Four things: (A) super-large freight or tanker vessels, even at just steerage way of 5-10 knots, have huge kinetic energy, way more in excess to the design collision strength of bridge pedestals built 40+ years ago; (B) Ship board steering and engineering casualty are not unheard of, they occur, albeit rarely, but the consequences ofContinue reading “Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge Disaster March 26,2024”
Category Archives: Aviation Safety
Is There Really an Airline Pilot Shortage? My Niece Is Interested in Becoming a Pilot
Is there really a pilot shortage or are the airlines flying smaller numbers of passengers, using smaller jets when they could be flying much larger jets and hauling two to four times as many passengers with the same two pilots?
Challenger Disaster Revisited
The NASA Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was 100% preventable. Why this claim, when cold weather is commonly cited as the cause of the O ring malfunctions that allowed hot gases from the solid rocket booster to penetrate the big orange liquid fuel tanks? NASA engineers and rocket maker Morton Thiokol engineers had seen O ringContinue reading “Challenger Disaster Revisited”
Lining Up to Land on a Taxiway?
In low visibility, such as at night, as the sun dawns in a misty morning, or as the sunsets, flight crew members can visually mistake ramps, taxiways, parking lots and other places for the approach areas to the landing runway. Visually, this can pose an unexpected challenge to commercial flights.Here is an actual account fromContinue reading “Lining Up to Land on a Taxiway?”
Kobe Bryant Helicopter Mishap
Kobe Bryant, his family members and traveling companions died in a helicopter flown by a pilot who flew into clouds, then flew into a mountain, instead of turning around and remaining clear of clouds and safely above terrain. The first set of questions that come to the forefront are these: Was the pilot instrument ratedContinue reading “Kobe Bryant Helicopter Mishap”
Is the B737MAX Angle of Attack Comparator Systems news story a Distraction from Two Critical Safety Issues?
Is the discussion about the optional equipment of B737MAX angle of attack AoA data comparator systems diverting the discussion from two of the most central safety issues, safety hazard reporting and rapid response, and the full extent of flight crew training? Why ask that question? First, the specific hazard of a malfunctioning AoA probe and/orContinue reading “Is the B737MAX Angle of Attack Comparator Systems news story a Distraction from Two Critical Safety Issues?”
Skybrary is a Superb and Up-to-Date Safety Resource
http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Portal:Operational_Issues Visit Skybrary for training resources on a wide range of operational issues, human factors and other subjects. By incorporating these training tools into your commercial operation, you may be able to drive your operation towards zero mishaps.✈️
UAE 521, 3 August 16 at Dubai Int’l
Looking at the last few entries of the flight aware track log for UAE 521, showing significant wind shear is of interest. The Dubai Int’l weather reported in the Metar is also of interest. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/UAE521/history/20160803/0435Z/VOTV/OMDB/tracklog Metar OMDB 030900Z 11021KT 3000 BLDU NSC 49/07 Q0993 WS ALL RWY TEMPO 35015KT 1500 [Translated: wind fromContinue reading “UAE 521, 3 August 16 at Dubai Int’l”
Just Culture Arguments
Advocating for a Just Culture, without referencing the logic of a larger safety, legal and administrative contextual framework can take on the appearance of advocating for an exemption to all the laws of all the nations that have developed over all time with respect to one party doing harm to another party. For example, let’sContinue reading “Just Culture Arguments”
How Unusuality and Reality Intersect in Flight Safety: A Simple Metric for Determining Major Hazards to Commercial Flight Operations from the Unremarkable Accumulation of Minor Unfavorable Elements and a Recommended Operations Adjustment Procedure to Avoid Mishap Occurrence
Abstract: The cascading collection of seemingly minor unfavorable elements during a particular commercial flight can often arouse little notice because there may be no collective safety measuring system or metric to assemble disparate elements. However, just as the story of “the straw that breaks the camel’s back[1]” informs us, flight crew members facing unusual accumulationsContinue reading “How Unusuality and Reality Intersect in Flight Safety: A Simple Metric for Determining Major Hazards to Commercial Flight Operations from the Unremarkable Accumulation of Minor Unfavorable Elements and a Recommended Operations Adjustment Procedure to Avoid Mishap Occurrence”
Safety Forecast 