Undue haste in completing the pretakeoff checklist, and a first officer inexperienced on the aircraft type, set the stage for erroneous and misleading airspeed indications. But greater attention to the attitude instruments could have shown the errors for what they were – and averted a tragedy. On the face of it, it seemed only appropriate that ... Read More
Archive for ‘Real Stories’
This bit of Wild West action was seen on the tarmac at Ayers Rock recently. While sitting in our aircraft waiting to be refuelled I noticed a large tumbleweed tumble out onto the tarmac. With a light wind to help matters it then rolled past a Qantas 737 and headed for the runway. A couple ... Read More
March 6, 2012 Category: Humorous, Real Stories - Other No Comments 
Aircraft Type - Swearingen Metro Location - Wellington, NZ. MAYDAY!... MAYDAY!... MAYDAY!... WELLINGTON CONTROL, METROLINER LIFEFLIGHT ZERO TWO, RIGHT ENGINE FIRE INDICATION, REQUEST PRIORITY DESCENT TO WELLINGTON..." Our flight originated from Auckland International on a medical mission to Wellington to collect a patient experiencing difficulties during pregnancy, from memory. The callout was generated on a Saturday evening just after ... Read More
February 28, 2012 Category: Real Stories - Pilots No Comments
Like other countries that are signatories to the Chicago Convention, Australia uses different classes of airspace (classes A, tightly controlled airspace, through class G, uncontrolled airspace) for air traffic controllers to separate aircraft depending on where that airspace is located. Capital city airports use an airspace classification that is quite different to that located at ... Read More
February 23, 2012 Category: Real Stories - Pilots, The Inside News No Comments
The Karamea Valley. Aircraft Type - Cessna 206 Location - Karamea, NZ One cool morning following an overnight in Karamea (on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island) I obtained a weather forecast and found it was good for our flight with a warm front expected to hit the West Coast after 5pm local time. It was ... Read More
February 23, 2012 Category: Real Stories - Pilots No Comments
Back in Kalgoorlie. Aircraft Type – Cessna 210 Location – Kalgoorlie, Western Australia Kalgoorlie – even the name sounds dry and dusty. Situated smack-bang in the heart of the West Australian goldfields, Kal (as the locals call it) is a rough and ready gold town. It’s got the reputation of being the richest square mile of dirt on ... Read More
February 23, 2012 Category: Real Stories - Pilots No Comments
Aircraft Type - R22 Location - Qld, Australia Maybe I should retitle this story HARD LESSONS in wind shear! As a pilot I was well aware of the dangers of windshear, however being a rotary-wing pilot with a small amount of fixed wing time my experiences had taught me that windshear was much less of an issue ... Read More
February 23, 2012 Category: Real Stories - Pilots No Comments