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
On the 17th of October in 2013, an Italian Air Force aircraft departed Tallinn Airport (Estonia) for Rome Ciampino Airport. The Dassault Falcon 900 is a French-built corporate jet aircraft. It was flown by an experienced pilot who was rated as an instructor in the Italian Air Force. The aircraft departed Tallinn at 14:51 UTC…
Read more… 17 Feb 17
On the 31st of January in 2014, an Estonian aircraft registration ES-PJR ran off the side of the runway at Torsby airport in Sweden. The aircraft was a BAe Jetstream 3200 (J32), a low-wing twin turboprop aircraft popular for small passenger services. The J32 seats up to 19 passengers. The J32 was operated by AS…
Read more… 10 Feb 17
Today I’ve got a guest post from my friend Poppy Gallagher who is writing about what one would expect to be America’s favourite aircraft: Air Force One. I hope you find it interesting. Back in 2016, Trump repeatedly expressed his distaste for Air Force One, having previously called it ‘ridiculous’ and ‘totally out of control’…
Read more… 9 Feb 17
Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport (Tallinna lennujaam) is the largest airport in Estonia. It serves as a hub for Estonian airline Nordica as well as the secondary hub for AirBaltic and LOT Polish Airlines. Over the past year, Tallinn has worked to expand its single asphalt-concrete runway to 3,070 metres but at the time, in 2010,…
Read more… 3 Feb 17
I’m in Estonia for the moment and researching local crashes for you! Meanwhile, I’ve pulled this piece from the archives to keep you entertained while I am travelling. This version has a few updates and better photography. This was originally posted in September 2009. I can vouch for the fact that the Killer Cattle Protection…
Read more… 27 Jan 17
TNflygirl and the Beech Debonair
On the 7th of December 2023, a Beech 35-C33 Debonair crashed into terrain. The private pilot and the passenger, the pilot’s father, were both killed on impact. The private flight…
At All Costs
On the 11th of December 2024, the passenger in the right seat of a 1973 Grumman AA-5 was recording a video as they approached Pearland Regional Airport in Texas. The…
Trump Threatens to Ground Canadian Aircraft Over Gulfstream Certification
The US President, Donald Trump, posted the following to Truth Social last night. Based on the fact that Canada has wrongfully, illegally, and steadfastly refused to certify the Gulfstream 500,…
Another quick round of questions and answers
It’s time for another Questions and Answers session. I started this series a few years back, when a reader asked if there was a way to pose aviation questions outside…
Four Point Two Stars Where You Only Stop If You Have To
I always look up airports when I’m writing about them, partly out of habit and partly because I’m afraid I’ll miss an important detail. When I was writing Any Landing…
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…
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…
Nathan Pyle Strange Worlds
Thank you so much for all the kind words. I don’t quite have the wherewithal to respond to each of you individually but I very much appreciate all of you…