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Stories from this author
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The Day I Dropped the Oxygen Masks On My Passengers
This is what happens when we rush
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Questions about the Asiana 214 crash start with: How did experienced pilots let a plane get so low and slow on a visual approach?
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The little black box that looks over our shoulder.
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Being on call means never knowing where you’ll fly from one day to the next.
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Is a minor speed-up of security lines worth the extra risk?
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“Items may shift during flight…”
…and may cause a (minor) medical emergency.
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Can someone with only flight simulator experience take off and land an airplane on the first try? I wanted to find out
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Can an ordinary person take off and land an airplane on the first try, with only flight simulator experience? We put it to the test
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Is Denzel’s Upside-Down Flying Trick Plausible?
When it comes to accuracy, Flight lost me at the walkaround
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Autopilot is one of the greatest inventions ever for pilots. But have we paid a price?
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The decision to divert to an alternate airport requires a close watch on the fuel gauge.
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One big factor in the accident: uncertainty as to who was flying the plane.
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Unless your flight is over six hours, there’s usually not much the crew can do to shave off more than a few minutes.
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A rare chance to take the controls of a 1931 Stinson Tri-Motor.
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The Captain assured the passengers that everything was under control, but I’m sure some of them thought this was the end. I would have.
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You can lead a pilot to a rest period, but you can’t make him sleep.
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New York to Mumbai, By Way of Amsterdam
A flight of firsts.
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Why go to the trouble to renew a certificate I don’t use? The bottom line is that I just worked too hard to get it.
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The Irritations of Airline-Speak
“I find myself cringing.”
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It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…
With Hurricane Irene safely behind us, I thought I’d share a story from my pre-airline days, about one of my scariest experiences as a pilot
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