Category: Accident Reports –  Page 32

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

Half-Asleep at the Controls

The Air India Express 812 accident in May 2010 was a shocking reminder of how important cockpit management resources: the flight crew interactions and the adherence to procedures. There was nothing wrong with the plane. There was nothing wrong with the airfield. The weather was good. Everything that went wrong, went wrong in the cockpit.…

Read more… 6 Jan 12

Fatal Accident in Oban: Just a Quick Flight to Look at the Weather

John Smith regularly took flying holidays with his family. His youngest daughter, Jacqueline, followed in his footsteps, getting her PPL once she turned 18. The father and daughter were in a syndicate of five people who owned a Piper Cherokee Arrow (PA-28R-201T) and the logs show that they took the plane most Easter weekends, booking…

Read more… 18 Nov 11

The B25 Bomber and the Empire State Building

On the 28th of July in 1945 a B25 crashed into the Empire State Building. The photographs look like something out of an old King Kong movie, with flames licking up the building. But the fire was extinguished within 40 minutes, still the only fire at such a height that was ever successfully controlled. And…

Read more… 28 Oct 11

PULL UP PULL UP: Garuda Indonesia flight GA200 in Yogyakarta

I’ve been reading an old accident investigation report from the National Transportation Safety Committee in Indonesia. You may recall the frightening photographs that hit the press in March 2007, when this Boeing 737 overran the runway at Yogyakarta and was destroyed from the impact and resulting fire. One flight attendant and twenty passengers were killed…

Read more… 30 Sep 11

We’ve Lost the Cabin: Southwest Flight 812

On the 1st of April this year, Southwest Airlines flight 812 departed from Phoenix for Sacramento. There were five crew and 118 passengers on board. At 34,000 feet, climbing through to FL360, there was a loud sharp noise. The cabin experienced rapid decompression and the oxygen masks deployed. Shawna Malvini Redden, a passenger on the…

Read more… 8 Jul 11

Accident Reports

Hand on Thrust, Brain on Autopilot

On the 28th of June 2024 a Boeing 777-236, registered in the UK as G-VIIT, rejected a take-off after reaching V1 during the take-off roll on 26L at London Gatwick…

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…

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…