Category: Accident Analysis – Page 3
It’s clear, but just barely: Ground collision at Seattle
There was light snow and congestion on the morning at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on the 5th of February 2025. Visibility was good but the temperatures hovered just above freezing and the ramp was slippery with a mix of light snowfall and de-icing fluid. Delta Airlines flight 1921 was a Boeing 737-832 registered in the US…
Read more… 17 Oct 25
“A Group of Pissed Off Hornets”: An Instructor’s Snapchat Story of a Fatal Flight
I don’t like to be negative about flight instructors; it’s a difficult job that usually pays badly and requires superhuman levels of focus and patience. I had two amazing instructors who very much loved flying and were excited to share their passion with me. But of course the fatal accidents caused by bad instructors are…
Read more… 3 Oct 25
Best Speed across the Runway: VH-EWW at Gold Coast Airport
On the 6th of February 2024, a student pilot and instructor met at Gold Coast Airport in Queensland for a dual training flight. The clear lesson learned that day was a common one: if the approach is not stabilised, go around! But to be fair, the instructor did go around, just …a little bit later…
Read more… 12 Sep 25
Sky Diver Pulled from Aircraft After In-Flight Deployment
On the 1st of August 2024, the École de Parachutisme Sportif de Vannes Bretagne organised a parachute drop for 14. The sky diving centre is a non-profit operating their aircraft under AIR OPS. The aircraft was a Cessna 208 Caravan, a single-engine turboprop, registered in France as F-HVPC and owned by the sky diving centre. It…
Read more… 29 Aug 25
Pave Hawk Helicopter and Crew Destroyed by Bird Strike
It was a quiet winter evening in the English village of Cley next the Sea, population 400. 2014 was just one week old and everyone was just getting back into the swing of post-Christmas living. Peaceful. Quiet. Until a flock of geese took down a US Air Force helicopter in their backyard. The helicopter was…
Read more… 15 Aug 25
CRJ 200 ferry flight crash with 19 on board at Kathmandu
Last week, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission, formed by the Government of Nepal to investigate the accident of 9N-AME on the 24th of July 2024, released their final report. There’s a lot going on here, so I hope you are seated comfortably! New! You can also listen to an automatically generated audio file of the…
Read more… 25 Jul 25
Accident Analysis
Why KLM Cut the Steering Cables on Two Perfectly Functional Boeing 737s
Last month, we looked at the night of 28th of November 2004 at Barcelona Airport. KLM 1673 ran off the runway at high speed, stopping just short of a canal.…
KLM 1673 Veers Off the Runway with Full Right Rudder
On the 28th of November 2004, a Boeing B737 ran off the runway at Barcelona Airport. The weather had been good at Barcelona that evening. The flight crew agreed to land…
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…
