On Sunday, the 27th of November 2022, a single-engine aircraft made national US news when it crashed through power lines in Gaithersburg, Maryland, coming to rest on a lattice tower. The aircraft was a Mooney M20J 201, a popular fast aircraft whose designation of “201” is based on 201 miles per hour: the J model’s…
Read more… 2 Dec 22
On the 11th of November 2018, an Air Astana aircraft departed from Alverca airbase in Portugal as Air Astana flight KC1833, after undergoing heavy maintenance. The aircraft was an Embraer E190-100LR registered in Aruba as P4-KCJ. This was a positioning flight from Alverca (LPAR), where the maintenance had been done, to Minsk (UUMS). There were…
Read more… 25 Nov 22
This heartbreaking video is from the tragic midair collision at Wings Over Dallas. The Boeing B-17, known as the Flying Fortress, is a World War II bomber designed by Boeing in response to a US Air Corps interest in a multi-engine bomber which could carry a “useful bombload at 10,000 feet for ten hours with…
Read more… 18 Nov 22
On the 15th of July 2022, an officer of the Missouri State Highway Patrol arrested a man for driving while intoxicated on the westbound Interstate 70 at 3 in the morning. This is relevant to us because the man was “driving” a single-engine aircraft, a Piper Warrior II. The Piper Warrior was a popular successor…
Read more… 4 Nov 22
Yesterday, the 27th of October 2022, a tragic crash of a firefighting aircraft was caught on film in Italy. The aircraft was a Canadair CL-215-6B11, generally referred to as a CL-415, registered in Italy as I-DPCN. The Canadair CL-415 is a variant of the CL-215, a type of amphibious aircraft designed and built by Canadair.…
Read more… 28 Oct 22
On the 27th of May 2022, an Airbus A350-941, registered in Singapore as 9V-SHH, was being prepared for scheduled passenger flight SQ256 from Brisbane, Australia to Changi Airport, Singapore. An engineering maintenance contractor at Brisbane providing Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) services was tasked with the maintenance, certification and dispatch required for the A350 during…
Read more… 21 Oct 22
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…
Social Media Influencers Weigh Down Aircraft
The fatal crash at Scottsdale Arizona took place directly after take-off. The passengers were a self-proclaimed crowd of social media influencers. The jet-setting influencer who had organised the flight, had…
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,…
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…
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…