Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

The U.S. FAA is warning pilots of the potential risks of using either commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) or personally developed checklists. The agency recently issued a Safety Alert for Operators (<a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/USAFAA/2017/04/27/file_attachments/808068/SAFO17006.pdf" target="_blank">SAFO 17006</a>), noting COTS or personal checklists might not contain all the pertinent information included in the manufacturer’s pilot operating handbook (POH) or airplane flight manual (AFM).


This warning stems from an accident in which a pilot was unable to fully lower the aircraft’s landing gear. The pilot referred to a COTS checklist for the specific type of aircraft, but was only able partially extend the landing gear. The gear collapsed on landing, and the aircraft was substantially damaged.


An accident investigation revealed that the COTS checklist did not match the manufacturer’s checklist regarding landing gear failure and manual extension procedures, the FAA said. “The omission of steps within the COTS checklist significantly contributed to the pilot’s inability to fully extend the aircraft’s landing gear.” The list used by the pilot had also omitted a key caution statement regarding the landing gear, the agency added.


The FAA is thus advising pilots using COTS or personally developed checklists to “meticulously compare them to the manufacturer’s checklist and placards contained in the POH/AFM to confirm they are consistent. This action will ensure the pilot has all pertinent manufacturer’s information during aircraft flight operations.”

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

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News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

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