Latest Posts   –  Page 123

Swissair Flight 111

I was talking to someone about the Northwest Flight 188 – the one where both pilots somehow managed to get so distracted that they missed their destination and did not respond for over an hour. I expressed some indignation that the FAA had revoked the licences of both pilots without waiting for the NTSB report.…

Read more… 5 Mar 10

Continental Flight 3407 Final Accident Report

Yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board issued its final report on the Continental Flight 3407. On 12 February 2009, the plane lost control on approach to Buffalo, New York and crashed into a residential building, killing the crew and all of the passengers as well as a person on the ground. You can read the…

Read more… 26 Feb 10

Austin Pilot Suicide: Joe Stack

Yesterday morning, Joseph Andrew Stack flew his single-engine plane into the Echelon building in North Austin, Texas. He left Georgetown airfield and flew directly to the location – low and at full speed – before crashing into the building. It was quickly confirmed that this was intentional, a controlled flight into a building which housed…

Read more… 19 Feb 10

The Last Flight

Max Grogan, a pilot and avid photographer, posted this story to BeechTalk.com, a wonderful community of pilots and Beechcraft enthusiasts. I was immediately entranced and contacted Max directly to thank him for this heartwarming story of the brief friendship of two men, united by a love of flying. He was kind enough to give me…

Read more… 12 Feb 10

Why You Should Follow Me on Twitter

I spent last week in England, hoping to get a chance to fly the Saratoga and get current with my take-off and landings. The one day that the plane was not available was Tuesday. That was, of course, the only sunny day of the week. The rest of my time in England was spent watching…

Read more… 5 Feb 10

Flying Wings Photography (Andreas Zeitler)

Andreas Zeitler is a German aviation professional who runs a website dedicated to airshows in Europe and features his photography from all around the world. I first discovered his photographs on Airliners.net and visited his website: http://www.flying-wings.com. I was thrilled to find a lot more photographs there as well as trip reports from his visits…

Read more… 29 Jan 10

Accident Reports

Unbolted in Fairfield (Update on the 2022 Bell 407 GXP Crash)

On the 4th of June 2022, a Bell 407 GXP helicopter crashed in a field near Fairfield, New Jersey. I wrote about it at the time. The final report and…

Madness on the Runway at Manchester

The Manchester Airport Group Plc owns and operates three airports: Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands. Manchester Airport is the third busiest airport in Britain. Their website says Manchester Airport…

Demystifying

Training an AI Copilot To Spot Gliders

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…

The Missing Bolts from Alaska Airlines flight 1282

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…

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

A Few Good Stories

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…

Flying Fails and Airshow Considerations

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…