Author: Gareth

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NTSB Finds Drugs in Half of Pilots Killed in Crashes

An NTSB study has raised concerns about drug use among private pilots in US aviation accidents.

A new report by the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has found that more than half of pilots who died in aviation accidents had at least one drug in their system. Released on 14 May 2026, the study examined toxicology results from 930 fatal accidents involving pilots in US civil aviation between 2018 and 2022. The findings have prompted safety experts to call for stronger drug monitoring for private pilots across the country.

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Structure: ‘Participle clauses’

When are participle clauses used?

Skilled writers — particularly in journalism, safety reporting and academic prose — often replace full subordinate clauses with shorter participle clauses. The result is denser, more formal prose that packs context, cause and chronology into half the words.

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Structure: ‘Modals of obligation’

What signal does a modal verb send?

A pilot reading an FAA airworthiness directive does not just read the words — they read the strength of the obligation each verb carries. Must, should and may sit on a sliding scale from legal requirement to optional suggestion, and confusing them can change a polite recommendation into a regulatory demand or vice versa.

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FAA Orders Airbus A350 Oxygen Clamp Fix

An A350 undergoes maintenance

The United States Federal Aviation Administration published a mandatory airworthiness directive on 14 May 2026 requiring operators of all Airbus A350-900 and A350-1000 aircraft to address an undocumented change in a key maintenance specification that could compromise emergency oxygen delivery during a cabin pressurisation failure. The directive takes effect on 18 June 2026, giving airlines fewer than five weeks to achieve compliance.

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Listening: Turbulent Approach to Dublin

How to do this dictation

Play the audio and write down everything you hear. Listen as many times as you need. Then use the answer key below to check your work. This is a full dictation — write every word.

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Structure: ‘The passive voice in formal writing’

Why does formal writing avoid naming who did what?

The passive voice reverses the usual sentence structure: instead of saying who performed an action, it focuses on what was done — and often omits the actor entirely. Active: “Boeing confirmed the deal.” Passive: “The deal was confirmed by Boeing.” In formal prose the agent (by Boeing) is usually dropped, since the action or outcome is the point, not who carried it out.

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