Accidents

The pilot of a Cirrus that crashed shortly after departure from the popular Dallas-area GA airport in Addison reported a rough running engine after takeoff for a cross country flight to Houston. The pilot asked for a return to the airport. The NTSB reported that the pilot attempted two ILS approaches but called off the […]

Investigators on Wednesday blamed pilot error and improper training for the crash of a Yak-42 on Sept. 7 that killed 44 people, including the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team. According to Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee, the jet crashed on takeoff after one of the pilots accidentally activated the brakes and then jerked the yoke back […]

Sparks and small fires broke out on Tuesday when a Boeing 767 carrying 220 passengers and 11 crewmembers made an emergency gear-up landing in Warsaw after experiencing an apparent hydraulic system failure. The pilots of the 767 circled the airport for approximately one hour after receiving a central hydraulic system failure warning. After dumping fuel, […]

A Gulfstream G150 registered to Jimmy Johnson Racing and carrying Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and three others crashed Monday evening after careering off a runway at Florida’s Key West International Airport. Hendrick, his wife Linda and two pilots were on board the business jet, according to a statement from Hendrick Motorsports. No one was […]

(October 2011) It’s an old story. As old as the Greeks, in fact, though it has been retold many times and in many versions. Its erotic, pathetic, heroic and cautionary elements receive different emphases from authors with different axes to grind. In brief, Leander was a youth who lived on one shore of the Hellespont, […]

(October 2011) It seems like almost every organization supports safety. Posters proclaiming “Safety First” are plastered all over companies around the world, and many corporate manuals contain words saying something similar to “Any employee can call stop.” And yet the real world of corporate culture often strays far from this ideal. The intense pressure to […]

The National Transportation Safety Board has begun its investigation into what caused a Bell JetRanger to crash in Manhattan’s East River on Tuesday, killing one passenger and sending three others to the hospital. NTSB chairman Mark Rosekind said at a press briefing that investigators had recovered the helicopter’s GPS receiver and also collected video of […]

(September 2011) It was the Friday before Christmas, and the pilot-owner of a Piper Saratoga was eager to get home for a party. At 2:30 in the afternoon he called Flight Service to brief a flight from College Park, Maryland, to Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) in Ohio, 240 nm distant. He said he hoped to take […]

All 19 people aboard a Beech 19000D carrying tourists to see Mt. Everest were killed on Sunday when their twin turboprop crashed as it tried to land in rain and dense fog at Nepal’s main international airport. The airplane, operated by Buddha Air, crashed in Kotdanda, about 10 miles from the capital, Katmandu, as it […]

(September 2011) With so much commentary on aircraft accidents from analysts, victims, witnesses, psychologists, perpetrators, investigators, manufacturers and Lord knows what other experts (real and self-proclaimed), why two cents’ worth from me? I guess because my commentary is from the perspective of somebody trained and experienced in the investigation side of the business, who’s witnessed […]