We’ve all seen this in the toilets of commercial aircraft: a large no-smoking sign with a plainly marked ashtray underneath. Obviously airlines who allow in-flight smoking have ashtrays as a part of the standard model. But are there any of those left? The US banned smoking on domestic flights in 1990 and soon followed up…
Read more… 14 Dec 12
Visit ATC Day is an annual event coordinated by the Airspace and Safety Initiative in the US, allowing pilots to sign up for tours at Air Traffic Control units around the country. This year, the event was held with events in October and November. I couldn’t make the Prestwick date but I was lucky enough…
Read more… 7 Dec 12
Today’s good news is that the criminal case against Continental and its mechanic have been dropped. Criminal charges can only hamper air accident investigations, which need to focus on how to avoid issues degenerating into fatal crashes, rather than looking to allocate blame. BBC News – Concorde crash: Continental Airlines killings verdict quashed A French…
Read more… 30 Nov 12
1 Lasers have many legitimate uses in airspace. Everyone else probably already knew this but with all the press about lasers in cockpits, I wondered whether the US and the UK would end up as a blanket ban on laser beams in (potential) airspace. I wasn’t aware that lasers are regularly used to signal aircraft.…
Read more… 23 Nov 12
The two pilots were co-owners of VH-CNZ. She was a commercial pilot with over 10,000 hours, 600 of them on type. One blog post at the time said that she was a flight instructor. He was a private pilot with just over 2,500 hours and 120 on type. VH-CNZ was a Piper Twin Comanche which…
Read more… 16 Nov 12
Some times, there’s just too many fun links to get down to work. Here’s a collection of new websites I was reading / watching when I should have been writing you a new post… Landing short and checking out my balance in my Wild West Aircraft Highlander (Just Aircraft) Rockwell Collins brings head-up flying to…
Read more… 9 Nov 12
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…