They Think You may have Hit Somebody

JFK Tower: "Air France, they think you may have hit somebody, so hold there and we'll get back to you. Stand by."

You think? Watch this video.

The Air France Airbus 380 (Flight AF007) hits the tail of a Comair Bombardier CJR-700 (Flight 6293).



Watching the video I thought of two things.

"Please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Captain has taxied to the gate." Sound advice.

Also thought.

"Please return the stewardess to her original upright position."

With 61 passengers and crew aboard the Bombardier and 580 aboard the Airbus it was a Good Thing that no one was injured. As the investigation continues, fingers are being pointed. It's the pilot-in-command's responsibility to "see and avoid" all traffic. Watch the video again and watch for something. As the Bombardier taxis to it's spot, some dumbass in a pick up truck darts across its path. You never cross the path of a moving aircraft!

The Bombardier had to stop. The Airbus couldn't even see it happen as it had already passed out the the cockpit's view. Many will blame the mishap on the size of the Airbus. I disagree. NSTB investigators need to find out who was the asshat driving the truck.

Passenger Lands Plane

Saving four lives, a passenger landed a twin-engine plane at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers after the pilot died in flight.

Federal Aviation Administration officials said the pilot died on Sunday after taking off from Marco Island Executive Airport. The plane was on autopilot and climbing past 10,000 feet when the pilot died. The passenger who took the controls has been licensed for single-engine planes for 20 years, but was not certified to fly the King Air plane, a large luxury model. To instruct him, an air traffic controller called a friend in Connecticut who is rated to fly the aircraft. The plane landed safely.


Audio Only
Controller: You using the auto pilot or are you flying the airplane?
9DW: Me and the Good Lord are hand flying this. Niner Delta Whiskey.




Oh HELL YES!! The next guy that calls this Hero a redneck gets one in the kisser.

F-22 Raptor Crashes- Pilot Killed

25 March, Edwards AFB- Test pilot David Cooley was killed when his F-22 Raptor crashed 35 miles northeast of Edwards Air Force Base, California. Cooley was on test mission when the 10AM mishap occurred.

Cooley was part of a joint Lockheed/Air Force team that was testing the F-22. He been with Lockheed/Martin since 2003 and a 23 year Air Force veteran.

This was only the second crash of a Raptor and the first since it became operational with the U.S. Air Force. The only other mishap was a December 2004 crash at Nellis AFB, Nevada.

The YF-22 Prototype crashed on take off in 1992.


The cause of latest crash is as of yet, unknown. The Air Force investigation continues.

Boeing 777 Crashes at Heathrow

17 JAN 2008.
An British Airways Boeing 777 has crashed at Heathrow Airport, London, U.K. It is the first crash of Boeing newest airliner. All of the 136 passengers and crew survived the mishap. 19 were injured, many suffering minor injuries.

Flight BA038 was on final approach to the runway when the aircraft suffered a total loss of power.

Captain Peter Burkill calmly announced to his co-pilot: "I'll just have to glide it in." Burkill and his crew managed to keep the 777 airborne as they flew over houses, schools and offices - clearing Heathrow's perimeter fence by just five feet before crash-landing into a field 500 yards short of the runway. The aircraft came to rest with major damage to its landing gear and engines.

Statement by British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh:

"We are very proud of the way our crew safely evacuated all 136 passengers on board. The captain of the aircraft is one of our most experienced and has been flying with us for nearly 20 years," he added.

They showed great courage and professionalism in landing the aircraft safely. All of the crew did a fantastic job evacuating the 136 passengers. They are all heroes and everyone at British Airways is very proud of them.

An investigation is being conducted by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch so it would be inappropriate to speculate about the likely cause of this incident."

An airport worker was quoted as saying, "It's a miracle he managed to land it. The man deserves a medal as big as a frying pan. He has done a fantastic job."

The UK Air Accident Investigation Branch will lead the inquiry into the crash landing. A team from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is also heading to London, accompanied by representatives from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The 777 first entered service in 1995 and is currently being flown by 32 airlines around the world.

U.S. NSTB Records of all Boeing 777 mishaps. Use "Boeing 777" as make and model.

Last Words

It is said that pilots are the first one's at the scene of a crash. Some are caught unaware but most fight the problem all the way down. The CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder) records their final words. These are some of them.

"There he is .. look at him! Goddamn that son-of-a-bitch is coming! Get off!"
Pan Am 1736, Boeing 747, 27 March 1977.

"Pete, sorry."
Air Canada 621,Douglas DC-8, 5 July 1970.

"Hey, what's happening here?"
Eastern Airlines 401, 29 Dec 1972.

