The story of Diamond Jack Palmer is a typically Australian story of a beach comber whose luck was in when he found diamonds worth a few million on the beach but couldn’t quite keep up with his luck. It’s also a fascinating aviation story. It starts with the Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij airline and their…
Read more… 21 Nov 14
This video is harrowing to watch but it’s the most classic example of a stall in the circuit I think I’ve ever seen. The dash cam on this microlight is recording a go-around and crash at a small airfield near Moscow. It was featured in Life News at which point the video began to go…
Read more… 12 Nov 14
The Captain of a Boeing 737-700 landed hard at LaGuardia Airport, collapsing the nose gear. But it’s actually what happened leading up to the hard landing that makes this particular case interesting. The final report has not been released; however various public documents, including the Chariman’s factual reports, are now available on the NTSB site:…
Read more… 7 Nov 14
Anna is back from holiday and boy does it show. I’m hard-pressed to compete with the excellent articles that she’s highlighted on the Fear of Landing Facebook page this past week. I know not all of you use Facebook so I thought I’d share the best posts with you. My favourite was the news piece…
Read more… 31 Oct 14
Air New Zealand, the official airline of Middle-Earth, have once again taken the world by storm with their safety video. They’ve called it The Most Epic Airline Safety Video Ever and it’s guaranteed to keep passengers’ attention during pre-flight announcements. Keep your eyes peeled for Frodo, Fili, and Radagast and even director Peter Jackson! Ian…
Read more… 24 Oct 14
This photograph was sent to me a couple of times with questions of what it might portray and I just had to track it down. The photograph was first posted to Reddit as This aircraft belongs to a conservation team in The Amazon. Yikes! and then again in September with its current headline, The anthropologists…
Read more… 17 Oct 14
The Man in the Right Seat at Prestwick
On the 23rd of April 2024, a Piper Archer II crashed in South Ayrshire, Scotland, after losing power. There were two on board. Both suffered serious injuries and the light…
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…
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…