Category: Miscellaneous

Wishing you an easy glide into 2025

Thank you for joining me for another year here at Fear of Landing. I’m looking forward to sharing more aviation stories with you in 2025! Let’s gather in the comments! Tell me what you liked best or what you would like to see more of on Fear of Landing. (if everyone says more guest posts,…

Read more… 27 Dec 24

Aviation Tales from the Fringes

This week, I have a collection of flying stories that aren’t really about the flying part of the flight. They are all stories that reminded me that aviation isn’t just about getting from A to B and I couldn’t resist sharing them. I hope you find them interesting as well! A Communication Breakdown at Oslo…

Read more… 11 Oct 24

In the News

I’m away from the cockpit this week, but things keep happening whether I’m here or not, so I’ve put together a roundup of recent news, especially the ever-developing Boeing situation, with an impressive triplet of bad news for the company on the same single Wednesday of this week. Boeing Parts Shipped With Defects Santiago Paredes,…

Read more… 10 May 24

Mixed Messages: A Catch-Up Post

I am home! I had an amazing time in Iceland. Sadly, the aviation museum in Akureyri was only open on Saturday afternoons and I couldn’t make it work. When I took this photograph at Akureyri Airport, it was -17ºC with a feels-like of -22ºC, so somewhere around 0°F. My time there was amazing, if a…

Read more… 12 Apr 24

Ten Years Since the Disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370

This week’s guest post is not actually here. It’s over at the Guardian: MH370: one of aviation’s biggest mysteries remains unsolved 10 years on by Oliver Holmes. I first spoke to Oliver a few years back when he was writing a different piece on the loss of Malaysia Airlines 370, and I was impressed with…

Read more… 8 Mar 24

Just a quick goodbye to 2023

It seems crazy to me that 2023 is already almost over! It’s been a year of change and, I guess, renewal, although I feel like I’ve been dragged kicking and screaming all the way. Fear of Landing continues to be a joy: I learn so much from writing for you and I love the community…

Read more… 29 Dec 23

Accident Reports

Air India 171 Crash Triggered by Fuel Cutoff

On the 12th of June 2025, a Boeing 787-8, registered in India as VT-ANB, was operating as flight Air India 171 for a passenger flight from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick.…

Farewell Flight Turns Fatal in Cairns

On the 12th of August in 2024, a pilot fatally crashed a Robinson R44 into the top of a hotel building in Cairns, Australia. The pilot held a commercial helicopter…

Demystifying

How to tell a Russian Su-27 from a British Typhoon

This is not an article that I ever thought I would feel compelled to write! However, given the confusion over a photograph chosen in a regional English paper, apparently it’s…

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…

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

How the B-52 Lands in Crosswinds

I’m here, defeated but not yet horizontal, the victim of a relentless summer cold that feels like the universe’s revenge for something I can’t even remember. If I don’t make…

Friday Lightness: A Short Respite from Crash Reports

It seems a good time for something a bit more lighthearted. After weeks of analyzing serious incidents and technical failures, I thought I could a moment to appreciate aviation humuor…