Latest Posts   –  Page 13

The “Lucky” Landing of the Tupelov Tu-154

On the 7th of September 2010, a Tupelov Tu-154M (registration RA-85684) suffered a complete loss of electrical power during a cross-country flight to Moscow. The Tupolev Tu-154 is a three-engine Soviet jet originally developed to meet Aeroflot requirements for a medium-range airliner. Production started in 1970; the last TU-154 was manufactured in 2013 by Aviakor…

Read more… 4 Aug 23

The Wright brothers and the dream of flying

I’ve lost most of the day to unexpected research and one of the fascinating items that I discovered was the Air Force Historical Research Agency and their amazing photo collection. This collection includes a thousand old photographs of flight! I was drawn in by some of these of the Wright brothers and their aircraft, many…

Read more… 28 Jul 23

UTair Flight 579 crashes into snowbank

On the 9th of February 2020, Utair flight 595 was coming in to land when it unexpectedly struck a snowbank. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-500 registration VQ-BPS, was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Moscow to Usinsk. The captain was an experienced pilot with almost 18,000 hours, 7,600 of which were on this aircraft type.…

Read more… 21 Jul 23

Super DC-3 Emergency Landing

We so often focus on human error when it comes to aviation. This week, let’s focus on a case where everyone pulled together in a crisis to ensure a safe landing of a Super DC-3 that had suffered a power out on take-off. In the world of aviation, discussions often revolve around human error. Today,…

Read more… 14 Jul 23

Exploring Regulatory Challenges

This week I want to recommend a very good article on Titan that I think you will enjoy. This article in New York Magazine is interesting, intelligent and well-written. If you read only one thing this week, I think it should be this. This is the type of essay that I aspire to writing, seamlessly…

Read more… 7 Jul 23

Flight Instructor Stories That Will Make (Most) Student Pilots Feel Better

I have been sitting on this collection for some time now but I feel like we could use a bit of light humour today. I share these stories not to dissuade anyone from learning to fly but instead (I hope!) to encourage students; no matter how poorly you reacted to your first stall, I bet…

Read more… 30 Jun 23

Accident Reports

Wings Over Dallas: How Poor Systems Led to Mid-Air Collision

On the 12th of November 2022, a Bell P-63F Kingcobra fighter flew into a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress bomber during the Wings Over Dallas airshow. All six crew members in…

"Totally a visibility issue."

On Sunday, the 27th of November 2022, a single-engine aircraft made national US news when it crashed through power lines in Gaithersburg, Maryland, coming to rest on a lattice tower.…

Demystifying

How to tell an F-16 Fighting Falcon from a Eurofighter Typhoon

There are a number of reasons why you might need to quickly point out the differences between a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and a Eurofighter EF2000 Typhoon. You might…

Extreme Turbulence in Singapore Airlines flight 321

A few days ago (21st of May 2024), Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 encountered heavy turbulence on a passenger flight from London-Heathrow to Singapore. There were 229 on board, including eighteen…

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

Terminally Early: The Berlin Viewing Platform

Mistakes were made. All of them were mine. Before I left for Dresden, I planned out my full itinerary. Berlin is a much busier airport than Tallinn, so I needed…

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…