Plane Crash Diaries
Plane Crash Diaries is a podcast by a pilot who is obsessed with flying and aviation. It explores more than a century of commercial aviation and how it has shaped the modern world. The series explains how flying became safer than ever, but only after a hundred years of learning from accidents and incidents. Each episode looks at the risks, mistakes, and lessons that helped reduce the dangers of air travel.
Episodes
Episode 45 - The Pitot-Tube Loving Mud-Dauber Wasp and Birgenair Flight 301
. This is episode 45 – the Pitot-Tube Loving Mud-Dauber Wasp and Birgenair Flight 301, an episode that follows an email from one of my listeners, Dr Athayde Tonhasca. HE is a Brazilian entomologist working for Scottish Heritage in the United Kingdom.
He’s going to help me tell the story of Berginair Flight 301 which crashed in February 1996.
Wasps are fascinating creatures, many are solitary a
Episode 44 - The Curious Case of Captain Button and the Pink Porn Kamikaze Pilot
Welcome back to Plane Crash Diaries with me, your host and pilot, Des Latham. Episode 44 and we’re exploring more bizarre stories of pilot suicide with the tragedy of A10 Captain Craig Button and the Kamikaze Pink Porn Pilot, Mitsuyatsu Maeno.
A listener called Clifford who’s a SouthWest Airlines pilot suggested the topic for this episode and it’s taken me a year to get around to it – the curious
Episode 43 - Lithium on Board: UPS Flight 6 and the Battery Threat Airlines Fear Most
This is episode 43, and I thought instead of taking a closer look at the plethora of pilot suicides, another topic is heating up fast. The dangers of lithium-based batteries, lithium polymers, now playing probably on your wrist theatre, or perhaps in your hand, or gauging your heartbeat, monitoring the baby, inside your laptop, powering your GPS and your vaping device.
They’re everywhere.
Lith
Episode 42 - General Aviation Training Accidents BC/AC (Before Covid/After Covid)
This is episode 42, and we’re diving into a particular category of aviation accidents — those that happen right at the beginning of a pilot’s journey. We’re talking about ab initio training mishaps.
Ab initio, Latin for “from the beginning,” refers to a training path designed for aspiring pilots who start with zero flight time. Nothing. Not a minute logged, not a system diagram understood. These c
Episode 41 - Dangerous Dalliances: EgyptAir 804 nicotine addiction & Aeroflot 821 intoxication
Episode 41 is about substance abuse, technocrats behaving badly, sub-standard crew training and fatal attractions to nicotine and C H 3 C H 2 OH — methylethyl alcohol, otherwise known as hootch, or in South Africa, dop.
This is an episode that’s longer than usual, with quite a lot of ATC sound thrown in later. I hope you find it useful - remember this series is all about aviation safety which i
Episode 40 - Shoddy Maintenance and blown screens
Episode 40 is about maintenance blunders. Aviation is littered with a long list of these, sometimes it the failure of unofficial parts, sometimes its poor management, sometimes engineers who cut corners - and believe it or not, all three.
Because the topic is vast, I’m going to return to this subject in future podcasts.
In this episode we’re going to focus on ground crews replacing important c
Episode 39 - Deadly delays during Ramadan as Saudia Airlines Flight 163 crew dawdles
This is episode 39 and we’re looking at a horrendous accident, Saudia Airlines Flight 163, a Lockheed TriStar which was gutted in a blaze on the ground on 19th August 1980 - all 301 aboard died.
The plane was registered in Saudi Arabia as HZ-AHK, and made its first first flight on 13 July 1979, and was delivered brand new to Saudia on 21 August 1979.
Some say this is a classic case of cockpit
Episode 38 - Newark Airport’s “umbrella of death” and Jimmy Doolittle’s clear ways
This episode we’re going to take a look at commercial airliners that have hit obstacles near runways and how three accidents in the small town of Elizabeth New Jersey in 1951 and 1952 led to rules about clear ways and re-zoning.
It’s important though to stress how the rules have changed improving safety particularly with regard to clear ways.
Take one of the the earliest which was the 1933 Imp
Episode 37 - Sharing the skies: A short history of bird strikes and improved safety
This is episode 37 and we’re dealing with bird strikes. The most famous of these was US Airways flight 1549 from New York City's LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte.
Pilot Sully Sullenberger and first officer Jeffrey Skiles ditched the Airbus A320 in the Hudson River off Midtown Manhattan after a bird strike led to both engines failing - All 155 on board were rescued.
This was known as the Miracle o
Episode 36 - The 1971 Aeroflot Antonov twin crashes and the ATR-72’s achilles boot
This is episode 36 and its icy cold out there - it’s time to check out the incidents involving icing - starting with a short list and general description of the causes, then focusing on the two Aeroflot Atonovs accidents in 1971 and a design fault in the ATR-72.
