Air Crashes and Miracle Landings: 60 Narratives: (How, When ... and Most Importantly Why)
Got it. Read it. Want more. I think the book is excellent--interestingly presented and gripping to read. --Phillip Knightley, author and prize-winning journalistAVIATION ACCIDENTS INVARIABLY attract media speculation on their causes, but it is sometimes months before the official investigators issue their reports, by which time anyone without a specific interest in a crash will have forgotten how they have often blamed the pilot who was probably not to blame anyway.This new book sets out to answer how, when, and why accidents happened, such as the shooting down of an Iranian Airbus A300 by an American warship; the clearing of fog at Zurich Airport by a Caravelle taxiing up and down the runway, overheating the brakes and causing the aircraft to crash on takeoff; and even more weird, the pre-programing of a DC-10 flight to hit Mount Erebus on a sightseeing trip.There are chapters on the Amelia Earhart mystery, the shooting down of von Richthofen, the worst-ever aircraft accident at Tenerife when two Boeing 747s collided on the runway, and many other incidents. All are cataloged in detail and make very interesting reading, although not just before you board your holiday jet. It is good that these facts are published and not just forgotten.  -- Mike Hooks, AEROPLANE Magazine, September 2010The accurate details the author painstakingly assembled make it such a valuable reference for all the "classic" international jet accidents. It reads beautifully, with excellent and clear expression avoiding the tiresome cliches that unfortunately so often mar a book on this fascinating subject.  --Macarthur Job OAM, Aviation Writer and Air Safety Consultant