I’m on the road this week but luckily for us, my friend Elisa Bird agreed that I could share one of her great articles with you all. Given the frantic pace of aviation news lately, I thought perhaps a visit to an accident of yesteryear with Elisa’s insight would be welcome, specifically around the emergency…
Read more… 7 Mar 25
This year is turning out to be quite the collection of aviation incidents, with the dramatic video of Southwest flight 2504’s go-around at Chicago Midway making headlines around the world. This is feeding into a growing narrative of aviation issues, especially in the US, with many expressing concern that aviation is no longer safe. Part…
Read more… 28 Feb 25
On the 17th of February 2025, Delta flight 4819 from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Toronto, Ontario suffered a hard landing and flipped over, bursting into flames. The aircraft was fully loaded with 76 passengers and four crew on board. One passenger wrote about the experience on Reddit: I felt what seemed like too violent of jerking…
Read more… 21 Feb 25
On the 11th of February 2025, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 was cleared for take-off at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Boeing (registered in Brazil as PS-GPP) was operated by GOL Transportes Aeros, a low-cost airline based in Rio de Janeiro. That morning, it was scheduled for flight G3-1674, a late-night domestic flight from Rio…
Read more… 14 Feb 25
Leeds Bradford Airport in England, perched on a windy hilltop, is known for its challenging conditions. But even by Leeds standards, the conditions on the 20th of October 2023 were rough, as Storm Babet battered the British Isles with high winds and heavy rain. The thirteen-year-old Boeing 737-8KS registered in the UK as G-TAWD started…
Read more… 7 Feb 25
A tragic mid-air collision took place near Washington DC on the 29th of January 2025. A Bombardier CRJ700, operating as American Eagle flight 5342 and a Sikorsky H-60 “Black Hawk” military helicopter crashed into each other at around 200 to 300 feet above ground level over the Potomac River. Flight 5342 was a scheduled domestic…
Read more… 31 Jan 25
Last week I wrote about the Fokker F27 mk 500 Friendship that came off the runway at take-off at Bournemouth Airport. Rudy commented on his experience flying the F27 in…
The flight crew reported for duty at Bournemouth Airport at 3am on Friday the 7th of May 2004. They were flying a thirty-three-year-old Fokker F27 Mark 500, registered in the…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…