Category: Accidents and Incidents – Page 38
How to Read a Chart (Loss of Separation over Houston)
On the 3rd of July in 2014, a Boeing 777-300ER operated by Singapore Airlines was involved in a “loss of separation” incident after departing Houston. The NTSB chose not to investigate the occurrence formally, which was regarded as a pilot deviation from an ATC clearance. However, they reviewed the circumstances of the incident and passed…
Read more… 20 Jan 17
Great, John, I told you! Geez! The difference between a duck and a co-pilot
This is apparently a classic but new to me: a training video recreating the issues in the cockpit from a runway overrun in 1976. The question was whether to land downwind on a foggy runway in icing conditions or whether to circle to land. The circle to land could have meant that the crew would…
Read more… 6 Jan 17
Not Enough Fuel: The Disgusting Truth About LaMia Flight 2933
On the 28th of November 2016, LaMia flight 2933 departed Santa Cruz de la Sierra (the largest city in Bolivia) for a chartered flight to Medellín in Colombia. The aircraft held 68 passengers and 9 crew. At 21:56 local time, the aircraft disappeared from radar screens. The wreckage was found on the slopes of Cerro…
Read more… 2 Dec 16
TCAS: Disregarding a Resolution Advisory
On the 25th of February 2016, a Boeing 737-800 and a Falcon 2000 were involved in an airprox incident over Germany. The Boeing 737 was passenger flight ENT-511 from Gdansk, Poland to Jerez, Spain. The flight was operated by Enter Air, a low-cost Polish charter airline operating flights to popular holiday destinations all over Europe.…
Read more… 11 Nov 16
TB-20 en route to Bilbao crashes into lost sheep
This story of a light aircraft crash in Northern Spain was one that I didn’t quite have space for in Why Planes Crash Case Files: 2003. The date was the 27th of June in 2003. The aircraft was a Socata TB-20 Trinidad. The pilot was German, 58 years old and an experienced private pilot whose…
Read more… 4 Nov 16
Near-Miss with Only 19 Metres to Spare
Last week, there was a frightening near-miss on the runway at Shanghai airport. Although there is no official report yet, the details are available on the Aviation Herald incident page. It was the 11th of October and the weather was clear with good visibility. China Eastern flight MU-5106, an Airbus A330-300, was a scheduled domestic…
Read more… 21 Oct 16
Accident Reports
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…
"Totally a visibility issue."
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.…
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…
Minz on Navigating Instrument Failure at 10,000 FeetThe number of time people get away with these things, just one hole in the Swiss cheese doesn’t line up……
Mike Scirocco on Wings Over Dallas: How Poor Systems Led to Mid-Air CollisionThanks for another interesting writeup. A sad story. I'm VERY happy to hear the FAA and ICA were informed with…
Pradeep Arora on Wings Over Dallas: How Poor Systems Led to Mid-Air CollisionTotally avoidable. Two different aircraft, operating in close quarters needs a plan. The AirBoss needs to be called out 
CHip on Wings Over Dallas: How Poor Systems Led to Mid-Air CollisionExcellent analysis. I hadn't realized that there were "air bosses" who would wing a show instead of giving cues for…
Mendel on Mid-air collision at Wings Over DallasThe final report is out. NTSB also put a summary on youtube, and it includes a flight track animation along…