In the early hours on the 8th of January in 2016, a cargo plane was reported missing in northern Sweden. The West Air Bombadier CRJ-200 made a single MAYDAY call at 01:30 before disappearing from radar. A Norwegian Air Force F-16 discovered the crash site on a mountain plateau in Lapland an hour later, northwest…
Read more… 25 Aug 17
Malaysia Airlines flight 370 has been in the headlines again and for the first time in quite a while, I’d like to talk about the real news behind the news. Some of the mainstream papers have been less than clear about what the new data is, let alone its importance. Also, somewhat frustratingly, the key…
Read more… 18 Aug 17
On the 25th of June 2017, Air Asia flight D7237, an Airbus A330 registration 9M-XXE, suffered an in-flight engine fault ninety minutes into a scheduled flight from Perth to Kulala Lumpur. There was a loud sudden noise and then the aircraft began shuddering violently. The pilot spoke to Berita Harian after the incident and the…
Read more… 11 Aug 17
There was a serious runway incursion at Brussels Airport on the 5th of October 2016, when an Embraer ERJ-195LR crossed in front of the path of a landing Airbus A320-214. The Belgian Air Accident Investigation Unit released their report last week and it’s a good study on how minor inconveniences can pile up into creating…
Read more… 21 Jul 17
When I first glanced at this accident report, I was surprised and unhappy that the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority seemed to be scolding the captain for what seems to me to have been an entirely logical response to an emergency. It wasn’t until I read the whole report that it became clear that the…
Read more… 30 Jun 17
Last weekend the last Sea Vixen executed an emergency belly landing at the Royal Naval Air Station in Yeovilton. The aircraft was flying back from the Duxford Air Show in Cambridgeshire when the pilot contacted Yeovilton Tower to ask for a visual of the landing gear. The controller confirmed that the undercarriage was clean, which…
Read more… 2 Jun 17
The Manchester Airport Group Plc owns and operates three airports: Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands. Manchester Airport is the third busiest airport in Britain. Their website says Manchester Airport…
On the 27th of July 2018, an experienced pilot departed with ten parachutists on board for a routine drop mission. It was the pilot’s fourth flight of the day in…
My friend Maria at Daedalean wrote this article about how they are using AI to help pilots detect gliders. I thought it was fascinating and Daedalean gave me permission to…
On the 5th of January 2024, Alaska Airlines flight 1282 had just taken off when it lost a door plug, leaving a gaping hole on the left side of row…
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…
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.…
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…
Long-term readings of Fear of Landing know that my favourite aerobatics show of all time is Kyle Franklin’s Ben Whabnoski Comedy act. Just in case some of you haven’t seen…