Flying Blind, Fly Safe


Book Description

Featuring new, updated information, a paperback edition of a best-seller by the outspoken former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation offers readers the vital information they need to travel more safely by air. Reprint.




Flying Blind


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BUSINESS BEST SELLER • A suspenseful behind-the-scenes look at the dysfunction that contributed to one of the worst tragedies in modern aviation: the 2018 and 2019 crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX. An "authoritative, gripping and finely detailed narrative that charts the decline of one of the great American companies" (New York Times Book Review), from the award-winning reporter for Bloomberg. Boeing is a century-old titan of industry. It played a major role in the early days of commercial flight, World War II bombing missions, and moon landings. The planemaker remains a cornerstone of the U.S. economy, as well as a linchpin in the awesome routine of modern air travel. But in 2018 and 2019, two crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 killed 346 people. The crashes exposed a shocking pattern of malfeasance, leading to the biggest crisis in the company’s history—and one of the costliest corporate scandals ever. How did things go so horribly wrong at Boeing? Flying Blind is the definitive exposé of the disasters that transfixed the world. Drawing from exclusive interviews with current and former employees of Boeing and the FAA; industry executives and analysts; and family members of the victims, it reveals how a broken corporate culture paved the way for catastrophe. It shows how in the race to beat the competition and reward top executives, Boeing skimped on testing, pressured employees to meet unrealistic deadlines, and convinced regulators to put planes into service without properly equipping them or their pilots for flight. It examines how the company, once a treasured American innovator, became obsessed with the bottom line, putting shareholders over customers, employees, and communities. By Bloomberg investigative journalist Peter Robison, who covered Boeing as a beat reporter during the company’s fateful merger with McDonnell Douglas in the late ‘90s, this is the story of a business gone wildly off course. At once riveting and disturbing, it shows how an iconic company fell prey to a win-at-all-costs mentality, threatening an industry and endangering countless lives.




Flying Blind


Book Description

Moderate-conservative radio talk show host Michael Smerconish asks theuestion: In a post 9-11 world marked by constant threat of terrorism, why ishe Department of Transportation and the Transportation Securitydministration jeopardising airline security by enforcing outdated screeningegulations that cater to political correctness?




Helicopter Flight Dynamics


Book Description

The Book The behaviour of helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft is so complex that understanding the physical mechanisms at work in trim, stability and response, and thus the prediction of Flying Qualities, requires a framework of analytical and numerical modelling and simulation. Good Flying Qualities are vital for ensuring that mission performance is achievable with safety and, in the first and second editions of Helicopter Flight Dynamics, a comprehensive treatment of design criteria was presented, relating to both normal and degraded Flying Qualities. Fully embracing the consequences of Degraded Flying Qualities during the design phase will contribute positively to safety. In this third edition, two new Chapters are included. Chapter 9 takes the reader on a journey from the origins of the story of Flying Qualities, tracing key contributions to the developing maturity and to the current position. Chapter 10 provides a comprehensive treatment of the Flight Dynamics of tiltrotor aircraft; informed by research activities and the limited data on operational aircraft. Many of the unique behavioural characteristics of tiltrotors are revealed for the first time in this book. The accurate prediction and assessment of Flying Qualities draws on the modelling and simulation discipline on the one hand and testing practice on the other. Checking predictions in flight requires clearly defined mission tasks, derived from realistic performance requirements. High fidelity simulations also form the basis for the design of stability and control augmentation systems, essential for conferring Level 1 Flying Qualities. The integrated description of flight dynamic modelling, simulation and flying qualities of rotorcraft forms the subject of this book, which will be of interest to engineers practising and honing their skills in research laboratories, academia and manufacturing industries, test pilots and flight test engineers, and as a reference for graduate and postgraduate students in aerospace engineering.