There’s an unfortunately long list of commercial airliners lost due to icing, more than 540 accidents and events caused by aircraft ici
Episode 35 - The 1986 Aeromexico collision over L.A. that changed aviation
Episode 35 - The 1986 Aeromexico collision over L.A. that changed aviation by Desmond Latham
Episode 34 - The British Airship accident that was deadlier than The Hindenburg
The British government was focused on making dirigibles the transport of choice in the 1930s - competing with the Germans to produce the largest, most luxurious and most convenient way to travel across its empire. In the summer of 1930 two variants were created, one designed by a government team known ironically as "the socialist" airship as it was a labour government, the other "the capitalist" b
Episode 33 - The 1948 Gatow Air Disaster and other military blunders
We’re going to look at a few examples of trigger happy pilots and missile operators, starting with the 5th April 1948 Gatow Air Disaster over Berlin as the Cold War ramped up after the Second World War.
A British European Airways Vickers VC.1B Viking airliner crashed near RAF Gatow air base, after a Soviet Air Force Yakovlev Yak-3 fighter aircraft flew into it from below.
All ten passengers
Episode 32 – Payne Stewart’s Learjet decompression death and missing maintenance logs
A listener asked me to take a closer look at the crash of a Lear jet in 1999 that was carrying golfer Payne Stewart so here we are.
Of all the crashes we’ve looked at this has to be one of the more frustrating and needs quite a bit of sleuthing. The main reason is the NTSB still has not published a final report and probably never will.
The basic facts are not in dispute – it was a case of a pl
Episode 31 - The 1983 Air Canada Flight 797 toilet fire that changed global aviation
We’re focusing on Air Canada Flight 797 that developed and in-flight fire that turned into a conflagration after it landed and the doors were opened.
23 passengers burned to death of were asphyxiated in that terrible incident.
The response to this was crucial to global aviation safety as it led to rules such as airline manufacturers having to ensure that planes could be evacuated inside 90 secon
Episode 30 - Up up & Astray with Jim Spaeth: TWA behind the scenes shenanigans
This is episode 30 and I am delighted to have special guest Jim Spaeth join us for this episode to talk about his experiences at TWA.
His life intersected with a number of accidents and he had a unique view of events he’s going to describe working as a salesman, ticketing agent and senior manager at TWA. He’s written a book called Up, Up and Astray, Memoir of an airline bachelor during the golden
Episode 29 - The 2019 TOGA switch Amazon Air First Officer panic and a Texas bay death dive
We’re going to cover an example of what happens at low altitude when pilots activate the Take Off/Go Around or TOGA switch by mistake. When there’s turbulence and a lack of situational awareness, this can be deadly as you’ll hear.
A number of aircraft recently have crashed because of pilots inadvertently activating this switch and I’m going to explain how this can happen if you’re not paying atte
Episode 28 - The Lockerbie Bombing of 1988 and how airline security improved
It was some trepidation that I’ve decided to eventually cover the Pan Am Flight 103 disaster over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 which killed 259 passengers and crew as well as 11 people on the ground.
Very few aviators or people interested in aviation are not aware of what happened to the Boeing 747 when a bomb loaded on board with other luggage blew up over Scotland. The shocking truths that were
Episode 27 - Emotional distress and the 2018 US-Bangla Airlines crash that killed 51
We’re focusing on the US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 that came in too high and fast at Kathmandu Airport on 12th March 2018 then slid off the runway and burst into flames.
51 of the 71 on board died including both aircrew.
Of all the accidents I’ve covered so far – this has to be one of the worst examples of cockpit resource management – it verges on a suicide flight particularly the last two m
Episode 26 - VOR confusion in 1986: The Tupolev crash that killed Mozambique President Samora Machel
This is episode 26 and we’re focusing on one of the most conspiracy-theory speckled accidents in history, the October 1986 crash of a Tupolev TU-134 jetliner that was carrying Mozamibican president Samora Machel. 37 of the 43 aboard died.
To say that the accident is shrouded in controversy is a bit like asking if Vladimir Putin thinks he’s Catherine the Great.
Affirm.
This is one of those incide
Episode 25 - Two mountains and four CFITs: Air India, Pakistan & Thai Airlines
This is episode 25 – and I’m going to take a closer look at the Pakistan international Airlines Crash in Katmandu in 1992 along with a Thai Airlines accident there a few week earlier.
The Pakistan crash comes via a suggestion by a listener called Herman. Thanks for the chat the other evening and also a big thank you for your great suggestion Herman.
But before then we’ll probe two other accident
Episode 24 - Alaskan Flight 1866, American Airlines Flight 965 and Don Bateman’s brilliant EGPWS
This is episode 24 and comes courtesy of a suggestion by one of my listeners called Russell – surname withheld as he’s an operating commercial pilot.
