The best thing about going away is the amount of interesting and intriguing articles waiting for me to read once I’m safely back home. This week, join me in catching up on some of the most intriguing aviation pieces to have landed in my in-box.

First of all,a hat tip to Plastic Pilot who linked to this incredible video of a runway incursion (almost two!) at Providence with a lost jet and a controller who can’t see that it has ended up on the active runway :

For thought-provoking discussion on current aviation news, I recommend popping by Aviatrix’s blog for these two posts:
Cockpit Conversation: Choose Your Own Misadventure

Indonesian pilot Marwoto Komar has been sentenced to two years in jail after being found guilty of criminal negligence for attempting to land a Boeing 737 in the wrong configurations and at almost twice the normal speed. The jet overran the end of the runway into a rice field. Twenty-two people were killed and fifty were seriously injured in the crash and ensuing fire.

Cockpit Conversation: Suicide By Cop F-16

My favourite little detail was that Adam reportedly landed with thirty minutes of fuel remaining. Maybe it was a coincidence, but I like to think that his flight instructor drilled air law into him so thoroughly that even while suicidally defying an international boundary and armed jets, he couldn’t disobey the mandate to land with half an hour of gas in his tanks.

I admit that I am easily amused but I did enjoy taking a look at these tributes to poor Captain Sully:
Sully Sullenberger Song Tributes on YouTube: Heartfelt, Yet, uh, Strange – The Middle Seat Terminal – WSJ

In other spots, the song isn’t strictly speaking, accurate.

He was driving that bus that lost its wings and he made it fly
through the clouds up above he saw an eagle and a dove,
And brought peace.

Not to be a stickler, but the Airbus A320 never lost its wings. It lost both engines after a bird strike which was with neither an eagle, nor a dove, but with a flock of Canada Geese – a species that would have rhymed with “peace,” by the way. But hey, that’s poetic license for you.

The pilot in this photo is not from Angola Airlines, the plane is not a 737 and the landing is at the intended destination. How do I know? I took the photograph of Cliff landing the Saratoga at Lisbon. Still, now I can say that I live with a famous pilot who was featured on Wired:
Whoops! 737 Lands At Wrong Airport | Autopia

The Boeing 737 was to land at Lusaka International Airport in Zambia but instead touched down 10 miles away at an airfield used by the country’s air force. The pilot realized he’d screwed up just before landing – the fighter jets had to be the first clue – but worried that lifting off again would panic his oblivious passengers. He proceeded with the landing and the airline loaded everyone onto a bus for the ride to Lusaka International.

And finally, thanks to the many people who sent me this utterly amazing emergency landing on Havendale Boulevard after an engine failure. The pilot’s flight instructor commented: “Watching that video, he was just awesome,” Amundsen said. “I just hope, you know, if I ever have a situation like that I can be as cool as Kyle was.” Don’t we all: