The Mammoth Book of Air Disasters and Near Misses

Author: Paul Simpson
Publisher: Robinson
ISBN: 1780338295
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 603

Book Description
An incredible 30,000 flights – at least – arrive safely at their destinations every day. But a handful don’t, while some come terrifyingly close to crashing. When even the smallest thing does go wrong at 35,000 feet, the result is nearly always a fast-unfolding tragedy. This extensive collection of compelling real-life accounts of air disasters and near-disasters provides a sobering, alternative history of the just over 105 years that passengers have been travelling by air, from the very earliest fatality to recent calamities. But there are incredible stories of heroism against the odds, too, such as that of Captain Chesley Sullenberger who successfully landed his aircraft with both engines gone on the Hudson River in New York, saving the lives of everyone aboard, and of the American Airlines crew who prevented terrorist Richard Reid from exploding a bomb hidden in his shoe three months after 9/11. The book also details the often ingenious, always painstaking work done by air-accident investigators, while a glossary helps to clarify the occasional, inevitable bits of jargon.

The Crash Detectives

Author: Christine Negroni
Publisher: Atlantic Books
ISBN: 178239642X
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Book Description
A fascinating exploration of how humans and machines fail - leading to air disasters from Amelia Earhart to MH370 - and how the lessons learned from these accidents have made flying safer. In The Crash Detectives, veteran aviation journalist and air safety investigator Christine Negroni takes the reader inside crash investigations from the early days of the jet age to the present, including the search for answers about what happened to the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. As Negroni dissects each accident, she explores the common themes and, most importantly, what has been learned from them to make planes safer. Indeed, as Negroni shows, virtually every aspect of modern pilot training, airline operation and aircraft design has been shaped by lessons learned from disaster. Along the way, she also details some miraculous saves, when quick-thinking pilots averted catastrophe and kept hundreds of people alive. Tying in aviation science, performance psychology and extensive interviews with pilots, engineers, human factors specialists, crash survivors and others involved in accidents all over the world, The Crash Detectives is an alternately terrifying and inspiring book that might just cure your fear of flying, and will definitely make you a more informed passenger.

Bracing for Impact

Author: Robin Suerig Holleran
Publisher: Skyhorse
ISBN: 1510700323
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 205

Book Description
“Surviving is a true blessing that few get to experience.” Being strapped in the seat of a plane as it plunges into a nosedive midair is everyone’s worst nightmare. Bracing for Impact’s compilers and contributors know. They have both lived out that fear and survived, albeit badly hurt, in their own plane crashes. In this collection of true-life survivor tales, people from all walks of life—a freelance writer, a crew member of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band, a naval flight surgeon, a teenager, and a newlywed on her honeymoon, among others—recount their traumatic narrow escapes as engines stalled, fuel ran out, hazardous weather conditions descended, and landings did not go according to plan. In the face of death, as life flashed before their eyes—or not, as some wryly note—these survivors encountered the terrific split of before and after the crash. Their lives, though preserved, would change forever. Perhaps more significant than the crash itself is how each story plays out in the aftermath of the ordeal. In heart-wrenching, unrelenting honesty, these stories explore the wide spectrum of impacts on survivors—ranging from debilitating fear, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse, to a renewed sense of urgency, where survivors swear to live each day to the fullest and rededicate their lives to helping others. Including the 1977 story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash that killed lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and vocalist Cassie Gaines, Bracing for Impact is as much a horrific account of air disasters as it is a celebration and recognition of the people who survived them. Fans of the 2016 Clint Eastwood film Sully starring Tom Hanks will enjoy this edge-of-your-seat read!

AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON RIVER The Ditching of US Airways Flight 1549

Author: Pete Collins, Editor
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1300347163
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
On January 15, 2009, about 1527 eastern standard time, US Airways flight 1549, an Airbus Industrie A320-214, N106US, experienced an almost complete loss of thrust in both engines after encountering a flock of birds and was subsequently ditched on the Hudson River about 8.5 miles from LaGuardia Airport (LGA), New York City, New York. The flight was en route to Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, and had departed LGA about 2 minutes before the in-flight event occurred. The 150 passengers and 5 crewmembers evacuated the airplane via the forward and overwing exits. One flight attendant and four passengers were seriously injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged beyond repair. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the ingestion of large birds into each engine, which resulted in an almost total loss of thrust in both engines and the subsequent ditching on the Hudson River.

Human Factors Models for Aviation Accident Analysis and Prevention

Author: Thomas G.C. Griffin
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN: 1472432770
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 227

Book Description
The investigation and modelling of aviation accident causation is dominated by linear models. Aviation is, however, a complex system and as such suffers from being artificially manipulated into non-complex models and methods. This book addresses this issue by developing a new approach to investigating aviation accident causation through information networks. These networks centralise communication and the flow of information as key indicators of a system’s health and risk. This holistic approach focuses on the system environment, the activity that takes place within it, the strategies used to conduct this activity, the way in which the constituent parts of the system (both human and non-human) interact and the behaviour required. Each stage of this book identifies and expands upon the potential of the information network approach, maintaining firm focus on the overall health of a system. The book’s new model offers many potential developments and some key areas are studied in this research. Through the centralisation of barriers and information nodes the method can be applied to almost any situation. The application of Bayesian mathematics to historical data populations provides scope for studying error migration and barrier manipulation. The book also provides application of these predictions to a flight simulator study for the purposes of validation. Beyond this it also discusses the applicability of the approach to industry. Through working with a legacy airline the methods discussed are used as the basis for a new and prospective safety management system.

