A WestJet 737 from Toronto to St. Maarten experienced what might have been a collapsed landing gear on touching down at Princess Juliana International Airport on Sunday, temporarily halting flights.   There were no injuries to any of the 164 on board flight 2276. The airplane came to a halt in the middle of the runway. Foam was spread and passengers were evacuated via slides. In a statement, the airport called the event an incident. But stay tuned. Damage to the engine, wing and landing gear could shove this into the substantial damage category, making today’s event an accident. WestJet, saying it had not confirmed… Read More…

The most critical events that led to Air India Flight 171 crashing into a building in Ahmedabad in June unfolded within eight seconds. The clock begins running when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s wheels leave the ground and ends when emergency power begins to flow to the troubled airliner via the ram air turbine, (RAT). Efforts by the pilots in the 24 seconds that followed could not provide what they needed to save the day; more thrust/more altitude/more time. So I want to write about those eight seconds, as presented, warts and all, in the preliminary report of India’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau. Six significant events… Read More…

News today that fuel was cut to both engines on the Air India Boeing 787 that crashed, killing 260 people in Amedabad, has triggered a round of public discussion and a whole lot of speculation about pilot intentionality, about which, more later. In a preliminary report, the Air Accident Investigation Bureau of India confirms that the two switches located below the throttles “transitioned” sequentially from RUN to CUTOFF about 8 seconds after takeoff. The report itself remains mum on how this happened. Fueling the speculation, though, is the next tidbit of information. The report paraphrases the conversation on the cockpit voice recording in which one… Read More…

Two views emerged of the pilots and flight attendants on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, the 737 Max that made an emergency return to Portland International Airport eighteen months ago. As the plane ascended to about 15-thousand feet headed for California, an improperly installed door plug in the cabin blew out with a sudden bang, followed by a cacophony of wind and deafening noise. In their description of the events on the evening of January 5, 2024, the National Transportation Safety Board described the two pilots and the four cabin attendants in near-heroic terms, praising their professionalism and care for the 171 terrified passengers, including 4… Read More…

The more technology on an airplane, the less likely an accident will remain a mystery. That is going to be the case for the Air India Flight 171, which crashed on June 12th, killing 230 on board the plane and at least 39 on the ground. A final tally of the dead has not been completed as of this writing. The Boeing 787  Dreamliner plowed into a building half a minute after takeoff from Ahmedabad bound for London. Very quickly, a lot of information became available. There was a very good eyewitness video of nearly the entire flight from the takeoff roll to the crash…. Read More…

Writing from St. Barths, FWI — An Air India 787 Dreamliner headed for London, crashed Thursday morning while departing Ahmedabad’s Patel International Airport. Flight 171, was carrying Indian, British, Portuguese and one Canadian citizen from Ahmedabad in western India to London’s Gatwick International Airport. It departed at 1:17 with temperatures at the airport in the 100 degree Farhenheit (37 celcius) range. Unlike many international airports, Patel is located in a densely populated area, and the 787 plowed into the top floor of a hostel housing students of B.J. Medical College. The New York Times is reporting that five people on the ground were killed. But… Read More…

If ever a can has been kicked down the road, it is America’s grossly understaffed air traffic control service. And if a shortage of controllers was the only can, rather than the supermarket-sized pyramid of cans that is the country’s national air space challenge, then I would not be so worried. But worried I am. For four decades, the United States government and aviation stakeholders have tisk-tisked about not having enough controllers, a problem that began in 1981 when President Ronald Reagan fired 11-thousand striking controllers and banned them from ever again working for the federal government. That it has been a long and so… Read More…

America’s chief of safety for public transportation said today she is angered and devastated for the families of 67 people killed in the collision of an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter on January 29th. There is just not enough separation between commercial flights and helicopter transportation around Washington Reagan National Airport, said Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board who called on Monday for an immediate halt to helicopter through traffic when airlines are arriving and departing on two runways at the busy airport. As part of the investigation, which is routine for the board, the NTSB… Read More…

Delta Airlines flight 4819 made its bumpy touchdown on the runway at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, flipped upside down and came to a screeching halt in roughly seven seconds, based on videos of Monday’s near disaster. It nevertheless left “plenty of time to be scared,” according to Pete Carlson a passenger on the flight who was, by eerie coincidence en route to Toronto to attend a conference of paramedics. “One minute you’re landing and waiting to see your friends and your people and the next minute you’re physically upside down and just really turned around,” Carlson told CBC News, adding of his short ride in… Read More…

THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED TO CORRECT A MISSTATEMENT Pilots of the American Airlines flight that crashed into the Potomac after a collision with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter last month seem to have made a desperate attempt to avoid the crash, data from the airliner’s cockpit suggests. This poignant detail is just part of a trove of information released by the National Transportation Safety Board. What had been an ordinary flight from Witchita to Washington started to get strange to the American Airlines pilots as they approached landing. The warning of a possible collision could be heard in the background of a radio… Read More…