Category: Accidents and Incidents –  Page 4

Fowl Play in South Africa

On the 19th of January 2025, a Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter registered as ZS-RJC departed Chief Dawid Stuurman Aerodrome (formerly Port Elizabeth Airport) in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. The R44 is a four-seat helicopter certified for visual flight rules (VFR) operations only. The pilot held a Commercial Pilot’s Licence and had 1,650 flight…

Read more… 2 May 25

Following the story of the Fokker F27

Last week I wrote about the Fokker F27 mk 500 Friendship that came off the runway at take-off at Bournemouth Airport. Rudy commented on his experience flying the F27 in the comments of that post. The F27 was still a very reliable workhorse when I flew it. In widespread use as a cargo aircraft, they…

Read more… 18 Apr 25

Pneumatic Pressure Required

The flight crew reported for duty at Bournemouth Airport at 3am on Friday the 7th of May 2004. They were flying a thirty-three-year-old Fokker F27 Mark 500, registered in the UK as G-CEXG, to the island of Jersey and back. The Fokker F27 Friendship was designed as a successor to the DC-3, which had been…

Read more… 11 Apr 25

Intolerable Risk: Dangerous Design behind the Washington DC Mid-Air Collision

On the 11th of March, the NTSB released an aviation investigation preliminary report on the mid-air collision between PSA Airlines flight 5342 and a Sikorsky UH60L US Army helicopter. At the same time, they released an an urgent recommendation report calling for the FAA to close the helicopter route that the military helicopter was following…

Read more… 21 Mar 25

American Airlines Fire at Denver: What We Know So Far

The big news this week is video footage of American Airlines flight 1006 which caught fire at Denver airport yesterday. American Airlines flight 1006 was a passenger flight scheduled for a two-hour flight from Colorado Springs Airport to Dallas-Fort Worth, departing Colorado Springs on time at 16:37 local time.  There were six crew and 172…

Read more… 14 Mar 25

Guest Post: The “Miracle on the Levée”

I’m on the road this week but luckily for us, my friend Elisa Bird agreed that I could share one of her great articles with you all. Given the frantic pace of aviation news lately, I thought perhaps a visit to an accident of yesteryear with Elisa’s insight would be welcome, specifically around the emergency…

Read more… 7 Mar 25

Accident Reports

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…

Bomber 139's Third Run: Downhill to Disaster

On the 6th of February 2023, a Boeing 737-3H4 Large Air Tanker crashed into a ridge line of 222 feet elevation in Fitzgerald River National Park in Western Australia. There…

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

The Mystery of the Caged Tyres and the Porcupine Who Flew Home

This photograph was posted to r/shittyaskflying, a subreddit dedicated to asking silly questions and giving silly answers. In this case, the photograph is enough to make one wonder what’s going…

Songs About Failed Spacecraft and Space Disasters

This week, I’m handing over Fear of Landing to my friend Jack Keller who promised me a playlist of music relating to my interests. All of the titles except one…