"Ma I love you."
Pacific Southwest Airlines 182. 25 Sep 1978.

"Larry, we're going down, Larry.... I know it!"
Air Florida 90, Boeing 737, 13 Jan 1982.

"Amy, I love you."
Atlantic Southeast Airlines 529, 21 Aug 1995.

"Mountains!!!"
Vnokovo Airlines 2601, 29 Aug 1996.

"Ah here we go."
Alaska Airlines 261, MD-80, 31 Jan 2000.

"Too late! No time. No TIME!"
Air France 4950, Concorde, 25 JULY 2000.

Airbus A340 Flies with Broken Wing

November 4, 2007, London- Wow! That was an exciting headline. The trick was that the SriLankan Airlines Airbus took of after it had clipped the wing of a 747 during taxi at Heathrow Airport. No biggie.


The British Airways 747 came off the loser in the mishap and sustained more damage. The Sirilakans merely removed the winglet and certified the aircraft for flight.

That's the British 747 on the right.

When the same passengers reboarded the aircraft the next day some of them noticed about five feet missing from the right wing. When the aircrew admitted that the right winglet was missing, some of the passengers balked. There was about a two hour delay as their baggage was off loaded. The Airbus then completed its 10 hour flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The winglets on modern aircraft are there to increase fuel efficiency by redirecting air flow coming off the wings. They are not part of the control systems nor do they provide lift as the wings do. The removal of the winglet, while unusual, did not pose a safety risk to flight.

If you were a passenger on this flight,what would you have done?

F-15E Strike Eagles Back in the Air

Air Force officials are taking steps to lift the grounding orders on at least part of its F-15 fleet. The newest of the supersonic fighters, the F-15E Strike Eagles are to return to action if they pass a detailed visual and non-destructive inspection.

Witnesses to the crash saw the aircraft break up just aft of the cockpit. This and evidence recovered from the crash site has led USAF officials to issue a Time Compliance Technical Order (TCTO). The TCTO calls for mandatory visual and non-destructive inspection of the hydraulic lines, fuselage longerons, and straps and skin panels around the environmental control system bays.

Original concern over the structural integrity of the vertical stabilizers has been premature.

The F-15E is the newest of the five models of the Eagle and was not involved in the crash. The older models will remain grounded until the full investigation is complete. This process may take another 30 days.

Gen. John Corley, ACC commander, said the F-15 remains vital to the defense of the nation and to joint forces serving in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

In a statement released through the Robins public affairs office, General Corley said:

"However, we will not rush the F-15E fleet back to flight. Safety is an essential focus. We are determined to complete a thorough evaluation of the F-15E fleet before their return to flight."

It was previously reported that the pilot involved in the mishap was uninjured. This was erroneous. The pilot, a member of the 131st Fighter Wing, successfully ejected but suffered a broken arm, a dislocated shoulder and several cuts and bruises.The pilot was taken to a St. Louis hospital Nov. 2 but released the following day.

The pilot's name has not been released.

The Air Force bought its last F-15 in 2004 and has long term plans to replace it with the F-22.

F-15 Fleet Grounded After Crash

On 2 November, a F-15C belonging to the Missouri Air National Guard crashed. The pilot was uninjured and reported "structural failure" as the initial cause.
All models of the F-15 Eagle, including the F-15E "Strike Eagle" (pictured above), have been grounded pending the outcome of the official investigation. Combat taskings will be covered by other assets. The aircraft carrier U.S.S. Harry S. Truman (CVN-75)left Norfolk,Virginia on 7 November. This was a planned deployment replacing the U.S.S. Enterprise (CVN-65) currently on station in the Arabian Sea. However it was announced that the Truman will be assuming some of the F-15 combat missions.

The investigation is still on going and for that reason I've held off jumping on the band wagon to report this. The mishap aircraft was 27 years old. This is getting long in tooth for fighter aircraft. Caution is the word of the day for an aging fleet and groundings are a common precautionary response. After the official investigation concludes and a fleet wide inspection completed, the F-15 is expected to return to service.

The crash highlights a structural design flaw in the tail of the F-15 that was identified in the 1990's. Then 9/11 happened. The increased mission tempo brought on by the war has brought renewed focus on Non-destructive Inspections (NDI) to discover and repair defects . The Air Force x-rays the aircraft on a scheduled basis to see if anything is cracking. The grounding will no doubt provide an opportunity to NDI the fleet before anything else happens.

The F-22 "Raptor" is operational and is scheduled to replace the Eagle. The Air Force has ordered 187 of them to replace 688 Eagles. If this incident accelerates the F-15 retirement, it might be a hard row to hoe to get Congress to pay for any more of the 133 million dollar F-22's.

Crash and Burn

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