The recent Germanwings tragedy has called commercial aviation’s concept of ‘Fitness for Flight’ into question. In case the reader has just returned from a week long hike in the wilderness and missed the news headlines – on 24 March 2014…
Although horrific plane crashes continue to make the headlines and the media seems to agitate the public by suggesting otherwise, traveling by air remains the safest form of transportation. Period. According to data compiled by the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents…
Guest post by fighter pilot and editor of Tally One Rob Burgon When was the last time you remember hearing about a U.S. fighter aircraft being lost in air-to-air combat? How about the last time one of our fighters was shot down…
The Boeing 747 was first introduced in 1970 by Panam Airlines. The 747 was the first aircraft to earn the moniker ‘Jumbo Jet’, which has now become synonymous with all large passenger aircraft. Even after more than 3 decades, this incredible double-decker…
On 17 April 2002, as the Afghanistan conflict was escalating, a friendly-fire incident swept the headlines. An American F-16 being flown by an Air National Guard pilot mistook Canadians training in a live fire drill for Taliban insurgents and dropped a…
In late December 1978, a United Airlines commercial aircraft DC-8 carrying 181 passengers and 8 crew crashed outside Portland, Oregon. 8 passengers and 2 crew members died. Although the crew did encounter a real malfunction of the aircraft, ultimately the National…
On 16 July 1999, the son of former President John F. Kennedy took off in his privately-owned Piper Saratoga from New Jersey bound for Martha’s Vineyard. Although he held a private pilot’s license without an instrument rating, he departed in…
Almost 5 years after the historic birth of controlled flight at Kitty Hawk, an updated version of the Wright Flyer was involved in the first fatal aircraft mishap in powered flight. Many early pioneers in aviation, like Otto Lilienthal, had already…