Don’t want to upset the corporation you know.
First of all, a big thank you to Russell for the research documents and information provided. This has helped a great deal preparing for this episode.
We’re looking at Terrain Awareness Warning Syste
Episode 23 - Imperial Airways and the link between flying boats and passenger briefings
This is episode 23 and we’re dealing with flying boat accidents.
You may be surprised to hear but one accident in particular involving an Imperial Airways flying boat in 1939 set in motion the use of specialised carb heaters for all aircraft. The safety inspector also recommended that all passengers should be instructed in the fastening of lifebelts and location of emergency exits as well as oth
Episode 22 - – A History of Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems
This is episode 22 and we’re going to hear more about an accident in the skies over India that was the final push in the drive to deploy traffic collision avoidance systems known as TCAS.
Initially we need to go back to the days days of commercial aviation in 1922.
Unfortunately the first collision between aircraft took place almost immediately as commercial aviation launched in the same year
Episode 21 - “An orchestrated litany of lies" the Mount Erebus disaster and a tainted investigation
This is episode 21 and we’re taking a close look at the Mount Erebus disaster where an Air New Zealand McDonald Douglas DC-10 crashed on 28th November 1979, killing all 257 passengers and crew.
At first it looked like straight pilot error - a CFIT or controlled Flight Into Terrain accident.
But that would change as inquiries led to court cases.
Of all the accidents I’ve described, this one has
Episode 20 - A catastrophic Chinook gearbox failure and a mysterious RAF crash in 1994
This is episode 20 and it’s all about helicopters. Thanks first of all to Martin Darlington who hosts History by Hollywood podcast and is a highly experienced helicopter pilot and instructor. He has agreed to help with the more technical aspects of helicopters as we probe two specific accidents and the improved safety that they helped bring about.
It sounds counter intuitive to talk in positive
Episode 19 - Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR) and Flight Data Recorders (FDR)
It was Australia that initiated the mandatory installation of cockpit voice recorders after an accident in 1960, while we’ll also probe a mid-air collision involving United Airlines and Trans World Airlines aircraft over New York in the same year. That led investigators to call for more information when accidents were being analysed.
So let’s find out more about how these two crucial bits of tech
Episode 18 - The Tenerife disaster, CRM part two & the introduction of read back procedures
This episode we’ll probe the Tenerife disaster on 27 March 1977 which remains the most deadly aviation accident in history.
583 people died when two Boeing 747s collided on the Canary Island of Tenerife - one operated by KLM and the other by Pan Am.
This led to a major aviation safety initiative the known as Cockpit Resource Management or CRM which is now part of pilot training where combined
Episode 17 - United Airlines Flight 173 flameout as pilots dither & the May 2020 Karachi crash
This episode explores an accident at a time of Covid-19 – which may be too recent to have a direct effect on civil aviation safety and yet the causes appear to be directly linked to poor Cockpit Resource Management otherwise known as crew resource management. It has caused many an incident and accident, unfortunately.
The Pakistan crash which took place in May in Karachi is also a warning about
Episode 16 - The mystery of MH370 & Malaysia’s hapless response
This episode is fraught because we just don’t know what happened to Malaysian Flight MH370 and many pilots would say any sort of scientific conclusion is going to be a jump to a conclusion.
However, I am going to take you through this event again and describe what the likely scenario was on that terrible morning back in 2014. Part of what we do as aviators is to know the truth about risk, then a
Episode 15 - The first jetliner crash, Comair flight 5191 on the wrong runway & a crocodile in a bag
This is episode 15 and its all about unusual accidents including one that most likely involved a crocodile.
But let’s start with what was called the first ever jetliner crash in 1953.That was an incident involving a de Havilland DH-106 Comet 1A registration CF-CUN operated by Canadian Pacific Airlines at Karachi-Mauripur RAF Station (OPMR) in Pakistan.
The plane was a scant two months old when
Episode 14 - Covid-19 crashes Global Aviation but here are the likely future scenarios
This is episode 14 and I was expecting to continue with the planned series but I’m afraid the world has changed in the last few weeks. Needless to say, if anything has to be done right now, it’s to understand what may happen to commercial aviation in the future.
Some airlines are close to bankruptcy, others are being bailed out. Most have cut back on operations and are considering their next move
Episode 13 - How Iran downed Ukraine Air SR752 & Social Media helped uncover the truth
Unfortunately this week we have an example of where safety was improved over the decades – but the growing tension in the world appears to have reversed some of the gains made. This is largely because of trigger-happy military personnel.
Most passengers are blissfully unaware of just how close many commercial airliners have come to being shot down in the recent past, let alone during World Wars.
