This episode we’ll probe the Tenerife disaster on 27 March 1977 which remains the most deadly aviation accident in history. 583 people died when two Boeing 747s collided on the Canary Island of Tenerife - one operated by KLM and the other by

Episode 38 - Newark Airport’s “umbrella of death” and Jimmy Doolittle’s clear ways

Feb 6th, 2024 20m 19s

This episode we’re going to take a look at commercial airliners that have hit obstacles near runways and how three accidents in the small town of Elizabeth New Jersey in 1951 and 1952 led to rules about clear ways and re-zoning. It’s importan

Episode 37 - Sharing the skies: A short history of bird strikes and improved safety

Dec 4th, 2023 22m 58s

This is episode 37 and we’re dealing with bird strikes. The most famous of these was US Airways flight 1549 from New York City's LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte.Pilot Sully Sullenberger and first officer Jeffrey Skiles ditched the Airbus A320

Episode 36 - The 1971 Aeroflot Antonov twin crashes and the ATR-72’s achilles boot

Sep 1st, 2023 27m 16s

This is episode 36 and its icy cold out there - it’s time to check out the incidents involving icing - starting with a short list and general description of the causes, then focusing on the two Aeroflot Atonovs accidents in 1971 and a design fa

Episode 35 - The 1986 Aeromexico collision over L.A. that changed aviation

May 1st, 2023 27m 2s

Episode 35 - The 1986 Aeromexico collision over L.A. that changed aviation by Desmond Latham

Episode 34 - The British Airship accident that was deadlier than The Hindenburg

Apr 25th, 2023 25m 56s

The British government was focused on making dirigibles the transport of choice in the 1930s - competing with the Germans to produce the largest, most luxurious and most convenient way to travel across its empire. In the summer of 1930 two vari

Episode 33 - The 1948 Gatow Air Disaster and other military blunders

Jan 16th, 2023 24m 58s

We’re going to look at a few examples of trigger happy pilots and missile operators, starting with the 5th April 1948 Gatow Air Disaster over Berlin as the Cold War ramped up after the Second World War. A British European Airways Vickers VC

Episode 32 – Payne Stewart’s Learjet decompression death and missing maintenance logs

Nov 30th, 2022 35m 8s

A listener asked me to take a closer look at the crash of a Lear jet in 1999 that was carrying golfer Payne Stewart so here we are. Of all the crashes we’ve looked at this has to be one of the more frustrating and needs quite a bit of sleuthi

Episode 31 - The 1983 Air Canada Flight 797 toilet fire that changed global aviation

Nov 7th, 2022 22m 7s

We’re focusing on Air Canada Flight 797 that developed and in-flight fire that turned into a conflagration after it landed and the doors were opened. 23 passengers burned to death of were asphyxiated in that terrible incident. The response to

Episode 30 - Up up & Astray with Jim Spaeth: TWA behind the scenes shenanigans

Sep 22nd, 2022 25m 15s

This is episode 30 and I am delighted to have special guest Jim Spaeth join us for this episode to talk about his experiences at TWA.His life intersected with a number of accidents and he had a unique view of events he’s going to describe work

Episode 29 - The 2019 TOGA switch Amazon Air First Officer panic and a Texas bay death dive

Aug 9th, 2022 23m 12s

We’re going to cover an example of what happens at low altitude when pilots activate the Take Off/Go Around or TOGA switch by mistake. When there’s turbulence and a lack of situational awareness, this can be deadly as you’ll hear. A number of

Episode 28 - The Lockerbie Bombing of 1988 and how airline security improved

May 4th, 2022 33m 26s

It was some trepidation that I’ve decided to eventually cover the Pan Am Flight 103 disaster over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 which killed 259 passengers and crew as well as 11 people on the ground. Very few aviators or people interested in a

Episode 27 - Emotional distress and the 2018 US-Bangla Airlines crash that killed 51

Mar 11th, 2022 20m 17s

We’re focusing on the US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 that came in too high and fast at Kathmandu Airport on 12th March 2018 then slid off the runway and burst into flames. 51 of the 71 on board died including both aircrew. Of all the acciden

