Download or read book Flight Failure written by Donald J. Porter and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-05-19 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A former aircraft engineer exposes the dangerous breakdown in airline safety due to lapses in maintenance and quality control. This book chronicles maintenance-related accidents –including the recent Boeing 737 MAX accidents –caused by individual, corporate, or governmental negligence and brings the industry's current state of affairs into sharp focus.The author, a former aviation engineer specializing in aircraft fault diagnosis and maintenance planning, examines how failures of the smallest of parts have brought down airliners, explaining sometimes esoteric mechanical issues for readers with no technical background. Vividly describing the terror of accidents and close calls, the author then follows the painstaking investigations to determine causes. He focuses on maintenance errors, which rank as one of the top three causes of airline accidents, and points to the factors that have led to an alarming situation-- continued reduction of licensed mechanics, the shutting down of maintenance bases in the United States, and the outsourcing of maintenance to lowballing contractors. Outsourcing has forced thousands of licensed mechanics into retirement or different careers. For those mechanics still employed in the United States, the ever-present threat to their jobs does nothing to cultivate loyalty to an employer and devotion to a task. The Federal Aviation Administration, which should be overseeing quality control, is caught in a conflicted dual role--charged with regulating safety on the one hand and assuring the fiscal stability of airlines on the other. This disturbing wakeup call for improved airline safety standards highlights the critical importance of attention to detail. Porter recommends that the numbers and job security of airline mechanics be increased and that they be vested with an authority level akin to medical professionals.
Download or read book Flight 232 A Story of Disaster and Survival written by Laurence Gonzales and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2014-07-07 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A richly detailed story that is equal parts heartbreaking, inspiring…and full of fascinating science…masterful." —San Francisco Chronicle As hundreds of rescue workers waited on the ground, United Airlines Flight 232 wallowed drunkenly over the bluffs northwest of Sioux City. The plane slammed onto the runway and burst into a vast fireball. The rescuers didn't move at first: nobody could possibly survive that crash. And then people began emerging from the summer corn that lined the runways. Miraculously, 184 of 296 passengers lived. No one has ever attempted the complete reconstruction of a crash of this magnitude. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of survivors, crew, and airport and rescue personnel, Laurence Gonzales, a commercial pilot himself, captures, minute by minute, the harrowing journey of pilots flying a plane with no controls and flight attendants keeping their calm in the face of certain death. He plumbs the hearts and minds of passengers as they pray, bargain with God, plot their strategies for survival, and sacrifice themselves to save others. Ultimately he takes us, step by step, through the gripping scientific detective work in super-secret labs to dive into the heart of a flaw smaller than a grain of rice that shows what brought the aircraft down. An unforgettable drama of the triumph of heroism over tragedy and human ingenuity over technological breakdown, Flight 232 is a masterpiece in the tradition of the greatest aviation stories ever told.
Download or read book Flying Blind written by Peter Robison and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2022-10-11 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BUSINESS BEST SELLER • A suspenseful behind-the-scenes look at the dysfunction that contributed to one of the worst tragedies in modern aviation: the 2018 and 2019 crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX. An "authoritative, gripping and finely detailed narrative that charts the decline of one of the great American companies" (New York Times Book Review), from the award-winning reporter for Bloomberg. Boeing is a century-old titan of industry. It played a major role in the early days of commercial flight, World War II bombing missions, and moon landings. The planemaker remains a cornerstone of the U.S. economy, as well as a linchpin in the awesome routine of modern air travel. But in 2018 and 2019, two crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 killed 346 people. The crashes exposed a shocking pattern of malfeasance, leading to the biggest crisis in the company’s history—and one of the costliest corporate scandals ever. How did things go so horribly wrong at Boeing? Flying Blind is the definitive exposé of the disasters that transfixed the world. Drawing from exclusive interviews with current and former employees of Boeing and the FAA; industry executives and analysts; and family members of the victims, it reveals how a broken corporate culture paved the way for catastrophe. It shows how in the race to beat the competition and reward top executives, Boeing skimped on testing, pressured employees to meet unrealistic deadlines, and convinced regulators to put planes into service without properly equipping them or their pilots for flight. It examines how the company, once a treasured American innovator, became obsessed with the bottom line, putting shareholders over customers, employees, and communities. By Bloomberg investigative journalist Peter Robison, who covered Boeing as a beat reporter during the company’s fateful merger with McDonnell Douglas in the late ‘90s, this is the story of a business gone wildly off course. At once riveting and disturbing, it shows how an iconic company fell prey to a win-at-all-costs mentality, threatening an industry and endangering countless lives.
