No Man's Land

Author: Kevin Sullivan
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
ISBN: 1460710908
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 248

Book Description
A gripping account of how a major air disaster was averted, by the captain and former Top Gun pilot Instinctively, I release my pressure on the sidestick. Out of my subconscious, a survival technique from a previous life emerges: Neutralise! I'm not in control so I must neutralise controls. I never imagined I'd use this part of my military experience in a commercial airliner ... On routine flight QF72 from Singapore to Perth on 7 October 2008, the primary flight computers went rogue, causing the plane to pitch down, nose first, towards the Indian Ocean - twice. The Airbus A330 carrying 315 passengers and crew was out of control, with violent negative G forces propelling anyone and anything untethered through the cabin roof. It took the skill and discipline of veteran US Navy Top Gun Kevin Sullivan, captain of the ill-fated flight, to wrestle the plane back under control and perform a high-stakes emergency landing at a RAAF base on the WA coast 1200 kilometres north of Perth. In No Man's Land, the captain of the flight tells the full story for the first time. It's a gripping, blow-by-blow account of how, along with his co-pilots, Sullivan relied on his elite military training to land the gravely malfunctioning plane and narrowly avert what could have been a horrific air disaster. As automation becomes the way of the future, and in the aftermath of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 and Lion Air flight JT610, the story of QF72 raises important questions about how much control we relinquish to computers and whether more checks and balances are needed. A gripping read in the tradition of Sully: Miracle on the Hudson by Chesley B. Sullenberger.

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

Understanding Air France 447

Author: Bill Palmer
Publisher: William Palmer
ISBN: 098978570X
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 215

Book Description
The most comprehensive coverage to date of Air France 447, an Airbus A330 that crashed in the ocean north of Brazil on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 persons on board. Written by A330 Captain, Bill Palmer, this book opens to understanding the actions of the crew, how they failed to understand and control the problem, and how the airplane works and the part it played. All in easy to understand terms. Addressed are the many contributing aspects of weather, human factors, and airplane system operation and design that the crew could not recover from. How each contributed is covered in detail along with what has been done, and needs to be done in the future to prevent this from happening again. Also see the book's companion website: UnderstandingAF447.com

Fly!

Author: Richard de Crespigny
Publisher: Random House Australia
ISBN: 0670078735
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
In 2010, thousands of feet in the air above Singapore, the 469 passengers aboard QF32 found themselves in a crisis that no one could have anticipated when the A380 in which they were flying suffered a catastrophic explosion. Captain Richard de Crespigny and his crew confronted extraordinary challenges over the next four hours, with only three partially working engines, and a potentially explosive plane facing an imminent emergency landing. Even experienced crash-investigators later revealed they thought recovery in such circumstances was impossible. Yet in the end all aboard walked away safely. Why was there a seemingly miraculous outcome to what could so easily have become one of the world's worst aviation disasters? And how did the captain and his crew remain so calm in such a stressful situation? The answer is leadership, teamwork and skill. In Fly!, Richard de Crespigny shares the insights and techniques he built up over decades in the high-pressure world of military and civilian aviation. Covering leadership, teamwork, risk-assessment, decision-making, crisis management, lifelong resilience and more, it's a book whose wisdom can be applied to challenges and opportunities in the workplace as well as to life. Including exclusive insights from fellow hero pilot Sully Sullenberger, astronaut Neil Armstrong, NASA's Gene Kranz and others who have, like Richard de Crespigny, succeeded under intense pressure, Fly! will enable everybody to perform at their best and to succeed in any situation.

My Accidental Career

Author: Brenda Niall
Publisher: Text Publishing
ISBN: 1922459488
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 316

Book Description
Australia’s leading biographer Brenda Niall, now in her nineties, turns the spotlight on her own story in this fascinating memoir of a remarkable life and career

The Hunt for MH370

Author: Ean Higgins
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers Aus.
ISBN: 1760785326
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
"A staggering, meticulous and frequently spine-chilling work of longform journalism." Trent Dalton Somewhere deep beneath the wild seas of the southern Indian Ocean, perhaps in the eerie underwater canyons of Broken Ridge along the Seventh Arc satellite band, lies the answer to the world's greatest aviation mystery. Why, on the night of 8 March 2014, did Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 suddenly U-turn, zig-zag up the Straits of Malacca, then vanish with 239 souls on board? Was it an elaborate murder-suicide by a rogue pilot? A terrible accident such as onboard fire, rapid decompression or systems failure? A terrorist hijacking gone wrong? Or something else entirely? Award-winning journalist Ean Higgins has led the world media's coverage of this incredible saga and draws on years of interviews with aviation experts, victims' families, air crash investigators and professional hunters across land, sea and sky to dissect the riddle of MH370's fate. PRAISE FOR THE HUNT FOR MH370 "The Hunt for MH370 is a riveting page-turner written with the drama and intrigue of a thriller. Piece by tantalising piece, Ean Higgins unpuzzles this most baffling of mysteries, asking dangerous questions and revealing shocking truths." Dick Smith "The disappearance of MH370 remains the greatest and most pressing mystery in aviation history that demands answers for both the families of the stricken passengers and the travelling public. No journalist has been more relentless in the pursuit of the truth of MH370 than Ean Higgins. The Hunt for MH370 is an engrossing book in which Higgins has meticulously pieced together the puzzle of the doomed flight from its vanishing to the flawed investigation and the largest maritime search ever that leads the reader to a chilling conclusion that is almost impossible to comprehend." Paul Whittaker, Chief Executive Sky News and former editor-in-chief, The Australian