Frommer's Fly Safe, Fly Smart


Book Description

Trust the experts at Frommer's to tell you how to fly the post-9/11 skies in safety and comfort! Planes are filling up again but air travel promises to be a major hassle from now on. Frommer's Fly Safe, Fly Smart explains your rights and shows you how to survive it all -- cramped cabins, scaled-back service, interminable delays and more. Our outspoken guide gives you the inside scoop on flying in today's world: * The latest changes in airport security-plus what you can, and should, bring on the plane * What to do if you're bumped * Where the best seats are-and how to get them * Which airlines lose the luggage-and what you can do about it * On-time records for each major U.S. carrier, and safety records for the busiest U.S. airports * How to maximize your frequent-flyer miles * Where to find the cheapest air fares-and if you've been mistreated, how to complain and get compensation




Foreign Object Debris and Damage in Aviation


Book Description

Foreign Object Debris and Damage in Aviation discusses both biological and non-biological Foreign Object Debris (FOD) and associated Foreign Object Damage (FOD) in aviation. The book provides a comprehensive treatment of the wide spectrum of FOD with numerous cost, management, and wildlife considerations. Management control for the debris begins at the aircraft design phase, and the book includes numerical analyses for estimating damage caused by strikes. The book explores aircraft operation in adverse weather conditions and inanimate FOD management programs for airports, airlines, airframe, and engine manufacturers. It focuses on the sources of FOD, the categories of damage caused by FOD, and both the direct and indirect costs caused by FOD. In addition, the book provides management plans for wildlife, including positive and passive methods. The book will interest aviation industry personnel, aircraft transport and ground operators, aircraft pilots, and aerospace or aviation engineers. Readers will learn to manage FOD to guarantee air traffic safety with minimum costs to airlines and airports.




Adopted – Me?


Book Description

At the age of 43, during my divorce and a child custody battle, I found out I had been adopted. Shock and disbelief changed to a gradual urge to seek out my natural parents. Years later, I eventually found my mother hidden in a fairy-tale castle in the forest. Thats what it seemed at the time. This then led to a sister, three brothers, a father, and an even larger family of cousins and their offspring. The next thirty years were a mixture of joy, relief, happiness, and fun whilst forging a new life for myself. Later, I experienced sadness, despair, and tragedy whilst helping to alleviate my birth mothers mental illness and caring for and losing four parents. I uncovered a dramatic 1930s love affair and 700 years of family genealogy with high-ranking seventeenth-century offi cials from the Church of England. I also discovered more about my birth father, a World War II RAF fighter pilot who nearly ended up being shot, escaping from Stalag Luft III, who owned a leading sock manufacturing company in the United Kingdom, run by the family since 1882. On the family tree, I found Victor Borge, the famous concert pianist and stand-up comedian. Finding my new family has been a very happy, rewarding, and interesting part of my life.




Flight


Book Description

"Discover the fascinating stories behind humankind's conquest of the skies, from dreamers and inventors to modern-day astronauts. Take a sky-high journey through the Wright brothers' first powered flight, to Concorde's final voyage, to the tragic crash of the Columbia, and more, in this stunning book packed with information on the history of aviation. Charting the trailblazers, jet test pilots, and constant progress at the cutting-edge of technology, every aspect of flight is explored. Recalling memorable events of the sky - record-breaking flights, aerial warfare, and hijackings - Flight is the story of how our dream to fly became a reality. This visual guide features remarkable photography on every page and galleries throughout to showcase important aircraft - with multiple viewpoints and their key statistics. Anyone interested in airplanes and vehicles of the sky, and their inventors, engineers, and pilots should have this book on their shelf.




The Next Crash


Book Description

If you are one of over 700 million passengers who will fly in America this year, you need to read this book. The Next Crash offers a shocking perspective on the aviation industry by a former United Airlines pilot. Weaving insider knowledge with hundreds of employee interviews, Amy L. Fraher uncovers the story airline executives and government regulators would rather not tell. While the FAA claims that this is the "Golden Age of Safety," and other aviation researchers assure us the chance of dying in an airline accident is infinitesimal, The Next Crash reports that 70 percent of commercial pilots believe a major airline accident will happen soon. Who should we believe? As one captain explained, "Everybody wants their $99 ticket," but "you don't get [Captain] Sully for ninety-nine bucks." Drawing parallels between the 2008 financial industry implosion and the post-9/11 airline industry, The Next Crash explains how aviation industry risk management processes have not kept pace with a rapidly changing environment. To stay safe the system increasingly relies on the experience and professionalism of airline employees who are already stressed, fatigued, and working more while earning less. As one copilot reported, employees are so distracted "it's almost a miracle that there wasn't bent metal and dead people" at his airline. Although opinions like this are pervasive, for reasons discussed in this book, employees' issues do not concern the right people—namely airline executives, aviation industry regulators, politicians, watchdog groups, or even the flying public—in the right way often enough. In contrast to popular notions that airliner accidents are a thing of the past, Fraher makes clear America is entering a period of unprecedented aviation risk.




Flying Safety


Book Description