John F. Kennedy Jr. died on the 16th of July 1999, when his aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. He was piloting the airplane; his wife and her sister were in the back. This 16-year-old accident came up in the comments recently (and if you aren’t reading the…
Read more… 20 Nov 15
This week The Oatmeal presented a comic strip entitled It’s going to be okay about Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, who survived a plane crash in 1947. It’s a motivational comic meant, the author says, to remind us that our journeys are short. You can read the comic here: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/plane. It’s a lovely…
Read more… 13 Nov 15
Obviously right now the issue on everyone’s mind is the Metrojet A321 lost in Egypt. News is coming in faster than I can filter it and I strongly suspect that by the time I post this, the information will be out of date. Certainly, I’ve had to throw away one draft today already! Let’s look…
Read more… 6 Nov 15
I admit, I have a soft spot for island runways. And one of the most famous island runways is runway 10 at Princess Juliana International Airport on Sint Maarten, with low-altittude final approaches happening very close to Maho Beach. Princess Juliana airport is regularly the subject of viral videos showing aircraft coming in low over…
Read more… 30 Oct 15
Today the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) released their report on the Eurocopter EC135 which crashed into Glasgow city centre two years ago. On the 29th of November 2013, the helicopter crashed through the roof of the Clutha Vaults Bar while there were over a hundred people on the premises. The crash killed the…
Read more… 23 Oct 15
I was pointed to a version of this video on LiveLeak with no information (why do people DO that?) but luckily it did include a great shot of the aircraft including registration number, so it wasn’t hard to find the original video and look up the details. The video as a stand-alone is pretty cool…
Read more… 16 Oct 15
On the 9th of August 2023, a VX4 crashed at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire during a test flight over the runway. The VX4 is a prototype air taxi, designed and…
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…
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…