The sheer (misplaced) confidence of some men

Very curious to learn how this flight came so close to disaster. Those light poles are waaay below the glide path.

Do you have a bone to pick about some aspect of the DCA mid-air? ATC working conditions, DCA traffic, army aviation safety culture, whatever it may be—please send me any links about it that you think I should read before I put pen to paper for my draft article, and I'll add them to the stack.

Someone from China FOIA requested the NTSB for any documents related to their participation in the investigation into the 2022 crash of China Eastern Airlines flight 5735, widely speculated to be a case of pilot suicide. The documents are mostly boilerplate but we did get an FDR data plot:

I think my wild road trip vacation had its intended effect. I'm getting way more work done now than I have in months. I just wrote an entire Mentour Pilot script in one day. Potomac midair research is moving faster again too.

Takeaways from the NTSB's preliminary report on the Jazz 8646 crash at LaGuardia: data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen... - No testimony yet from the truck driver - Truck 1 turret operator said he heard "stop stop stop" twice, first time wasn't sure it was for them, second time they were already on RWY (1/?)

Just posting a thread with some of my favorite photos from the trip now that I've done some basic culling/editing, they're not that good because I took them on a 9 year old iPhone but I hope you enjoy. The Colorado Plateau is the most beautiful place on earth IMO

I'm back from my road trip and I want to get right into working on articles & scripts but I instantly came down with a cold. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, some trip highlights:

We got a flat tire on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, got towed 68 miles into the Route 66 town of Milan, New Mexico, got the tire fixed, and ended up at a recently opened southern-Caribbean-Mexican fusion restaurant with the best fish & chips I’ve had. This is what road trips are about

If you're wondering where I've been and what I'm doing... it's mostly been this

This is the first notable accident that I'm aware of in which the aircraft was equipped with a 25-hour cockpit voice recorder. This aircraft had one even though the deadline to retrofit existing aircraft with 25-hour CVRs is not until 2030 in the US, and no requirement exists yet in Canada.

WATCH: New video shows Air Canada flight crashing into rescue truck at New York airport

LaGuardia AC8646.

Air Canada Jazz CRJ hit a fire truck while landing at LaGuardia. Unconfirmed 2+ fatalities. Doesn't look good

What's happening with Controlled Pod Into Terrain? I have bad news about past episodes, and good news about its future.

For everyone's information, I'm aware that the CPIT back catalog is down. Unfortunately it may not be coming back; I will update in the next few days. No we haven't been hacked or copyright struck, it's an internal issue. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Why do Hawker business jets keep crashing during post-maintenance stall tests? What ought to be done about it? Read my new deep dive here: admiralcloudberg.medium.com/the-most-dan...

Expect the Hawker stall test article in a couple of hours!

@donoteat.bsky.social Horrifying "Safety Third" material from a friend of mine who shall remained unnamed. Folks if you have to get rid of diesel DO NOT DO IT POUR IT INTO SOME POOR BUSINESS'S SUMP.

The NTSB has released its 419 page final report on the DCA mid-air: www.ntsb.gov/investigatio... I'm expecting to finish my Hawker stall test article tomorrow, and I'll start diving into this crash immediately after.

I think the Hawker stall test article should be done in the next couple of days, at the current rate. I'll get more specific soon!

Hi everyone, my mental health is maybe sorta recovering after falling off a cliff. At this point my research on the Hawker stall test crashes is pretty much done except I'm still waiting to hear back from some Hawker test pilots, if any of them will talk to me. DCA mid-air is still next after that.

At its meeting minutes ago, the National Transportation Safety Board adopted the following probable cause and contributing factors to the January 2025 DCA mid-air collision. See replies for a few notes

Ugh. www.cnn.com/2026/01/25/u...

So if you're wondering where my updates are and when my next article is coming out... I may have had a bit of a mental breakdown lately, I've barely gotten anything done for the last week. I promise you it's still coming but as you're all so fond of reminding me, my own well being does come first.

Many of you have already seen this, but if you haven't, the new NTSB update on the UPS MD-11 crash has some interesting new information. I recommend reading directly from the source rather than news media, feel free to ask me any questions it raises. www.ntsb.gov/investigatio...

The NTSB will determine the probable cause of the Potomac mid-air on January 27th with the final report to release approx. 2 weeks after. As soon as it's out I will start working on an article. For now I've been working on a piece on the Hawker 900 stall test accidents.

A new story of heroism and luck in the early jet age, written for Mentour Pilot by yours truly: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M_H...

Azerbaijan has sharply criticized Russia after Moscow suspended the criminal investigation into the 2024 AZAL plane crash. FM Jeyhun Bayramov says the move raises serious questions, noting Russia admitted its air defense downed the aircraft. Baku expects Moscow to fulfill its obligations.

This was such a cute brave lil mushroom that it inspired me to art. Happy holidays! ❤️✈️🍄

On the 30th anniversary of the disaster, Mentour Pilot retells the story of American Airlines flight 965. Research and script by me. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-jK...

This is by far the best article about the DCA mid-air and the systemic issues in that airspace that I have read to date: theaircurrent.com/aviation-saf...

Not a plane crash but I saw a cool mushroom today.

It's time for the article you've all hopefully been waiting for. Enjoy my dive into a part of the aviation industry that respectable experts ignore! admiralcloudberg.medium.com/dark-network...

The text of my article on the 2003 Timor-Leste Il-76 crash is done. I'll be uploading it late in the day on Saturday the 13th (early Sunday the 14th if you live in the eastern hemisphere). I can't believe I spent over a month thinking about this story, but it just would not stop.

So, if you're someone who follows the bureaucratic side of aviation safety, you probably already know about this, but if you aren't, you might not. This is something that I feel the need to raise awareness about. (1/10)

After weeks of development hell, my most ambitious Mentour Pilot script to date has finally seen the light of day. Enjoy! www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0B4...

You know an article is gonna be weird when I spend most of the first 2.5 pages explaining the history of the country where it takes place

Teaser for my upcoming article (and the answer to my earlier hint).

Figured I'd drop a hint about my next article: It takes place in a country that has never previously been mentioned in any previous articles.

Boeing recommends MD-11s suspend operations “while additional engineering analysis is performed,” as the investigation into the crash of #5X2976 continues. The recommendation affects 54 active MD-11s across 3 airlines. www.flightradar24.com/blog/aviatio...

❗️UPS is grounding its MD-11(F) fleet with immediate effect at the recommendation of the aircraft manufacturer. There are currently 26 MD-11s in the UPS fleet of 294 total aircraft. www.flightradar24.com/data/airline...

The scale of the Louisville crash scene is mind-boggling. Massive props to everyone currently working on this horrible tragic mess.

My thoughts are with the victims of today's UPS plane crash, but they are also with the NTSB investigators who, tomorrow, will dig through half a mile of toxic debris to find the black boxes, all without being paid. Godspeed to them as well.

BREAKING: Video shows crash of UPS Flight 2976 while taking off from Louisville International Airport in Kentucky

BREAKING: UPS cargo plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, crashes near Louisville International Airport in Kentucky

In my latest contribution to Mentour Pilot, Petter and I re-examine the evidence from an accident from 27 years ago in light of current aviation science: www.youtube.com/watch?v=y__D...

New article is out! Read this harrowing story here: admiralcloudberg.medium.com/four-minutes...

My Mexicana 940 article is on track to release tomorrow! (US Pacific time)