Latest Posts
Aviation Tales from the Fringes
This week, I have a collection of flying stories that aren’t really about the flying part of the flight. They are all stories that reminded me that aviation isn’t just about getting from A to B and I couldn’t resist sharing them. I hope you find them interesting as well! A Communication Breakdown at Oslo…
Read more… 11 Oct 24
Overrun in Ireland
On the 19th of February 2023, a private pilot arranged to meet with a flight instructor at Birr Airfield to fly a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. That morning, the flight instructor arrived early. He was rostered to do a local flight with a new club member. He held his commercial licence but was presumably new to…
Read more… 4 Oct 24
Rotation Gone Wrong: The Critical Error Behind LATAM’s Milan Tail Strike
On the 9th of July 2024, flight LA8073, operated by the Chilean airline LATAM, departed from Milano Malpensa for a passenger flight to São Paulo, Brazil. However, during the take-off run the “back end suddenly dropped after an apparent malfunction”, as Italian newspaper Corriere delle Serra described it. I still can’t watch the video without…
Read more… 27 Sep 24
Icing, Systems, and Human Factors: Preliminary Findings on Voepass flight 2283
On the 9th of August 2024 at 16:22, Voepass flight 2283, a scheduled flight from Cascavel, Paraná, to Guarulhos, São Paulo entered a flat spin and crashed into a residential district, killing everyone on board. CENIPA (CENtro de Investigação e Prevenção de Acidentes Aeronáuticos), the Brazilian Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Centre, is charged with…
Read more… 20 Sep 24
Vintage Chipmunk Crash at Jandakot
On Wednesday, the ATSB released an urgent advisory asking all owners of the vintage aircraft DHC-1 Chipmunk to check their rivets. This advisory came as a part of the still in-progress investigation of a fatal crash at Jandakot Airport on the 26 of April 2024. The DHC-1 Chipmunk is a two-seater single-engine aircraft introduced in…
Read more… 13 Sep 24
Over-The-Top Gun: When Overconfidence Meets Gravity
I’m excited to share this guest post with you, by our own David Provan! It’s a great piece about his early experience flying the Champ. Over-The-Top Gun by David Provan I was eighteen in 1961. I’d not long done my first ever solo flight on an Aeronca Champion 7EC at Middle Districts Aero Club, Palmerston…
Read more… 7 Sep 24
Accident Reports
A Perfect Day to Fly: The Tragic Story of the EAA AirVenture 2023 Midair Collision
In 2023, the annual EAA AirVenture airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin was marred by a tragic mid-air collision. The EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) is an aviation organisation which has hosted fly-ins…
The Fenestron Factor: Cabri G2 Crash in Gruyéres
The Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB) has released the final report for the Cabri G2 light helicopter crash in Gruyères, Switzerland in 2022. I wrote about it at the…
Demystifying
How to tell an F-16 Fighting Falcon from a Eurofighter Typhoon
There are a number of reasons why you might need to quickly point out the differences between a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and a Eurofighter EF2000 Typhoon. You might…
Extreme Turbulence in Singapore Airlines flight 321
A few days ago (21st of May 2024), Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 encountered heavy turbulence on a passenger flight from London-Heathrow to Singapore. There were 229 on board, including eighteen…
History
Gladys Ingle Inflight Wheel Change: Emergency Action or Stunt?
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…
The Disappearance of the Hawaii Clipper May Not Be as Mysterious as Was Thought
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.…
Fun Stuff
Terminally Early: The Berlin Viewing Platform
Mistakes were made. All of them were mine. Before I left for Dresden, I planned out my full itinerary. Berlin is a much busier airport than Tallinn, so I needed…
A Few Good Stories
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…
Jonathan Miller on Overrun in IrelandI suspect both the Irish and French would be annoyed by calling this a British aircraft. 
John Dallman on Aviation Tales from the FringesI've never understood how the "Train the guy in India" bit is supposed to work. What comeback does the company…
Gene on Aviation Tales from the FringesThanks for the seattletimes.com link. That's a refreshingly direct and simple article. It's the same in the computer industry. Remember…
Dave M. on Factual Version of the Clipper Eclipse crash featured in the OatmealHello Arlene. To my knowledge, all, or at least most, of the officers served in one capacity or another during…
Dave M. on Factual Version of the Clipper Eclipse crash featured in the OatmealHello Colin. I have copies of the flight crew and passenger manifests, and your grandfather is listed on it, age…
Arlene Waters on Factual Version of the Clipper Eclipse crash featured in the OatmealI believe that the entire flight crew served in military during the war. I am on a time crunch workwise…