Latest
STORIES Jan 04, 2024 Pilots Who Didn't Pay Attention Overshot Their Destination by Over 150 Miles: Northwest Airlines Flight 188 On October 21, 2009, one of the strangest aviation incidents occurred. A regularly scheduled Airbus A320 flight on Northwest Airlines Flight 188 landed over one hour late at Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP), after flying from San Diego. However, the delay was not caused by a mechanical problem or weather. The plane landed late simply because the pilots forgot to land the plane. Read More →
NEWS Jan 04, 2024 Man Dies After Climbing into Delta A220 Engine in Salt Lake City On New Year's Day, a man was found dead inside the engine of a Delta Air Lines A220 as the aircraft was awaiting de-icing at Salt Lake City International Airport. It is believed that Enfiger somehow breached an emergency exit door after clearing TSA at the airport. He then made his way onto the apron and climbed into the engine of a Delta aircraft. Enfiger was found unconscious in the engine 20 minutes later. Read More →
STORIES Jan 03, 2024 Pilot Bets He Could Land a Plane Blind, Then Crashes: Aeroflot Flight 6502 The tragic Aeroflot Flight 6502 incident occurred on October 20, 1986, as a result of a perilous cockpit bet between the captain and first officer. Captain Alexander Kliuyev attempted to land the Tupolev Tu-134A using instruments only, ignoring warnings and crashing the aircraft, resulting in 63 fatalities and seven injuries. Kliuyev faced legal consequences with a 15-year prison sentence, emphasizing the severe consequences of disregarding safety protocols in aviation. Read More →
NEWS Jan 03, 2024 Flying to Spain? Your Iberia Flight Could Be One of 444 Cancelled Due to Employee Strikes Iberia canceled 444 flights in January due to an airport employee strike scheduled for January 5 to 8. These cancellations will affect 270 Iberia flights, 64 flights from Iberia's low-cost subsidiary, Iberia Express, and 110 flights from regional carrier Air Nostrum. The strikes coincide with Epiphany on January 6, a public holiday in Spain honoring three major events in Jesus Christ's early life. Passenger traffic is expected to face significant disruptions as Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season in Spain. Read More →
NEWS Jan 02, 2024 Japan Airlines A350 Catches Fire on Runway at Tokyo Haneda Airport, Killing Five A Japan Airlines Airbus A350-900 aircraft caught on fire after landing on a runway at Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) on January 2. The A350 had flames inside that were seen coming out of the plane's windows and below the aircraft. The plane collided with an aircraft from the Japan Coast Guard that was on the runway at the same time. All 379 passengers and crew onboard were safely evacuated, with no deaths or life-threatening injuries reported. Read More →
NEWS Jan 01, 2024 Passengers Restrained on American Airlines and Qantas Flights After Dramatic Outbursts At approximately the same time, two unrelated incidents involved disciplinary actions against unruly passengers. The first incident occurred on an American Airlines flight on December 30, while the second occurred on a Qantas flight the following day. Cases involving unruly passengers have been rising since the pandemic, with these incidents increasing by 47% from 2021 to 2022. Read More →
INFORMATIONAL Jan 01, 2024 Children in the Cockpit: The Crash of Aeroflot Flight 593 The idea of having children visit the cockpit of an aircraft raises few eyebrows nowadays due to the assumption that the plane is not in flight and the pilots, who are not occupied with controlling the plane, have allowed the visit. The narrative understandably changes when the scenario changes to the aircraft being in flight. Having children or any otherwise unauthorized individual visiting the cockpit during this time is a risky endeavor. Such a scenario was present in the tragic case of Aeroflot Flight 593. Read More →
STORIES Dec 31, 2023 AeroXplorer Screener's Choice Photo Awards 2023 Out of the 11,000 photos screened on AeroXplorer in 2023, here are our favorites from every month. Read More →
STORIES Dec 30, 2023 In Case You Missed It: Our Top Stories in 2023 2023 has been a rollercoaster of a year in the aviation industry. From record-breaking aircraft orders to close calls, the past 12 months have pretty much had it all. In this exclusive end-of-year recap, take a look at some of our top stories and pieces, hand-selected by our very own writers. Read More →
INFORMATIONAL Dec 30, 2023 The Obscure A340-200 and How to Fly On It The Airbus A340 is arguably one of the most recognizable aircraft in the skies. Its triple-bogey landing gear and four engines give the aircraft family unique characteristics. However, the first A340s entered service at approximately the same time as more fuel-efficient, twin-jet widebody aircraft. As a result, only 380 A340s were built in total. Only 28 of those are A340-200s, and only two of those remain in semi-regular passenger service. Read More →