So my brother phones me while I was on course in J’berg and asks, “so did you crash the simulator”. I had to say “well, er…yes”

You might be wondering how do you crash a simulator?

Well it is really not as hard as you think. (more…)

This story is a personal favourite of mine. It was told to me by a Johannesberg Air Traffic Controller, I believe he heard it from the controller involved, but maybe he is just someone like me that was retelling the story, I cannot recall. I can surely believe it did happen at some stage.

Cargo aircraft often need to take maximum payload, sometimes more than others. If they are at that critical time that they really, really need maximum performance, they often wait until the temperature is at the forecast minimum, around 4am normally. Even at Windhoek, with approximately 5km of Runway, Russian Ilyushins have been personally witnessed removing the top of the approach lights with their undercarriage.

One night at Johannesberg, such a freighter was attempting such a takeoff, that is one where the rate of climb is often compared to “the curvature of the earth”. (more…)

We were chatting the other day about near misses, when it struck me. Why is it called a near miss? Shouldn’t it be near hit? Perhaps near miss should be used when it is actually a collision.