Category: Accidents and Incidents –  Page 4

Hail Damage to Austrian Airlines A320

I’ve been intrigued by the photographs being passed around of the Austrian Airlines Airbus A320 that flew into a hailstorm. We’ve seen some hail-battered planes before but this one took the nose cone right off! Austrian Airlines, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Austria. They ordered four new Airbus A320neo aircraft in…

Read more… 21 Jun 24

Cessna 172M forced landing after go-around in New South Wales

On the 15th of October 2023, a private pilot rented a Cessna 172M from Air Gold Coast for a private flight from Gold Coast Airport, Queensland, to Murwilumbah, New South Wales. The aircraft, registered as VH-JUA, was 47 years old and had been in Australia since 1989. It had over 14,000 hours, although there were…

Read more… 14 Jun 24

Continental flight 11

Sixty-two years ago, on the 22nd of May 1962, Continental Airlines flight 11 broke up at 39,000 feet. Flight 11 was the last flight of the day: a one-hour commuter flight from Chicago O’Hare, Illinois, to Kansas City, Missouri. It was a stormy Tuesday evening and only half of the seats had been sold. The…

Read more… 7 Jun 24

Airbus rejects take off at Zürich

On the 27th of October 2023, Edelweiss Air flight WK298B was a commercial flight from Zürich Airport, Switzerland to Faro Airport in Portugal. The aircraft was a twenty-four year old Airbus A320-214 registered in Switzerland as HB-IHY. On board were two flight crew, five cabin crew and 106 passengers. Zürich Airport has six runways (10/28,…

Read more… 17 May 24

Air Taxi Prototype Crash at Cotswold Airport

On the 9th of August 2023, a VX4 crashed at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire during a test flight over the runway. The VX4 is a prototype air taxi, designed and manufactured by Vertical Aerospace Ltd based in Bristol in the west of England. There’s some confusion (at least, I’m confused) about the naming conventions. The…

Read more… 3 May 24

The Unstallable Plane That Stalled

The Cessna 185 Skywagon is a high wing, single engine aircraft: basically a Cessna 180 with six seats, a strengthened fuselage and a slightly more powerful engine. It’s a popular aircraft in remote areas where access to modern airstrips may be minimal. The Skywagon can be fitted with floats or skis: this particular one, registered…

Read more… 26 Apr 24

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…