Calming Your Child

Author: Michael Hempseed
Publisher: Familius
ISBN: 9781641706667
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
It's time for school, and your child refuses to put on her clothes. You can sense her anxiety and the impending tantrum. This familiar scene can make parents feel powerless, unable to calm their child's fears or the resultant negative behavior. Dame Sue Bagshaw, MD, and psychologist Michael Hempseed are here to tell you: there is hope! Tantrums and anger are common behaviors, but instead of blaming poor parenting or too much screen time, Calming Your Child looks at the root causes, including anxiety, depression, and sensory issues, other psychological factors, explaining the research and helpful techniques in a simple, accessible way. Every child is different, so this guidebook provides a variety of methods to strengthen your bond with your child and combat behavior issues, all while gaining a better understanding of the way your child sees the world.

Into the Abyss

Author: Carol Shaben
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 1455545627
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
Only four men survived the plane crash. The pilot. A politician. A cop... and the criminal he was shackled to. On an icy night in October 1984, a commuter plane carrying nine passengers crashed in the remote wilderness of northern Alberta, killing six people. Four survived: the rookie pilot, a prominent politician, a cop, and the criminal he was escorting to face charges. Despite the poor weather, Erik Vogel, the 24-year-old pilot, was under intense pressure to fly. Larry Shaben, the author's father and Canada's first Muslim Cabinet Minister, was commuting home after a busy week at the Alberta Legislature. Constable Scott Deschamps was escorting Paul Archambault, a drifter wanted on an outstanding warrant. Against regulations, Archambault's handcuffs were removed-a decision that would profoundly impact the men's survival. As the men fight through the night to stay alive, the dividing lines of power, wealth, and status are erased, and each man is forced to confront the precious and limited nature of his existence.

No Man's Land

Author: Kevin Major
Publisher: Anchor Canada
ISBN: 0385658869
Category : Beaumont Hamel, Battle of, France, 1916
Languages : en
Pages : 251

Book Description
Set in France during World War l, No Man's Land pulls us into the lives of the young men of the Newfoundland Regiment as they prepare to set out for the trenches and what will come to be known as the Battle of the Somme. A classic war novel, the book is equally effective in its portrayal of the camaraderie and unnatural quiet before the storm, as in its graphic acccount of the fight to make it through the barbed wire and sweep of machine-gun bullets. Two hundred and seventy-two Newfoundlanders who went over the top on July 1, 1916 were killed. No regiment suffered more casualties. It was the single greatest disaster in the island's history.

The Dangers of Automation in Airliners

Author: Jack J. Hersch
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1526773155
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 345

Book Description
The award-winning journalist delves “into the confluence of modern airplane technology and pilot behavior to probe how and why flight disasters happen” (BookTrib). Aviation automation has been pushed to its limits, with pilots increasingly relying on it. Autopilot, autothrottle, autoland, flight management systems, air data systems, inertial guidance systems. All these systems are only as good as their inputs which, incredibly, can go rogue. Even the automation itself is subject to unpredictable failure. And what of the pilots? They began flight training with their hands on the throttle and yoke, and feet on the rudder pedals. Then they reached the pinnacle of their careers—airline pilot—and suddenly they were going hours without touching the controls other than for a few minutes on takeoff and landing. Are their skills eroding? Is their training sufficient to meet the demands of today’s planes? The Dangers of Automation in Airliners delves deeply into these questions. You’ll be in the cockpits of the two doomed Boeing 737 MAXs, the Airbus A330 lost over the South Atlantic, and the Bombardier Q400 that stalled over Buffalo. You’ll discover exactly why a Boeing 777 smacked into a seawall, missing the runway on a beautiful summer morning. And you’ll watch pilots battling—sometimes winning and sometimes not—against automation run amok. This book also investigates the human factors at work. You’ll learn why pilots might overlook warnings or ignore cockpit alarms. You’ll observe automation failing to alert aircrews of what they crucially need to know while fighting to save their planes and their passengers. The future of safe air travel depends on automation. This book tells its story.