Category: Accidents and Incidents – Page 3
Farewell Flight Turns Fatal in Cairns
On the 12th of August in 2024, a pilot fatally crashed a Robinson R44 into the top of a hotel building in Cairns, Australia. The pilot held a commercial helicopter licence issued by the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, including type ratings for the Robinson R44 helicopter. He had 157.8 hours flying experience, with 16.8…
Read more… 4 Jul 25
Preliminary Reports and Key Updates on Recent Aviation Incidents
There have been some key updates on recent cases that are clearly of interest, but at the same time, they aren’t quite enough for a full-length article. Today, I’ve decided to deal with the problem with this compilation post of updates to seven different incidents, along with links to the original articles for reference. Dreamliner…
Read more… 27 Jun 25
King on a Hot Tin Roof
On Monday the 16th of June 2025, a twin-engine plane crashed onto the roof of a hangar. The aircraft was a 50-year-old Beechcraft King Air E-90, registered in the US as N1UC (serial number LW-140) with a valid airworthiness certificate until June 2031. At the time of the accident, the King Air had 10,922 total…
Read more… 20 Jun 25
Dreamliner Crash in Ahmedabad: Air India flight 171
Yesterday, the 12th of June 2025, Air India flight 171 crashed after departure from Ahmedabad Airport in India. Air India flight 171 was a scheduled passenger flight from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, UK which crashed just 45 seconds after departure, impacting a medical school dining hall in the Meghani area of the city. Ahmedabad Airport,…
Read more… 13 Jun 25
No Masks, No Oxygen, No Chance
On the 4th of June 2023, a Cessna Citation 560 aircraft crashed in Montebello, Virginia, killing the pilot and three passengers. The NTSB released their report on the 14th of May, leading to a very Citation-heavy month this month on Fear of Landing! The Cessna Citation 560, also known as the Citation V, is a…
Read more… 30 May 25
Citation II Crashes in San Diego Residential Area During Low-Visibility Approach
Yesterday, the 22nd of May 2025, a Cessna S550 Citation II crashed in San Diego, on approach to the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport. Some of the media have reported that a “small plane” crashed, so to be clear: this was a business jet about the size of a large lorry, not a single-engine Cessna 172. The…
Read more… 23 May 25
Accident Reports
Any Landing You Can Float Away From: Successful Ditching in the Arctic
On the 29th of July 2024, a light aircraft encountered engine trouble off the coast of Greenland and was forced to ditch in the North Atlantic. The aircraft was a…
Bomber 139's Third Run: What the Investigation Found
In order to follow this analysis, you’ll need to have the details of the flight and the crash from last week’s article about the flight. When we last saw Bomber…
Demystifying
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…
Durga Puja Pandal Shows Air India Flight 171 Crash
The following video from a religious festival in West Bengal, India, has caught a lot of social media attention. It shows a detailed representation of an Air India Boeing Dreamliner…
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
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…
