Jun 16th, 2009 at 1:00PM: Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away! Caroline asks: Can someone tell me why the pilot sometimes turns on the seatbelt sign but it's seemingly for no reason? I recently flew Dubai to London and he (or she) kept putting it on ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
planecrash posts
Plane Answers: A pilot's seatbelt sign philosophy and aircraft accident odds
Jun 16th, 2009 at 1:00PM: Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away! Caroline asks: Can someone tell me why the pilot sometimes turns on the seatbelt sign but it's seemingly for no reason? I recently flew Dubai to London and he (or she) kept putting it on ...Hawaii safer than ever (in the sky)
Apr 15th, 2009 at 1:30PM: Air tour accidents are down according to a bizarre measurement. For the current decade, crashes are down from the 1990s. However you stack it up, though, this can only be seen as a positive development. For the past 10 years, there has been an average of 2.5 accidents per year. The decade before, it was 3.6 a year. Last year was a below-average year (a good thing), with only two accidents. A ...Commuter plane crashed on way to Nome and all safe
Feb 20th, 2009 at 3:30PM: Last night a Frontier Flying Service plane heading to Nome, Alaska from Brevig Mission went down with a pilot and five passengers. Although the story is not as fantastical as the Hudson River landing, I imagine the sentiments of those on board are similar, particularly with the news of the crash near Buffalo still so recent.
According to this Anchorage Daily News article sent our way by Matt, a ...Lives saved from missed connection on flight to Buffalo
Feb 14th, 2009 at 9:30AM: Imagine this scenario. You're feeling aggravated because your flight has been delayed. Because of this delay, you've missed your connection on another flight. The hours have ticked by while you're wondering when you might get to your destination.
Then you find out that the plane you would have been on if your flight had not been delayed had crashed into a house and everyone on board had ...Sharks circling Hudson landing
Jan 27th, 2009 at 2:00PM: When US Airways ponied up $5,000 a passenger for the passengers of Flight 1549, most seemed skeptical. Commenter Bill opined, "I'm guessing those $5000 checks won't stop any lawsuits." A recent story in USA Today confirms this view. And, of course, lawyers have been contacted. Joe Hart wants his bloody nose and bruises "made whole." The salesman from Charlotte also says it's too soon to know what ...Plane Answers: Fear of flying, aging aircraft and more on those 'dings.'
Jan 13th, 2009 at 4:30PM: Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away! Brian asks: I would like to know if I have the option of knowing what kind of plane I'm in and how old it is at the time of making my reservation? Specific airplanes are usually chosen the ...Pilot hits house, crashes plane then gets up and drives back home
Nov 17th, 2008 at 12:30PM: Here is a wacky story from the aviation world; a pilot was flying his Cessna towards an air strip at the private Brookeridge Airport near Chicago, when something went wrong. During his approach, he clipped a house, crashed into some trees and flipped his plane upon impact. Luck was clearly temporarily on his side, because he was able to walk away, get into a car and drive back home. When the ...Barenaked Ladies frontman survives plane crash
Aug 25th, 2008 at 3:30PM: Ed Robertson, the lead singer of popular Canadian band Barenaked Ladies, survived a crash of his Cessna 206 yesterday, in an accident that involved Robertson and three others. The plane, piloted by Robertson, was traveling over a rural area of southeastern Ontario when its engine stalled unexpectedly.
Robertson managed to set the plane straight and land it among some trees. The four passengers ...Sudan Airways Airbus bursts into flames in Khartoum
Jun 11th, 2008 at 9:20AM: A Sudanese aircraft inbound from Damascus and Amman burst into flames on the tarmac yesterday in Khartoum as it was taxiing towards the terminal. News reporters are still sifting out the details, but it appears that the problem was not related to the poor weather near the airfield or any pilot error but rather a technical problem with one of the engines. At this point, it seems that one of the ...Bedlam at Heathrow ensues, as British Airways 777 shorts landing
Jan 17th, 2008 at 10:15PM: London's Heathrow Airport was cast into disarray today when a British Airways (BA) 777 landed short of runway 27 and nosedived into the earth before the tarmac. Several landing gear were sheared off while the airframe sustained significant damage. Amazingly, there were no casualties in the disaster, with only a couple dozen passengers being taken to the hospital for minor injuries and one ...Plane Crashes onto I-95, Pilot Found Sitting in Cockpit
Sep 22nd, 2007 at 10:46AM: This is pretty unbelievable. Bob Roberts (love the name) crashed his small plane yesterday shortly after take-off onto the shoulder of Interstate 95 near Fort Lauderdale, FL. The rescue team found him sitting upright in the cockpit, injured but OK, while the rest of the plane was totaled. I bet Bob started believing in God that instant, if he hadn't already.
Nobody on the ground was hurt, ...Kentucky Plane Crash
Aug 28th, 2006 at 11:36AM: I wasn't going to blog about this at first, but then I thought travel isn't always happy-go-lucky. Sometimes you get a flat, stuck in a ditch, held hostage, placed in the center of two hostile warring countries or your flight plunges from the atmosphere like a torpedo to your untimely death. Sure these aren't the scenarios any of us want to think about before launching into the big bold world, but ...
