance of more than 21,000 pilots and aviation enthusiasts, this is Alaska’s premier aviation event.

Featuring the latest technology, state-of-the-art products, new innovations, and a comprehensive safety conference, there will be more than 275 aviation-only exhibitors.

There will be indoor and outdoor static displays, showcasing every type of aircraft from sport to general aviation, vintage to experimental, commercial to corporate and military.

Complete with a frontier flair, this Alaska State Aviation Trade Show is about flying in Alaska.

You will discover new aviation industry trends and learn about new products and safety equipment. You can also enjoy live presentations and demonstrations.

This aviation trade show and conference will be held at FedEx Maintenance, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, 5800 Lockheed Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska, (907) 245-1251, and it is presented by Alaska Airmen’s Association.

If you are someone you know has had his or her safety compromised on a commercial or private airline, the aviation accident attorneys at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy may be able to help.