Fear of Landing

The Art of Not Hitting the Ground Too Hard

  1. Petrified, Petrified, Petrified

    There’s been some interesting reporting in the UK media about a “near disaster” over Canary Wharf involving the captain having to intervene (the horror!) after air data systems failed on approach, triggering a stall warning. “Senior figures described how the plane almost suffered a ‘hull loss’ – aviation language for serious damage to or the…

  2. Forced Down North of the Arctic Circle

    Despite the name, Coldfoot Airport, Alaska was pretty warm on the morning of the 22nd of June, 2026: a pleasant 17°C/63°F  with a mild breeze of 5 knots and good visibility. It was a great day for flying. Coldfoot is remote: a tiny settlement about sixty miles north of the Arctic Circle with a population…

  3. The CIA’s Shark Screen

    Today we have a guest post from the CIA! In their archives, researching something completely different, I found the answer to a question I never thought to ask. I immediately knew you’d be interested too. It was originally published on cia.gov in 2019 and reprinted with permission. I did my best to recreate the images,…

  4. Death of a Flight Instructor During a Training Flight

    Last Saturday, the 4th of July 2026, a 22-year-old low-hour pilot departed for a flight with a flight instructor at Coronel Olmedo Airport in Córdoba, Argentina. Coronel Olmedo (SACD) is an uncontrolled airfield with a single unpaved runway (5/23) of around 4,000 feet/1,200 metres in length. The small airfield hosts a number of flight schools.…

  5. Fatal SR22 Stall on Final at Barwick LaFayette

    On the 20th of March, 2025, a Cirrus SR22 crashed in LaFayette, Georgia during an instructional flight, killing both the pilot and the flight instructor. It was a good flying day, good visibility, scattered clouds at 4,300 feet with light wind. Both the pilot and the flight instructor had a free day and agreed to…