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Slight Thump after Take-off

After landing on Jersey, my attention was immediately taken by a plane parked near the flying school, half a wing missing. A laminated sheet was attached. Ever the voyeur for accident reports, I couldn’t resist. The pilot had noticed a slight thump shortly after taking off. He checked for anything visibly wrong inside the cockpit…

Read more… 4 Jul 08

Flying Around the Web

Another selection of interesting and intriguing aviation articles that I stumbled upon while I should have been working. Stainless Steel Lunch Jar I want to get one of these for in-flight food on the Saratoga. We do the flight from Málaga to Southern England in two three-hour hops – an alternative to airport junk-food would…

Read more… 27 Jun 08

Southend Inquest Declares Student Death Accidental

Sam Cross was just another PPL student – he needed one more birthday before he could complete his licence but he wasn’t in a rush. He was 16 years old and had flown 15 hours and, in his previous session, he’d gone solo for the first time. His instructor considered him an accomplished pilot. Aircraft…

Read more… 23 Jun 08

After Dark

Flying always feels different after sunset. Isolated, elsewhere, in orbit instead of just above. My world becomes the plane and the plane is the entire world. Cities and farmland and lakes and railway lines, they are real. But the twinkly lights below me, the reflection of a desert sky, I find it difficult to believe…

Read more… 16 Jun 08

Landing in Lausanne

To prepare for our trip to Switzerland, I flew with the Saratoga to Andrewsfield, a small airfield near Stansted in Essex that I’d not been to before. Andrewsfield was built by the Americans in World War 2 and is one of the few airfields around London which will allow for unlimited circuits – as long…

Read more… 7 Jun 08

Photographs of Lausanne

I’ve come down with some sort of horrific flu and really not up to writing a word – but I wanted to start posting, especially as I know Plastic Pilot is waiting to see how Lausanne is faring without him. As you can see, it was a bit cloudy over the Swiss Alps on our…

Read more… 30 May 08

Accident Reports

Farewell Flight Turns Fatal in Cairns

On the 12th of August in 2024, a pilot fatally crashed a Robinson R44 into the top of a hotel building in Cairns, Australia. The pilot held a commercial helicopter…

No Masks, No Oxygen, No Chance

On the 4th of June 2023, a Cessna Citation 560 aircraft crashed in Montebello, Virginia, killing the pilot and three passengers. The NTSB released their report on the 14th of…

Demystifying

How to tell a Russian Su-27 from a British Typhoon

This is not an article that I ever thought I would feel compelled to write! However, given the confusion over a photograph chosen in a regional English paper, apparently it’s…

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…

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

Friday Lightness: A Short Respite from Crash Reports

It seems a good time for something a bit more lighthearted. After weeks of analyzing serious incidents and technical failures, I thought I could a moment to appreciate aviation humuor…

Flights of Fantasy: Aviation April Fools Worth Celebrating

I’m going to admit that I’m not a great fan of April Fools’ pranks, especially not attempts to trick people into believing something and then pulling the rug out from…