Latest Posts – Page 100
Pilot texts before crash : “It’s going down”
The pilot was a 60-year-old male with a commercial pilot’s licence and just over 3,000 hours flying time. He’d held a UK PPL since 1982 and had recently done aerobatic training in a Cessna 150. He’d owned a Cessna Citation (jet) as well as a variety of single and twin aircraft. The aircraft was a…
Read more… 1 May 15
Nine amazing air traffic controllers … just doing their job
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association has an annual event to recognise the best “flight assist” of air traffic controllers in nine regions which cover the United States. The presentation was last month and their website includes highlights from the radio transcripts and offer an interesting look into the trials and tribulations of controllers. It’s…
Read more… 24 Apr 15
My top five animals that shouldn’t be allowed near aircraft
Maybe not everyone should reach for the skies. The following animals may bring flightcrew to despair… Disqualified: Crocodiles The crocodile who caused a plane crash made headlines all over the world but there’s no real evidence that the croc was ever on the plane, let alone caused the passengers to stampede in fear. The idea…
Read more… 17 Apr 15
Glider breaks up, pilot lands on hospital
I’m feeling that I’d like a happy ending and this accident certainly fits the bill. It’s an amazing incident which ended well for everyone …well, except for the glider. It happened last Sunday in Reno. Not everything that happens in Reno stays in Reno, apparently. At around 07:30 local time that morning, a pilot departed…
Read more… 10 Apr 15
Questions and Answers on the Tragedy of Germanwings 9252
So I went out of town last week without saying anything, which is why you had sudden silence from me as the scale of this tragedy unfolded. I spoke to a few journalists but was not in a position to write an article for you until today. That means I get the benefit of over…
Read more… 3 Apr 15
Another Angle of Drunk Stealing Plane at Airshow
This is one of my favourite videos ever. I originally posted it in 2009, before YouTube had discovered Kyle Franklin and his flying: There’s a few versions of the Drunken Pilot routine on YouTube now and it remains an airshow favourite. But at the Robins Airshow at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, Kyle came…
Read more… 27 Mar 15
Accident Analysis
Why KLM Cut the Steering Cables on Two Perfectly Functional Boeing 737s
Last month, we looked at the night of 28th of November 2004 at Barcelona Airport. KLM 1673 ran off the runway at high speed, stopping just short of a canal.…
KLM 1673 Veers Off the Runway with Full Right Rudder
On the 28th of November 2004, a Boeing B737 ran off the runway at Barcelona Airport. The weather had been good at Barcelona that evening. The flight crew agreed to land…
Demystifying
How Important is Having a Sterile Cockpit?
This question was posted to r/flying by a private pilot who wanted to know: do airline pilots ever engage in small talk about irrelevant things during taxiing, run-up, takeoff, and…
Someone has to write the TAF
It turns out that there a person sitting there deciding what the weather is going to do. Which seems obvious, except that I had somehow never asked msyelf who “someone”…
History
The CIA's Shark Screen
Today we have a guest post from the CIA! In their archives, researching something completely different, I found the answer to a question I never thought to ask. I immediately…
The First Jet to Land on an Aircraft Carrier (Deliberately)
“The Vampire was the first jet to land on a moving aircraft carrier deliberately.” This quote from Airshow Luke, our MC at the Legacy of Liberty airshow, made me almost…
Fun Stuff
Petrified, Petrified, Petrified
There’s been some interesting reporting in the UK media about a “near disaster” over Canary Wharf involving the captain having to intervene (the horror!) after air data systems failed on…
Aviation Stories You Might Have Missed
I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season. This week, I’ve put together a compilation of interesting items in the press that you might have missed while enjoying…
