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Fuel Switches in the Cutoff Position on China Eastern flight 5735
On the 21st of March 2022, a Boeing 737 passenger airliner crashed into a mountain. This was China Eastern Airlines flight 5735 flying from Kunming to Guangzhou in the People’s Republic of China. All 132 souls on board perished in the crash. This was the first fatal crash of a Chinese mainline carrier in nearly twelve years.…
Read more… 8 May 26
Outtakes from the Air Show
I’m still on the road and using the quiet hours to work through my photographs from the air show. Aviation photography sure does have a way of revealing one’s limitations! The aircraft fly faster than I expect. The framing is just a few feet off. Someone stands up in excitement and photobombs the shot. Another…
Read more… 1 May 26
Ferry Tank Failure: Successful SR22 Ditching in the Pacific
In 2015, I shared a video of an SR22 whose pilot successfully deployed his Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) off of the coast of Maui, Hawai’i. I wrote at the time that I would update once the final report came out. I am rather behind on my todo list, I’m afraid. The Cirrus SR22 is at…
Read more… 24 Apr 26
Meowing on Guard (an attempt at an explanation)
Last week a video went viral and it’s been fun to see the mainstream media coverage try to cover two pilots who were heard making animal noises on the radio. There’s a lot of contextual knowledge and lore to understand what happened here, so although the actual event really isn’t worth a news headline, it is…
Read more… 18 Apr 26
I wanted to post this from 30,000 feet
I’m in transit this week, somewhere between time zones, airport coffee, and the unsettling suspicion that I’ve forgotten something important. The article about a double-engine failure that I planned to finish in advance kept getting more complicated. At the point where I thought “maybe this is a three-part article”, I realised that I wasn’t going…
Read more… 10 Apr 26
Flying To the Moon!
History was made this week when Artemis II lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket roared to life at 18:35 local time on the 1st of April with four on board the spacecraft capsule Orion: three NASA astronauts from the US, and…
Read more… 3 Apr 26
Accident Analysis
The Man in the Right Seat at Prestwick
On the 23rd of April 2024, a Piper Archer II crashed in South Ayrshire, Scotland, after losing power. There were two on board. Both suffered serious injuries and the light…
TNflygirl and the Beech Debonair
On the 7th of December 2023, a Beech 35-C33 Debonair crashed into terrain. The private pilot and the passenger, the pilot’s father, were both killed on impact. The private flight…
Demystifying
The Pilots, the Probes, and the AF447 Verdict
On the 21st of May 2026, the Paris Court of Appeal convicted Airbus and Air France of involuntary manslaughter for their roles in the crash of Air France flight 447,…
Trump Threatens to Ground Canadian Aircraft Over Gulfstream Certification
The US President, Donald Trump, posted the following to Truth Social last night. Based on the fact that Canada has wrongfully, illegally, and steadfastly refused to certify the Gulfstream 500,…
History
The First Jet to Land on an Aircraft Carrier (Deliberately)
“The Vampire was the first jet to land on a moving aircraft carrier deliberately.” This quote from Airshow Luke, our MC at the Legacy of Liberty airshow, made me almost…
Four Point Two Stars Where You Only Stop If You Have To
I always look up airports when I’m writing about them, partly out of habit and partly because I’m afraid I’ll miss an important detail. When I was writing Any Landing…
Fun Stuff
Aviation Stories You Might Have Missed
I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season. This week, I’ve put together a compilation of interesting items in the press that you might have missed while enjoying…
Nathan Pyle Strange Worlds
Thank you so much for all the kind words. I don’t quite have the wherewithal to respond to each of you individually but I very much appreciate all of you…
