Category: Accident Reports –  Page 31

Do You Listen to ATC if They Tell You the Weather Ahead is Bad?

One of my pleasures on a Friday morning is to read the posts in Professional Pilots Rumour Network (known as PPRuNe for short) and this morning was no exception. I was intrigued by a post by a Scottish controller asking a question of the Private Flying forum. I recognised the name as a regular poster;…

Read more… 15 Jun 12

“A Unique Occurrence” – Turning an Incident into a Crisis

In the evening of 6 June 2010 a Boeing 737-4B6 of Royal Air Maroc was en route from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to its destination of Nador International Airport in Morocco. Flight AT-685 had 156 passengers and four crew members on board. The captain was Pilot Flying, first officer was Pilot Monitoring. Timestamps and actions are…

Read more… 8 Jun 12

JetBlue Captain Break Down

The headlines have been full of the story of the Captain of a JetBlue flight who panicked on board and was locked out of the cockpit. In the interests of not arguing with everyone I meet, here is a run-down of what happened, unembellished by media excitements. Let’s get this out of the way first:…

Read more… 30 Mar 12

Don’t Land With Your Gear Up

If you’ve flown a retractable, you’ve had it drummed into you: put the undercarriage down, check you put the undercarriage down and then check it once on short final. I came close, once. I was doing a circuit to land at North Weald. I wanted to get around quickly and took a decision not to…

Read more… 9 Mar 12

Lanzarote Overrun: I have nothing planned

It was an uneventful night. The crew went on duty on Thursday night at 20:40 for scheduled passenger flights on a Boeing 737-800 from Lanzarote to Glasgow and back. Friday morning, on the return leg, their work is almost done. The First Officer is flying and the Captain has taken the opportunity to have a…

Read more… 2 Mar 12

The Wings Fell Off

(Before I start, I want to share some exciting news. You Fly Like a Woman appeared in Forbes this week! And it was reviewed – in Dutch and English! – on Aviationbookreviews. I would never have written the book without the support of the blog readers, so here’s a big THANK YOU to all of…

Read more… 3 Feb 12

Accident Reports

Challenger 300 Fatal Upset Wasn't Turbulence

On the 3rd of March 2023, a passenger in a private jet died after severe injuries in the cabin, which were originally reported as caused by severe turbulence. This was…

Fowl Play in South Africa

On the 19th of January 2025, a Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter registered as ZS-RJC departed Chief Dawid Stuurman Aerodrome (formerly Port Elizabeth Airport) in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province.…

Demystifying

How to tell a Russian Su-27 from a British Typhoon

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…

How to tell an F-16 Fighting Falcon from a Eurofighter Typhoon

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…

History

Gladys Ingle Inflight Wheel Change: Emergency Action or Stunt?

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…

The Disappearance of the Hawaii Clipper May Not Be as Mysterious as Was Thought

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.…

Fun Stuff

Friday Lightness: A Short Respite from Crash Reports

It seems a good time for something a bit more lighthearted. After weeks of analyzing serious incidents and technical failures, I thought I could a moment to appreciate aviation humuor…

Flights of Fantasy: Aviation April Fools Worth Celebrating

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…