ASPEN AIRPORT (ASE, also known as Sardy Field) is known among pilots as one of the most challenging approaches in the US. The single runway is at an elevation of 7,820 feet (2,383 metres) and surrounded by mountains. The minimum decision altitude (MDA) is 10,200 feet and incoming aircraft must make staggered steep descents to…
Read more… 11 Mar 22
Last week, we discussed the Antonov An-12 crash on approach to Lviv. I’m going to assume you’ve read that article (and the comments, which highlight some of the key aspects that jumped out at other readers). This means we can pick up the sequence from the final report again at the point when the Antonov…
Read more… 11 Feb 22
On the 4th of October in 2019, an Antonov An-12 crashed 1,117 metres from the runway threshold at Lviv Aerodrome in Ukraine, killing five of the eight crew on board. The Antonov An-12 is a four-engine turboprop transport aircraft, the military version of the An-10 although a little bit smaller (and a lot smaller than…
Read more… 4 Feb 22
This video of a pilot who has used at least two of his nine lives was released by the Los Angeles Police Department on Monday. Note that if you are reading this on the email list, you may need to click through to the post to watch the videos. Foothill Division Officers displayed heroism and…
Read more… 14 Jan 22
Last Wednesday, the 8th of December 2021, a 69-year-old Super DC-3 landed wheels-up at Anchorage airport in Alaska. Everyone cheered. The Super DC-3 is a later version of the DC-3 with a longer fuselage, increased stabiliser surfaces and more powerful engines. The first flight of the Super DC-3 took place in 1949. This Super DC-3,…
Read more… 10 Dec 21
Sometimes it seems like these posts get longer every year that I keep doing this. This collection of details from the AAIB report that I left out of the Piper Malibu crash near Guernsey is almost as long as the original post. But there are a number of aspects that are interesting to look at…
Read more… 3 Dec 21
TNflygirl and the Beech Debonair
On the 7th of December 2023, a Beech 35-C33 Debonair crashed into terrain. The private pilot and the passenger, the pilot’s father, were both killed on impact. The private flight…
At All Costs
On the 11th of December 2024, the passenger in the right seat of a 1973 Grumman AA-5 was recording a video as they approached Pearland Regional Airport in Texas. The…
Trump Threatens to Ground Canadian Aircraft Over Gulfstream Certification
The US President, Donald Trump, posted the following to Truth Social last night. Based on the fact that Canada has wrongfully, illegally, and steadfastly refused to certify the Gulfstream 500,…
Another quick round of questions and answers
It’s time for another Questions and Answers session. I started this series a few years back, when a reader asked if there was a way to pose aviation questions outside…
Four Point Two Stars Where You Only Stop If You Have To
I always look up airports when I’m writing about them, partly out of habit and partly because I’m afraid I’ll miss an important detail. When I was writing Any Landing…
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…
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…
Nathan Pyle Strange Worlds
Thank you so much for all the kind words. I don’t quite have the wherewithal to respond to each of you individually but I very much appreciate all of you…