Download or read book Air Crash Investigations The Crash of Swissair Flight 111 written by Hans Griffioen and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2009-08-01 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 2 September 1998, Swissair Flight SR 111 departed New York, on a scheduled flight to Geneva, Switzerland, with 215 passengers and 14 crew members on board. About 53 minutes after departure, the flight crew smelled an abnormal odour in the cockpit. They decided to divert to the Halifax International Airport. They were unaware that a fire was spreading above the ceiling in the front area of the aircraft. They would never make it to Halifax, 20 minutes after the first detection of smoke in the cabin the aircraft crashed in the North Atlantic near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada. There were no survivors, 229 people died in the incident.
Download or read book Air Crash Investigations Korean Air Lines Flight 007 Shot Down All 269 Persons on Board Killed written by Dirk Barreveld and published by . This book was released on 2018-10-20 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 31 August 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a Boeing 747, departed John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, United States, on a scheduled flight for Seoul, Republic of Korea. The flight had 269 persons on board. Soon after departure from Anchorage, Alaska, KE 007 deviated to the right (north) of its direct track, this deviation resulted in penetration of Sovjet Russian air space. Military aircraft operated by the USSR attempted to intercept KE 007 over Kamchatka Peninsula. The interception attempts were unsuccessful. Upon approaching Sakhalin Island, USSR, the flight was intercepted by USSR military aircraft and shot down on the assumption that is was a United States RC-135 (spy) aircraft. There were no survivors.
Download or read book Operational Experiences and Characteristics of the X 15 Flight Control System written by Robert A. Tremant and published by . This book was released on 1962 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Flight 981 Disaster written by Samme Chittum and published by Smithsonian Institution. This book was released on 2017-10-03 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On June 12, 1972, a powerful explosion rocked American Airlines Flight 96 a mere five minutes after its takeoff from Detroit. The explosion ripped a gaping hole in the bottom of the aircraft and jammed the hydraulic controls. Miraculously, despite the damage and ensuing chaos, the pilots were able to land the plane safely. Less than two years later, on March 3, 1974, a sudden, forceful blowout tore through Turk Hava Yollari (THY) Flight 981 from Paris to London. THY Flight 981 was not as lucky as Flight 96; it crashed in a forest in France, and none of the 346 people onboard survived. What caused the mysterious explosions? How were they linked? Could they have been prevented? The Flight 981 Disaster addresses these questions and many more, offering a fascinating insiders' look at two dramatic aviation disasters.
Download or read book Aviation Safety Human Factors System Engineering Flight Operations Economics Strategies Management written by Hans M. Soekkha and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2020-03-26 with total page 815 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Questions concerning safety in aviation attract a great deal of attention, due to the growth in this industry and the number of fatal accidents in recent years. The aerospace industry has always been deeply concerned with the permanent prevention of accidents and the conscientious safeguarding of all imaginable critical factors surrounding the organization of processes in aeronautical technology. However, the developments in aircraft technology and control systems require further improvements to meet future safety demands. This book embodies the proceedings of the 1997 International Aviation Safety Conference, and contains 60 talks by internationally recognized experts on various aspects of aviation safety. Subjects covered include: Human interfaces and man-machine interactions; Flight safety engineering and operational control systems; Aircraft development and integrated safety designs; Safety strategies relating to risk insurance and economics; Corporate aspects and safety management factors --- including airlines services and airport security environment.
Download or read book Flight Testing of Aircraft written by and published by . This book was released on 1967 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS Runway Overrun American Airlines Flight 1420 Killing 11 Persons In Little Rock written by Dirk Barreveld and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2019-06-26 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On June 1, 1999, at 2350:44 central daylight time, American Airlines flight 1420, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82, crashed after it overran the end of runway 4R during landing at Little Rock National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas. The flight originated from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas. There were 145 persons on board. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The captain and 10 passengers were killed; 120 crewmembers and passengers received serious or minor injuries; and 24 passengers were not injured. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable causes were the flight crew's failure to discontinue the approach when severe thunderstorms.
Download or read book Air Crash Investigations Horror in Guam the Crash of Korean Air Flight 801 written by Igor Korovin and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2010-02-22 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On August 6, 1997, about 0142:26 Guam local time, Korean Air flight 801, a Boeing 747-300, crashed at Nimitz Hill, Guam. The aircraft was on its way from Seoul, Korea to Guam with 237 passengers and a crew of 17 on board. Of the 254 persons on board, 228 were killed. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a post-crash fire. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was captain's fatigue and Korean Air's inadequate flight crew training.