Flight 232

Author: Laurence Gonzales
Publisher: W. W. Norton
ISBN: 9780393240023
Category : Aircraft accident victims
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Twenty-five years after the catastrophe, a dramatic and extraordinarily rare 360-degree view of the crash of a fully loaded jumbo jet.

Commercial Aviation Safety, Sixth Edition

Author: Stephen K. Cusick
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 125964183X
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 561

Book Description
Up-To-Date Coverage of Every Aspect of Commercial Aviation Safety Completely revised edition to fully align with current U.S. and international regulations, this hands-on resource clearly explains the principles and practices of commercial aviation safety—from accident investigations to Safety Management Systems. Commercial Aviation Safety, Sixth Edition, delivers authoritative information on today's risk management on the ground and in the air. The book offers the latest procedures, flight technologies, and accident statistics. You will learn about new and evolving challenges, such as lasers, drones (unmanned aerial vehicles), cyberattacks, aircraft icing, and software bugs. Chapter outlines, review questions, and real-world incident examples are featured throughout. Coverage includes: • ICAO, FAA, EPA, TSA, and OSHA regulations • NTSB and ICAO accident investigation processes • Recording and reporting of safety data • U.S. and international aviation accident statistics • Accident causation models • The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) • Crew Resource Management (CRM) and Threat and Error Management (TEM) • Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) and Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) • Aircraft and air traffic control technologies and safety systems • Airport safety, including runway incursions • Aviation security, including the threats of intentional harm and terrorism • International and U.S. Aviation Safety Management Systems

Highest Duty

Author: Chesley B. Sullenberger
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061959537
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
The inspirational autobiography of the hero pilot who landed a crippled flight in New York’s Hudson River—now a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks. On January 15, 2009, the world witnessed a remarkable emergency landing when Captain “Sully” Sullenberger skillfully glided US Airways Flight 1549 onto the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 passengers and crew. His cool actions not only averted tragedy but made him a hero and an inspiration worldwide. His story is now a major motion picture from director/producer Clint Eastwood and stars Tom Hanks, Laura Linney and Aaron Eckhart. Sully’s story is one of dedication, hope, and preparedness, revealing the important lessons he learned through his life, in his military service, and in his work as an airline pilot. It reminds us all that, even in these days of conflict, tragedy and uncertainty, there are values still worth fighting for—that life’s challenges can be met if we’re ready for them. “His fascinating and deservedly praised memoir reflects on his childhood love for planes and an outstanding 42-year career as a pilot—as well as how he and his family coped with the onslaught of sudden celebrity.” —Publishers Weekly

Deadly Turbulence

Author: Steve Pollock
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786474335
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 235

Book Description
Jet airliner operations in the United States began in 1958, bringing, it was thought, a new era of fast, high, safe, smooth, sophisticated travel. But almost immediately, the new aircraft were involved in incidents and accidents that showed jets created new problems even as they solved old ones. This book discusses five disasters or near-disasters of the early Jet Age, experiences which shook the industry, regulators and public out of early complacency and helped build a more realistic foundation for safer air transportation. Special attention is paid to the 1966 destruction of Braniff International Airways Flight 250 in Nebraska. Nearly two years of inquiry helped advance the understanding of jet operations in severe weather and saw the first use of cockpit voice recorder technology in an aviation accident investigation. In addition, a University of Chicago professor, Dr. Tetsuya "Ted" Fujita, conducted a more intensive investigation of the weather system which downed Flight 250. Dr. Fujita's already extensive knowledge of thunderstorms and tornadoes led to his creation of the Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity, the F-scale that we hear about so frequently during storm season.

QF32

Author: Richard de Crespigny
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers Aus.
ISBN: 1743347898
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 504

Book Description
QF32 is the award winning bestseller from Richard de Crespigny, author of the forthcoming Fly!: Life Lessons from the Cockpit of QF32 On 4 November 2010, a flight from Singapore to Sydney came within a knife edge of being one of the world's worst air disasters. Shortly after leaving Changi Airport, an explosion shattered Engine 2 of Qantas flight QF32 - an Airbus A380, the largest and most advanced passenger plane ever built. Hundreds of pieces of shrapnel ripped through the wing and fuselage, creating chaos as vital flight systems and back-ups were destroyed or degraded. In other hands, the plane might have been lost with all 469 people on board, but a supremely experienced flight crew, led by Captain Richard de Crespigny, managed to land the crippled aircraft and safely disembark the passengers after hours of nerve-racking effort. Tracing Richard's life and career up until that fateful flight, QF32 shows exactly what goes into the making of a top-level airline pilot, and the extraordinary skills and training needed to keep us safe in the air. Fascinating in its detail and vividly compelling in its narrative, QF32 is the riveting, blow-by-blow story of just what happens when things go badly wrong in the air, told by the captain himself. Winner of ABIA Awards for Best General Non-fiction Book of the Year 2013 and Indie Awards' Best Non-fiction 2012 Shortlisted ABIA Awards' Book of the Year 2013