Category: Writing

Help Promote my New Book – Case Files: 2003

I’m excited to announce that the third book in my Why Planes Crash series will be out next Tuesday, the 1st of November! Why Planes Crash Case Files: 2003 follows eleven aircraft disasters from 2003, detailing how the accidents happened and how they might have been avoided. This “CSI for aviation enthusiasts” series examines both…

Read more… 28 Oct 16

So I just released this book about Malaysia Airlines flight 370

It was easy to get obsessed with Malaysia Airlines flight 370. I found myself reading news sites from all over the world trying to put together the pieces. As a part of that, I found myself explaining a lot of issues that weren’t clear in the popular press. And I also found myself investigating a…

Read more… 27 Apr 14

Sequel to You Fly Like a Woman

I’ve been working on a sequel to You Fly Like a Woman (available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk if you would like to support my writing habit). The new book will be about learning to fly without an instructor (not as easy as it sounds) with a focus on European travel. Here’s a small excerpt just…

Read more… 13 Jul 12

You Fly Like a Woman

Short version: I have released a Fear of Landing ebook! It costs less than a cheap cup of coffee and it’s fun and funny and even my teenage son likes it. So what are you waiting for? Pick up your own copy of You Fly Like a Woman today: Amazon.co.uk £0.86 Amazon.com $0.99 Amazon.de Amazon.es…

Read more… 12 Dec 11

Grounded

The wind is 22 gusting 30. I am sitting indoors, watching flight videos and reading accident reports. GA pilots go through accident reports like they are candy. We experience vicariously the scenarios that we desperately hope will never actually happen to us and what better time than when we are stuck on the ground anyway?…

Read more… 18 Dec 09

The Night Before

I’m working on an article called Sylvia’s Mother at the moment (er, if you are my editor, read “working on” as “finishing off”. I swear you’ll have it by Friday) and wrote about my thoughts before taking my mom and my son up in the Saratoga. This is from my initial draft. I can’t help…

Read more… 17 Oct 07

Accident Reports

All Aircraft Bite Fools

It was a few minutes after midnight when the pilot and his friend took the Cessna 150, a popular single-engine two-seater training aircraft, out for a local flight around a…

The BEA Weighs In: Ethiopian Airlines flight 302

In March 2019, the Ethiopian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (EAIB) requested that the French Bureau d’enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA) support their investigation into the crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302. Specifically,…

Demystifying

Sharing a Runway: Fed Ex vs Southwest at Austin

On Monday, two commercial aircraft had a near-miss on the runway at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas. The airport at Austin has two parallel concrete runways which run north-to-south: 18L/36R…

Flying Blind: The Importance of NOTAMs in Aviation

On the 11th of January 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US stopped all departing commercial flights, grounding aircraft all over the US. Hot on the heels of…

History

The Oldest Footage of Flight

About a week ago, Marléne Aviation posted to Twitter in an attempt to find the oldest video footage of a flight. Marléne Aviation is run by a French aviation history…

Twin Pioneer Down in Libya: Structural Failure in 1956

On the 7th of December 1957, a Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer 1, registration G-AOEO, departed an airstrip at Anshan in Libya for a routine flight to Tripoli-Idris Airport. There were…

Fun Stuff

Messerschmitt Crash in Wernigerode

I didn’t expect to fall in love with the train. When I planned my trip to Germany, I expected that I would be able to keep up with my normal…

Aviation Mishaps and Mischief

This week, I’ve collected the best of what I’ve watched and read this month, in hopes that you will be equally intrigued and entertained. Rescued and Dizzy It started when…