Episode 26 - VOR confusion in 1986: The Tupolev crash that killed Mozambique President Samora Machel

Feb 5th, 2022 28m 8s

This is episode 26 and we’re focusing on one of the most conspiracy-theory speckled accidents in history, the October 1986 crash of a Tupolev TU-134 jetliner that was carrying Mozamibican president Samora Machel. 37 of the 43 aboard died. To s

Episode 25 - Two mountains and four CFITs: Air India, Pakistan & Thai Airlines

Dec 26th, 2021 26m 33s

This is episode 25 – and I’m going to take a closer look at the Pakistan international Airlines Crash in Katmandu in 1992 along with a Thai Airlines accident there a few week earlier. The Pakistan crash comes via a suggestion by a listener cal

Episode 24 - Alaskan Flight 1866, American Airlines Flight 965 and Don Bateman’s brilliant EGPWS

Sep 25th, 2021 23m 27s

This is episode 24 and comes courtesy of a suggestion by one of my listeners called Russell – surname withheld as he’s an operating commercial pilot. Don’t want to upset the corporation you know. First of all, a big thank you to Russell for

Episode 23 - Imperial Airways and the link between flying boats and passenger briefings

Jul 20th, 2021 18m 21s

This is episode 23 and we’re dealing with flying boat accidents. You may be surprised to hear but one accident in particular involving an Imperial Airways flying boat in 1939 set in motion the use of specialised carb heaters for all aircraft.

Episode 22 - – A History of Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems

Jun 1st, 2021 21m 40s

This is episode 22 and we’re going to hear more about an accident in the skies over India that was the final push in the drive to deploy traffic collision avoidance systems known as TCAS. Initially we need to go back to the days days of comme

Episode 21 - “An orchestrated litany of lies" the Mount Erebus disaster and a tainted investigation

Feb 1st, 2021 37m 30s

This is episode 21 and we’re taking a close look at the Mount Erebus disaster where an Air New Zealand McDonald Douglas DC-10 crashed on 28th November 1979, killing all 257 passengers and crew. At first it looked like straight pilot error - a

Episode 20 - A catastrophic Chinook gearbox failure and a mysterious RAF crash in 1994

Dec 22nd, 2020 41m 49s

This is episode 20 and it’s all about helicopters. Thanks first of all to Martin Darlington who hosts History by Hollywood podcast and is a highly experienced helicopter pilot and instructor. He has agreed to help with the more technical aspect

Episode 19 - Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR) and Flight Data Recorders (FDR)

Nov 4th, 2020 20m 24s

It was Australia that initiated the mandatory installation of cockpit voice recorders after an accident in 1960, while we’ll also probe a mid-air collision involving United Airlines and Trans World Airlines aircraft over New York in the same ye

Episode 17 - United Airlines Flight 173 flameout as pilots dither & the May 2020 Karachi crash

Jul 30th, 2020 21m 7s

This episode explores an accident at a time of Covid-19 – which may be too recent to have a direct effect on civil aviation safety and yet the causes appear to be directly linked to poor Cockpit Resource Management otherwise known as crew resou

Episode 16 - The mystery of MH370 & Malaysia’s hapless response

Jun 25th, 2020 27m 41s

This episode is fraught because we just don’t know what happened to Malaysian Flight MH370 and many pilots would say any sort of scientific conclusion is going to be a jump to a conclusion. However, I am going to take you through this event a

Episode 15 - The first jetliner crash, Comair flight 5191 on the wrong runway & a crocodile in a bag

1 May 11th, 2020 19m 20s

This is episode 15 and its all about unusual accidents including one that most likely involved a crocodile. But let’s start with what was called the first ever jetliner crash in 1953.That was an incident involving a de Havilland DH-106 Comet

Episode 14 - Covid-19 crashes Global Aviation but here are the likely future scenarios

Apr 15th, 2020 17m 46s

This is episode 14 and I was expecting to continue with the planned series but I’m afraid the world has changed in the last few weeks. Needless to say, if anything has to be done right now, it’s to understand what may happen to commercial aviat