The tragedy of Germanwings 9525 happened two years ago and I reported on the final report from the Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA) when it was released in March of last year. The BEA concluded that the crash was caused by the deliberate and planned action of the first officer who decided to commit suicide…
Read more… 7 Apr 17
There’s been a lot of chatter about the Peruvian Boeing 737 which collapsed on landing a few days ago. Obviously there’s not a report yet, but I wanted to try to collect the information so far because three days after the incident. It’s still not clear to me what actually happened. (Also, I love the…
Read more… 31 Mar 17
I am moving this week so I have another guest post for you. There have been a few references on Fear of Landing about inflight entertainment and whether or not in-flight casinos are an obvious next step or a problem to be avoided at all costs. So I hope you will enjoy Dan Saymour’s article…
Read more… 17 Mar 17
PH-BFT is a Boeing 747-406(M) operated by KLM. It’s a 747 combi for mixed passenger and freight operations. The aircraft was travelling from Amsterdam to New York JFK, cruising at flight level 360 (36,000 feet). They were about 330 nautical miles (600 kilometres) north of St John’s in Newfoundland, Canada when the captain fell ill.…
Read more… 10 Mar 17
What do you get when you combine a popular airport for plane spotters with a stormy forecast and a crosswind on the runway? The perfect storm. On the 21st of February 2017, the Met Office issued yellow and amber warnings for wind, snow and rain as Storm Doris began to gather steam. On the night…
Read more… 3 Mar 17
Today is the 99th anniversary of Estonian independence. Sadly, that doesn’t mean 99 years of independence. The auspicious date seems like a good opportunity for a historical post covering the most famous aviation incident in Estonian territory: when the Finnish passenger plane Kaleva was shot down by Soviet bombers as it was departing Tallinn. Kaleva…
Read more… 24 Feb 17
Last week, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission, formed by the Government of Nepal to investigate the accident of 9N-AME on the 24th of July 2024, released their final report. There’s…
On the 12th of June 2025, a Boeing 787-8, registered in India as VT-ANB, was operating as flight Air India 171 for a passenger flight from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick.…
This is not an article that I ever thought I would feel compelled to write! However, given the confusion over a photograph chosen in a regional English paper, apparently it’s…
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…
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 here, defeated but not yet horizontal, the victim of a relentless summer cold that feels like the universe’s revenge for something I can’t even remember. If I don’t make…
It seems a good time for something a bit more lighthearted. After weeks of analyzing serious incidents and technical failures, I thought I could a moment to appreciate aviation humuor…