Latest Posts – Page 35
The Oldest Footage of Flight
About a week ago, Marléne Aviation posted to Twitter in an attempt to find the oldest video footage of a flight. Marléne Aviation is run by a French aviation history enthusiast. They posted a video of the Archdeacon-Voisin hydro-planeur test on the Seine along with the request. Do you know of a film of an…
Read more… 17 Sep 22
Fatal Crash of LSA at Santa Monica Airport
Yesterday at around 16:30 local time, a light sports aircraft crashed onto the runway of Santa Monica Airport (SMO) in California. The aircraft was a CSA SportCruiser, a two-seater aircraft also sometimes known as a PiperShort. The SportCruiser belonged to a flying school based at the airport. Initial reports are that a 15-year-old was on…
Read more… 9 Sep 22
Verdict: Crocodile Still Not Guilty
A few days ago, my friend Beth sent me a link to what seemed an unbelievable aviation story: Plane crash caused by escaped crocodile https://t.co/p7nVvg12dw — Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) August 31, 2022 Long-time readers of Fear of Landing will recognise the story immediately: I wrote about it in 2014. At the time, I concluded that there…
Read more… 2 Sep 22
Post-Pandemic Mystery at Heathrow
In June 2021, the British Air Accident Investigative Branch (AAIB) initiated a fascinating investigation after they noticed three similar incidents at London Heathrow over a three-day period. Soon, they realised that the three incidents, all involving blocked pitot tubes, were related. As the investigation continued, several more incidents were discovered. The pitot tube measures the…
Read more… 26 Aug 22
Pilot Departs Aircraft Without a Parachute
Last week, an NTSB preliminary report was released about a tragic accident that already had the aviation world wondering what on earth had happened. On the 29th of July 2022, an air traffic controller received a bewildering call. “My co-pilot just ran out the back of the plane.” The aircraft was a CASA 212-200, a…
Read more… 19 Aug 22
Aviation Videos and Articles for August
I always collect videos and links that I think you might enjoy but apparently, I have been neglecting to actually share them with you! So here’s a “best of the best”, the top videos and a few articles from the stack of links that’s been gathering dust on my desktop all year. This one has…
Read more… 12 Aug 22
Accident Analysis
Fatal SR22 Stall on Final at Barwick LaFayette
On the 20th of March, 2025, a Cirrus SR22 crashed in LaFayette, Georgia during an instructional flight, killing both the pilot and the flight instructor. It was a good flying…
There Is a Parachutist in Front of You
On the 15th of June 2023, a light aircraft crashed into the runway at Aversi private airfield in Denmark. The aircraft, registered in Germany as D-EPRR, was a Cessna TU206G…
Demystifying
The Pilots, the Probes, and the AF447 Verdict
On the 21st of May 2026, the Paris Court of Appeal convicted Airbus and Air France of involuntary manslaughter for their roles in the crash of Air France flight 447,…
Meowing on Guard (an attempt at an explanation)
Last week a video went viral and it’s been fun to see the mainstream media coverage try to cover two pilots who were heard making animal noises on the radio. …
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…