Download or read book Helicopter Flight Dynamics written by Gareth D. Padfield and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-11-19 with total page 858 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Book The behaviour of helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft is so complex that understanding the physical mechanisms at work in trim, stability and response, and thus the prediction of Flying Qualities, requires a framework of analytical and numerical modelling and simulation. Good Flying Qualities are vital for ensuring that mission performance is achievable with safety and, in the first and second editions of Helicopter Flight Dynamics, a comprehensive treatment of design criteria was presented, relating to both normal and degraded Flying Qualities. Fully embracing the consequences of Degraded Flying Qualities during the design phase will contribute positively to safety. In this third edition, two new Chapters are included. Chapter 9 takes the reader on a journey from the origins of the story of Flying Qualities, tracing key contributions to the developing maturity and to the current position. Chapter 10 provides a comprehensive treatment of the Flight Dynamics of tiltrotor aircraft; informed by research activities and the limited data on operational aircraft. Many of the unique behavioural characteristics of tiltrotors are revealed for the first time in this book. The accurate prediction and assessment of Flying Qualities draws on the modelling and simulation discipline on the one hand and testing practice on the other. Checking predictions in flight requires clearly defined mission tasks, derived from realistic performance requirements. High fidelity simulations also form the basis for the design of stability and control augmentation systems, essential for conferring Level 1 Flying Qualities. The integrated description of flight dynamic modelling, simulation and flying qualities of rotorcraft forms the subject of this book, which will be of interest to engineers practising and honing their skills in research laboratories, academia and manufacturing industries, test pilots and flight test engineers, and as a reference for graduate and postgraduate students in aerospace engineering.
Download or read book AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS BURNED ALIVE IN MADRID The Crash of Spanair Flight JKK5022 written by Allistair Fitzgerald, editor and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 20 August 2008, Spanair flight JKK5022, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 departed Madrid Barajas Airport on its way to Gran Canaria Airport.During take-off the aircraft crashed, due to pilot errors, near the end of runway 36L, killing 154 of the 172 people on board.
Download or read book AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS PILOT ERROR The Crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 written by Hans Griffioen, editor and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-04 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 25 January 2010, at 00:41:30 UTC, Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 409, a Boeing 737-800, on its way from Beirut to Addis Abeba, crashed just after take-off from Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, into the Mediterranean Sea about 5 NM South West of Beirut International Airport. All 90 persons on board were killed in the accident. The investigation concluded that the probable causes of the accident were pilot errors due to loss of situational awareness. Ethiopian Airlines refutes this conclusion. Other factors that could have lead to probable causes are the increased workload and stress levels that have most likely led to the captain reaching a situation of loss of situational awareness similar to a subtle incapacitation and the F/O failure to recognize it or to intervene accordingly. Ethiopian Airlines refutes the investigation. According to the airline the final report was biased, lacking evidence, incomplete and did not present the full account of the accident.
Download or read book AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS DEADLY MISTAKES The Crash of Air China Flight 129 written by George Cramoisi, editor and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-04 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On April 15, 2002, Air China flight 129, a Boeing 767-200ER, operated by Air China, en route from Beijing, China to Busan, Korea, crashed on Mt. Dotdae, near Gimhae Airport, Busan. Of the 166 persons on board, 37 persons survived the crash, while 129 occupants were killed. The Korean Aviation Accident Investigation Board (KAAIB) determined that the probable cause of the crash was pilot error due to poor crew resource management and lost situational awareness during the circling approach of the runway. The Chinese investigation team pointed out that the Korean ATC was not fully licensed and mistakenly directed the airliner to descend to a wrong altitude and that the airport did not inform the crew of the weather conditions at the time. A contributing factor was that the airline made all announcements in Chinese and English, while most passengers were Korean.
Download or read book XB 70 Valkerie Pilot s Flight Operating Instructions written by Air Force and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2008-04-01 with total page 653 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The XB-70 Valkyrie was an aircraft ahead of its time that challenged the known concepts of the flight envelope. Originally printed by NASA and the Air Force, this handbook taught pilots everything they needed to know before entering the cockpit.
Download or read book Air Crash Investigations The Crash of Helios Airways Flight 522 written by Hans Griffioen and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2009-06-01 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 14 August 2005, a Boeing 737-300 aircraft departed from Larnaca, Cyprus, for Prague. As the aircraft climbed through 16.000 ft, the Captain contacted the company Operations Centre and reported a Take-off Configuration Warning and an Equipment Cooling System problem. Thereafter, there was no response to radio calls to the aircraft. At 07:21 h, the aircraft was intercepted by two F-16 aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force. They observed the aircraft and reported no external damage. The aircraft continued descending and crashed approximately 33 km northwest of the Athens International Airport. All 121 people on board were killed.
