Human Factors: an airworthy aircraft involved in an accident caused by decisions taken by people. The pilot in command, in the end, is held responsible, whether the errors in question are latent or active. The pilot in command carries the final decision over the safety of the flight and the landing. Statistically, we distinguish between…
Read more… 7 Jan 11
I wrote previously about the Qantas flight QF32 Airbus A380 which made an emergency landing in Singapore last month. Investigation: AO-2010-089 – Inflight engine failure – Qantas, Airbus A380, VH-OQA, overhead Batam Island, Indonesia, 4 November 2010 Following a normal takeoff, the crew retracted the landing gear and flaps. The crew reported that, while maintaining…
Read more… 10 Dec 10
On August 25th, a FILair flight flying from Kinshasa Ndolo crashed into a building only a few kilometers from its destination of Bandundu. All three crew members and 16 passengers died in the crash. Of the two passengers rescued, one died later of his injuries. The aircraft was a Czech-made LET-410 twin similar to the…
Read more… 22 Oct 10
On the 3rd of October, a twin engine Cessna 310 took off from Airport-in-the-Sky (KAVX) on Catalina Island with two passengers. Within minutes, the pilot lost control of the aircraft and they “impacted terrain” (official term for crashed) about 600 feet southeast of the runway. I initially saw the photograph as Stern.de‘s Photograph of the…
Read more… 15 Oct 10
On the 30th of March 2008 a Cessna Citation 500 took off from Biggin Hill. Shortly after take-off, one of the pilots reported engine vibration and declared their intent to return to Biggin Hill. They never made it to the airfield. The Citation crashed into a house and the two pilots and three passengers died…
Read more… 1 Oct 10
Mike Newman was piloting a glider at the Shoreham Airshow last weekend when the unthinkable happened: he crashed the glider in front of his audience while in the circuit to land. Shoreham air show crash pilot escapes as stunt glider smashes into runway | Mail Online This is the moment when a stunt glider slammed…
Read more… 17 Sep 10
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…