Episode 12 - The 2019-nCoV coronavirus outbreak & its effect on the global airline business
We are deviating from our flight plan – last episode I said we would be covering Ukraine Air flight 752 shot out of the air by Iranian missiles killing all 176 on board.
However, there is now a major crisis that has thrown most aviation companies into chaos and its called the Coronavirus.
The logic behind this series is to reflect on how crashes improve safety – in this case I will explain how th
Episode 11 - Fires on board commercial airliners and the mystery of the SAA Helderberg
This episode covers the terrifying examples of fire on board commercial airliners.
One of the first was the Imperial Airways Armstrong Argosy II incident in Dixmude Belgium in 1933 where a fire thought to have been started by a passenger attempting to commit suicide caused the plane to crash killing all 15 on board.
It was the deadliest accident at that point in the history of British civil avi
Episode 10 - In-Air break ups, the miracle of Juliane Koepcke & the Comet Catastrophe
In this episode we’ll look at in-air breakups of aeroplanes – caused by poor flying, poor design, or poor maintenance and bad weather. In some cases all four of these together.
However as with all things aviation, every accident leads to an equal and opposite reaction .. to misquote the great Sir Isaac Newton.
That reaction luckily for us, is called Aviation safety standards. The terrible truth
Episode 9 - Boeing MAX 8 accidents & the failure of governance
This week it’s the terrible crashes involving the Boeing 737 MAX 8 – one in October 2018 and the other in March 2019.
In both cases an automated trim called the Movement Characteristics Augmentation System is believed to have been behind the accidents.
The story is also a shocking failure by the Federal Aviation Authority in managing a crisis, as well as serious questions of governance at Boeing.
Episode 8 – Japan Airlines JAL Flight 123 & the dangers of shoddy aeroplane maintenance
This episode features an air crash in 1985 is the deadliest single-aircraft plane crash in history where 520 of the 524 passengers and crew died. Remarkably, 4 survived - all women.
But this is also a story where the number of survivors could have been higher had the Japanese rescuers hit the ground earlier. As you’ll hear, authorities were alerted about the whereabouts of the crashed plane early
Episode 7 – The Lovettsville Air Disaster and lightning strikes on planes
Strap in this week, because its all about lightning.
We’re looking at one crash in particular, the Lovettsville Air Disaster which took place on August 31 1940 near the town of Lovettsville in Virginia, the United States.
There were 21 passengers and 4 crew on board and all 25 died in the accident, including U.S. Senator Ernest Lundeen from Minnesota.
As you’ll hear, his death was regarded as e
Episode 6 – The 1946 Mistberget & Gauli Glacier Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) crashes
It’s time for that terrible acronym – CFIT – which means Controlled Flight into Terrain. That’s where the pilot is unable to see the terrain for whatever reason, and believes that he or she is higher than they are, or somewhere else, or the equipment on board has failed and altitude readings are wrong. This often happens unfortunately when a let down is being flown – which is a technique that allo
Episode 5 – Miss Macao: The first commercial airliner to be hijacked
I’m your host and pilot, Desmond Latham. Every week we tackle a different area of aviation and this week it’s the history of hijackings.
The first ever hijacking of a commercial plane took place on the 16th July 1948. It involved a Catalina Seaplane owned by Cathay Pacific and operated by subsidiary Macau Air Transport Company registered in Hong Kong. At that time Hong Kong was still a British
Episode 4 – A mid-air collision involving a De Havilland in 1922 leads to the fly to the right rule
This week we’ll feature two accidents from the early 1920s that changed rules. The first is a mid-air collision that took place in April 1922 over Picardie in France, and the second was the response to an investigation into a crash of a passenger plane flying between London and Manchester in England.
As we’ll hear, both led to new air regulations and rules that we still use today including a rul
Episode 3 – Malaysian Airlines MH 17 and how it was shot down by a Russian BUK missile
Every week we delve into the causes and repercussions of plane crashes across the world and how these have led to improved aviation safety over time. This week its the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines MH17 which was hit by a Russian Buk missile (SA-11) while flying at 33 000 feet over the eastern Ukraine in July 2014.
While Moscow has denied its air-to-ground missile systems were involved, an
Episode 2- Air France 447, frozen pitot tubes & confusion on the flight deck
This is the series that tracks air disasters through history and how each has led directly to the safety we almost take for granted every time we climb aboard an airliner.
Last week it was the story of the first recognized commercial air crash involving a dirigible over Chicago in July 1919 that killed 13 people, three on board and 10 on the ground. That led to new no-fly rules over city central
Episode 1 - An Airship plunges into a Chicago Bank
This series called Plane Crash Diaries is really about how safe aviation has become. This sounds like a contradiction, but its through the experience of more than a century of commercial aviation that experts have been able to build an extremely safe sector in the 21st Century.
Decades of improving safety and regulations as well as operating procedures have led to a form of transport that is now
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