Interesting people, unusual flight plans…

Christophe Hamel – Always listen to the inner voice! After many years in aviation, Christophe is also an entrepreneur in the wellness and lighting industries. What were you dreaming of becoming when you were a kid? I was thinking of becoming a pilot and at age 15 or so, of being the owner of a… Continue reading Interesting people, unusual flight plans…

Beyond the runway end safety area

News from EUROCONTROL’s aviation safety knowledge base SKYbrary The consequences of many runway excursions, especially overruns, are made much more serious because the aircraft end up beyond the actual or nominal confines of the ICAO-defined Runway End Safety Area (RESA) and is catastrophically damaged because of major obstructions or terrain changes encountered soon after this… Continue reading Beyond the runway end safety area

Is the industry ready for this?

The northern hemisphere has just gone through its snowiest January days in 40 years and polar temperatures reached as far South as Orlando in Florida. Sure, this is not abnormal some may say… but what if we do not have to wait forty years for the next episode? An Air France flight en-route from Brazil… Continue reading Is the industry ready for this?

Air France 447 – Second Interim Report published. Cause still unknown.

News from EUROCONTROL’s aviation safety knowledge base SKYbrary The loss of AF447 over the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June 2009 is proving to be every bit the nightmare of accident investigators and safety experts alike. The French accident investigation bureau BEA has now published their second Interim Report which includes new findings and makes a… Continue reading Air France 447 – Second Interim Report published. Cause still unknown.

In memoriam Northwest Airlines

    A few years back my business required a lot of travel to and all over the United States. I was a Northwest WorldPerks member and it was of course only natural that I flew via Amsterdam and than on the NWA system in the US. Northwest was the fourth largest airline in America… Continue reading In memoriam Northwest Airlines

Standing all together… separately?

Reading the upbeat communication from the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) announcing the arrival of the airspace users on board the project, it may be worthwhile to take a look at the composition of the new arrivals and start worrying… just a tad mind you but still. There are individual airlines, both big and small and associations… Continue reading Standing all together… separately?

Is the training of air traffic controllers better?

One of the surprising and possibly unexpected early recommendations coming out of the investigation of the recent Air France Airbus 330 crash is that training in certain basic piloting skills and the handling of unusual situations must be strengthened and improved. Excuse me? Have we already reached the stage where the pilots of a sophisticated… Continue reading Is the training of air traffic controllers better?