Author Archive
 

 

Turbulence: Everything You Need to Know, Part 2

Patrick Smith delves into wake turbulence, explaining the various factors behind this airborne phenomena and how pilots protect against the dangers of wake upsets.
by Patrick Smith
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Computer rendering of the KLM and Pan Am 747s colliding at Tenerife.

WE GAAN: The Horror and Absurdity of History’s Worst Plane Crash

Like most other aviation calamities, the 583 people killed in 1977 when a KLM 747 struck a Pan Am 747 at Tenerife resulted not from a single error or failure, but from a chain of improbable errors and failures, together with a ...
by Patrick Smith
10

 
 

Terminal Madness: What is Airport Security? (Part One)

In America and much of the world, security enhancements put in place following the catastrophe of September 11th, 2001, have been drastic and of two kinds: those practical and effective, and those irrational and pointless.
by Patrick Smith
 

 

 

The Continuing Mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

People keep asking “how can a plane simply disappear?” It’s an idea that doesn’t seem to compute in an age of instant and total connectivity.
by Patrick Smith
5

 
 

The Yin & Yang of Airline Identity (Part One)

Since the dawn of civil aviation, airlines have been devising and revising what they believe to be meaningful identities. But it’s the logo around which everything else revolves.
by Patrick Smith
6