Category: Accidents and Incidents
American Airlines Fire at Denver: What We Know So Far
The big news this week is video footage of American Airlines flight 1006 which caught fire at Denver airport yesterday. American Airlines flight 1006 was a passenger flight scheduled for a two-hour flight from Colorado Springs Airport to Dallas-Fort Worth, departing Colorado Springs on time at 16:37 local time. There were six crew and 172…
Read more… 14 Mar 25
Guest Post: The “Miracle on the Levée”
I’m on the road this week but luckily for us, my friend Elisa Bird agreed that I could share one of her great articles with you all. Given the frantic pace of aviation news lately, I thought perhaps a visit to an accident of yesteryear with Elisa’s insight would be welcome, specifically around the emergency…
Read more… 7 Mar 25
Near Miss at Midway
This year is turning out to be quite the collection of aviation incidents, with the dramatic video of Southwest flight 2504’s go-around at Chicago Midway making headlines around the world. This is feeding into a growing narrative of aviation issues, especially in the US, with many expressing concern that aviation is no longer safe. Part…
Read more… 28 Feb 25
CRJ900 Overturns on Canada’s Busiest Runway
On the 17th of February 2025, Delta flight 4819 from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Toronto, Ontario suffered a hard landing and flipped over, bursting into flames. The aircraft was fully loaded with 76 passengers and four crew on board. One passenger wrote about the experience on Reddit: I felt what seemed like too violent of jerking…
Read more… 21 Feb 25
High-Speed Runway Collision at Rio de Janeiro
On the 11th of February 2025, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 was cleared for take-off at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Boeing (registered in Brazil as PS-GPP) was operated by GOL Transportes Aeros, a low-cost airline based in Rio de Janeiro. That morning, it was scheduled for flight G3-1674, a late-night domestic flight from Rio…
Read more… 14 Feb 25
Crosswind Landing Gone Wrong: TUI Boeing 737 at Leeds Bradford
Leeds Bradford Airport in England, perched on a windy hilltop, is known for its challenging conditions. But even by Leeds standards, the conditions on the 20th of October 2023 were rough, as Storm Babet battered the British Isles with high winds and heavy rain. The thirteen-year-old Boeing 737-8KS registered in the UK as G-TAWD started…
Read more… 7 Feb 25
Accident Reports
Bankstown Belly Landing Follow-Up
Last year, I wrote about a Cessna 210 which suffered an engine failure while downwind at Bankstown Airport in New South Wales, Australia. I’ll quickly recap the controller and pilot…
Wings Over Dallas: How Poor Systems Led to Mid-Air Collision
On the 12th of November 2022, a Bell P-63F Kingcobra fighter flew into a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress bomber during the Wings Over Dallas airshow. All six crew members in…
Demystifying
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…
Extreme Turbulence in Singapore Airlines flight 321
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…
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
Terminally Early: The Berlin Viewing Platform
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…
A Few Good Stories
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…
Chi on Guest Post: The “Miracle on the Levée”With one eye, no less. Amazing. 
Pat Farrelly on American Airlines Fire at Denver: What We Know So FarSay what you like about Ryanair, they are the world's most successful airline. Ryanair's rules are plain, simple and Ryanair…
Ray on Mid-Air Collision over the PotomacWow. According to the NTSB preliminary report, over only a three year period, there were 15,214 episodes between helicopter and…
Rudy Jakma on American Airlines Fire at Denver: What We Know So FarHard to say what caused this. The incident was handled professionally by all involved. But the engine vibrations may point…
Gene on American Airlines Fire at Denver: What We Know So FarThank god it wasn't Ryanair... they would have had to charge extra for unscheduled inflight entertainment, and a fee for…