This Wednesday, the 11th of July, the Transport Safety Board of Canada have released an investigation report on the ground collision, fire and evacuation at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Ontario. It makes for an interesting anatomy of a ground-based emergency. TSB Canada investigation report Ground collision, fire, and evacuation WestJet Airlines Ltd., Boeing 737-800,…
Read more… 13 Jul 18
On the 19th of December, 2005, Chalk’s Ocean Airways flight 101 crashed into a shipping channel shortly after take-off. This fatal accident signalled the beginning of the end for Chalk’s Ocean Airways. I wrote about the interesting history of Chalk’s Flying Service and the Grumman Mallard previously, which has a few details relevant to this…
Read more… 8 Jun 18
The 28th of April marks 30 years since Aloha Airlines flight 243 had its hull ripped open at 24,000 feet. In light of the current focus on metal fatigue and the proper maintenance of aircraft, I thought it would be interesting to look at the accident in 1988 which changed the way we looked at…
Read more… 27 Apr 18
This week, the FBI announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man who once worked as a mechanic at SabreTech, the airline maintenance company at the centre of the tragic loss of ValuJet flight 592, which crashed into the Florida Everglades on the 11th of May 1996. It’s not often…
Read more… 13 Apr 18
Last week, I covered the sequence of events that led to a Boeing 767-300 ER wheels-up landing at Warsaw airport. A hydraulic hose connecting the hydraulic system on the right leg of the main landing gear failed as they departed Newark. The flight crew decided to continue to Warsaw but once there, they found that…
Read more… 6 Apr 18
The entire world seemed to be watching when LOT airlines flight LO16 landed wheels up at Warsaw Airport in 2011. I wrote about it at the time, impressed with the smooth landing: The captain of the flight, Tadeusz Wrona, was the subject of much admiration as a result. His last name means crow in Polish,…
Read more… 30 Mar 18
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 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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…