Flying around Christmastime can be Dangerous

This must be the ultimate Christmas yard decoration… The site is near the Oak Creek Bridge on St. Michael’s Road [MD 33]. The folks who own the property always have eye-catching displays celebrating various ‘holidays’ through the year… this year they have certainly outdone themselves!  

My Fourth Mistake as an Air Traffic Controller

  It’s a beautiful day in the Rhein Valley. A few clouds at three or four thousand feet but otherwise just great. The temperature is warm and spring is in the air. Two hours until the end of the day shift. I’m in charge of the shift for the shift supervisor has left for a… Continue reading My Fourth Mistake as an Air Traffic Controller

Margaret Sanders, ATCO – An example to follow

When I first embarked on our project to collect information about women in air traffic control in general and then about the first women air traffic controllers in the US, I did not think about a fact of life that is the other inevitable thing besides taxes… Many of those first pioneering ladies have flown… Continue reading Margaret Sanders, ATCO – An example to follow

The Responsibility of Command

The recently published report on the crash of the Polish Presidential flight to Smolensk in April last year makes very sorry reading. Not just because of the loss of life but also because of the many systemic failures it exposes. The English language version can be found here. In this short article I don’t want… Continue reading The Responsibility of Command

Anniversary – First US flight school, established by the Wright brothers, opens

100 year anniversary on 15 February 2010 Seven years after their historic first flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, Wilbur Wright was scouting locations suitable for a flight school. The idea was to train a number of pilots who could in turn teach flying to the wealthy individuals who were expected to buy the airplanes… Continue reading Anniversary – First US flight school, established by the Wright brothers, opens