On the 1st of April this year, Southwest Airlines flight 812 departed from Phoenix for Sacramento. There were five crew and 118 passengers on board. At 34,000 feet, climbing through to FL360, there was a loud sharp noise. The cabin experienced rapid decompression and the oxygen masks deployed. Shawna Malvini Redden, a passenger on the…
Read more… 8 Jul 11
A RusAir passenger jet, a Tupolev 134, crashed in northern Russia on Monday the 21st of June, killing 47. The five remaining survivors, including one crew member, are still being treated in hospital. The flight was en route from Domodedovo airport in Moscow to the city of Petrozavodsk. The Federal Aviation Regulator stated that the…
Read more… 1 Jul 11
I’ve been bursting to tell you all about this for weeks. We’re moving to South Wales! We’ve taken a gorgeous flat right on the Marina and we’ll be splitting our time between Swansea and the Costa del Sol. I’m really looking forward to this (despite all the dire weather predictions) and I hope to share…
Read more… 24 Jun 11
First, a collection of links about the Liberty Bell, the B-17 that has been in the news over the past week. The Liberty Bell, a World War 2 bomber, was forced to land in a field after an inflight fire. B-17 “Crash” | myTransponder This was not a crash. It was a successful off-field landing…
Read more… 17 Jun 11
On the 1st of June, a tornado touched down in Southbridge in the late afternoon. It left a 39-mile path of damage behind it, the second longest track in Massachusetts’ history. Tornado – Wikipedia There are several different scales for rating the strength of tornadoes. The Fujita scale rates tornadoes by damage caused, and has…
Read more… 10 Jun 11
I’m going to be spending more time in England and Wales over the summer. I’m looking forward to it: I tend to commute back and forth which means I tend to only see places where I have a meeting. I haven’t had much chance to wander around and see things just because I want to…
Read more… 3 Jun 11
On the 9th of August 2023, a VX4 crashed at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire during a test flight over the runway. The VX4 is a prototype air taxi, designed and…
The Cessna 185 Skywagon is a high wing, single engine aircraft: basically a Cessna 180 with six seats, a strengthened fuselage and a slightly more powerful engine. It’s a popular…
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…