On the 20th of February 2021, United Airlines flight 328 made international headlines when a fan blade separated from the right engine shortly after take-off. Flight UA328 was a scheduled domestic flight from Denver International to Honolulu, Hawaii. The aircraft was a Boeing 777-200, registration N772UA, built in 1994 and powered by two Pratt &…
Read more… 29 Sep 23
It was an overcast day on the morning of the 8th of September 2011 when people in West Liberty, Ohio, heard the sounds of a low-flying aircraft approaching. The Cirrus SR22 had left Bellefontaine, Ohio at a quarter past 11 for a short flight, just fifteen nautical miles south to Urbana, where he planned to…
Read more… 15 Sep 23
On the 2nd of March, 2023, a Vans RV-9A struck a vehicle while coming into land at Henstridge Airfield. The Vans RV-9A is a Van’s Aircraft kit plane, a kit for enthusiasts to build an aircraft themselves. The RV-9 is a two-seater low-wing aircraft; the original model is a tail dragger, but the RV-9A has…
Read more… 25 Aug 23
On the 7th of September 2010, a Tupelov Tu-154M (registration RA-85684) suffered a complete loss of electrical power during a cross-country flight to Moscow. The Tupolev Tu-154 is a three-engine Soviet jet originally developed to meet Aeroflot requirements for a medium-range airliner. Production started in 1970; the last TU-154 was manufactured in 2013 by Aviakor…
Read more… 4 Aug 23
On the 9th of February 2020, Utair flight 595 was coming in to land when it unexpectedly struck a snowbank. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-500 registration VQ-BPS, was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Moscow to Usinsk. The captain was an experienced pilot with almost 18,000 hours, 7,600 of which were on this aircraft type.…
Read more… 21 Jul 23
We so often focus on human error when it comes to aviation. This week, let’s focus on a case where everyone pulled together in a crisis to ensure a safe landing of a Super DC-3 that had suffered a power out on take-off. In the world of aviation, discussions often revolve around human error. Today,…
Read more… 14 Jul 23
The Cessna 185 Skywagon is a high wing, single engine aircraft: basically a Cessna 180 with six seats, a strengthened fuselage and a slightly more powerful engine. It’s a popular…
On the 4th of June 2022, a Bell 407 GXP helicopter crashed in a field near Fairfield, New Jersey. I wrote about it at the time. The final report and…
My friend Maria at Daedalean wrote this article about how they are using AI to help pilots detect gliders. I thought it was fascinating and Daedalean gave me permission to…
On the 5th of January 2024, Alaska Airlines flight 1282 had just taken off when it lost a door plug, leaving a gaping hole on the left side of row…
This video of a mid-air wheel exchange goes viral once a year or so, but I never get tired of watching it. Last week, it showed up on Reddit and…
This week, we have a guest post by J.B. Rivard who wrote an article for the American Aviation Historical Society (AAHS) and used one of my articles as a reference.…
I’m in Dresden at the moment and I’m afraid I haven’t had a free moment to write you a new article. Luckily, lots of other people are on the internet…
Long-term readings of Fear of Landing know that my favourite aerobatics show of all time is Kyle Franklin’s Ben Whabnoski Comedy act. Just in case some of you haven’t seen…