Aviation safety articles

Lesson learnt and videos

This section presents several aviation incident or accident videos. These videos are about commercial aviation, general aviation, military planes or helicopters. Videos showing aircraft parts tests, such as engines, are also presented. The aim of this section is to provide the reader with lessons learnt.(read more...)

The threat of drones on the safety of civil aviation

Over the past few years, drones have become increasingly popular and accessible to a wide audience, with several million in use around the world. Although primarily used for recreational activities, drones are also increasingly used for commercial and government applications, including surveillance and security missions. However, the growing popularity of drones has also created concerns about civil aviation safety. The proliferation of drones has led to an increase in incidents involving drones and aircraft, endangering the safety of passengers and crew members. Given the explosion in the number of drones in use, and the lack of knowledge among remote pilots of the rules of the air and airspace, can we speak today of a threat to civil aviation safety from drones? How do the Civil Aviation Authorities take this new trend into account? (read more...)

Worries about new airplane made from composite materials

Commercial airplane manufacturers have been using composite materials in transport airplane components for decades. But since 2011, new large transport airplane build mostly in composite have started commercial service. This is the case of the Boeing 787, and later the Airbus A350. Industry observers have raised concerns about the state of the science underpinning the expanded use of composite materials in commercial transport category airplanes and Aviation Authorities' preparedness for this transition. European and US Authorities are taking actions to address safety-related concerns linked to the use of composite structure, and the GAO (Government Accountability Office) has issue a report in October 2011 to raise its concerns. (read more...)

The Tenerife disaster (March 27th 1977)

Some 583 people died or were mortally injured on March 27th 1977 after two Boeing 747 jumbo jets collided on a runway at Los Rodeos airport, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, making this the world's worst civil aviation disaster. (read more...)

The fear of flying

The majority of people who step foot onto commercial airliners don't understand how these can even fly. Naturally their greatest concern - especially when it comes to fearful flyers - is, "what if something goes wrong when the aircraft is 10,000 meters above ground level?" (read more...)

The story of the Dam Busters

The Dam Busters were military aircraft operated during the Second World War, which were dropping bouncing bombs in order to destroy enemy dams and ships. The tuning of these specific bombs was difficult, and resulted in several aircraft accidents. In 1942, once in operation, the Dam Busters destroyed many enemy targets. Each mission was perilous as the aircraft had to fly very low, where it was exposed to enemy fire. (read more...)