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Parachuting to Safety: The Pricey Plunge of the Cirrus SR22
The Cirrus SR22 is famous for its whole-plane ballistic parachute system, which can be deployed upon losing control of the aircraft, saving the lives of the pilot and passengers. A used SR22 will likely cost you over a quarter of a million dollars to purchase and a new aircraft can run a cool million. On…
Read more… 21 Apr 23
Tell Me A(n Aviation) Story
As those of you who follow my personal newsletter already know, I’ve been taking part in a theatre event in Tallinn called Tell Me A Story. Every month, six storytellers get on stage and tell a story …but there’s a twist. Five stories are absolutely true and one story is a lie. There’s a question…
Read more… 14 Apr 23
An Unexpected Problem at Eleven Thousand Feet
On Monday, the 3rd of April 2023, a twin-engined propellor plane departed from Worcester in the Western Cape of South Africa, the largest town in the region and about 120 km from Cape Town. The pilot, with 2,000 hours over the past five years, was a first officer for a local airline as well as…
Read more… 7 Apr 23
When Technology Fails: An Airbus A319’s Mid-Air Mystery
On the 6th of August 2021, an Airbus A319-131, registration G-DBCF, departed from Edinburgh for a scheduled passenger flight to London Heathrow. There were 101 passengers and five crew on board. The captain had over 16,000 flying hours, with 4,476 on type, and was the Pilot Flying. As the aircraft picked up speed for departure…
Read more… 31 Mar 23
Messerschmitt Crash in Wernigerode
I didn’t expect to fall in love with the train. When I planned my trip to Germany, I expected that I would be able to keep up with my normal tasks in addition to exploring the countryside and spending time with my mother. I am in Wernigerode, a town that acts as a gateway to…
Read more… 24 Mar 23
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
In 1978, a movie described as a Musical-Comedy-Horror-Show was released: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. The movie, which is about sentient tomatoes on a rampage, This is the trailer: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes had a budget of $90,000, partially sourced from relatives and friends. The creators also used them for supporting rolls: most of…
Read more… 17 Mar 23
Accident Analysis
Fatal SR22 Stall on Final at Barwick LaFayette
On the 20th of March, 2025, a Cirrus SR22 crashed in LaFayette, Georgia during an instructional flight, killing both the pilot and the flight instructor. It was a good flying…
There Is a Parachutist in Front of You
On the 15th of June 2023, a light aircraft crashed into the runway at Aversi private airfield in Denmark. The aircraft, registered in Germany as D-EPRR, was a Cessna TU206G…
Demystifying
Someone has to write the TAF
It turns out that there a person sitting there deciding what the weather is going to do. Which seems obvious, except that I had somehow never asked msyelf who “someone”…
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,…
History
The CIA's Shark Screen
Today we have a guest post from the CIA! In their archives, researching something completely different, I found the answer to a question I never thought to ask. I immediately…
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…
Fun Stuff
Petrified, Petrified, Petrified
There’s been some interesting reporting in the UK media about a “near disaster” over Canary Wharf involving the captain having to intervene (the horror!) after air data systems failed on…
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…
