# The Great Ongoing Aviation Thread (general and other) (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499 "2011-10-23T02:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 408
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8143 "2025-07-22T11:21:22Z")
Good point. I’ve told the story before but when I was in USAF pilot training in the early 1980s, one of my classmates got a B-52 assignment. His grandfather was one of the very first B-52 pilots. My classmate today is old enough to plausibly have a grandchild flying the B-52. I lost touch with him and have no idea if he really does have such. But he sure could. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8144 "2025-07-22T11:54:53Z")
The Air France issue should have been resolved en-route by the carrier. From all the articles I’ve read it was a pilot decision. Air France said it was for “operational reasons”. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8145 "2025-07-22T12:08:27Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Newer than the B-52, though. A '57 Chevy is newer than the B-52. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8146 "2025-07-22T12:28:47Z")
The B-52 / SkyWest incident sounds like the Tower’s fault. The B-52 crew was in contact with Approach Control and the Tower. Both planes should have been made aware of the other. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8147 "2025-07-22T21:59:37Z")
The SkyWest pilot sounded like he was 18 and rambled on-and-on about the maneuver. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8148 "2025-07-23T03:42:26Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > A '57 Chevy is newer than the B-52. In a bizarre coincidence, I saw a '56 Chevy on the road today. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8149 "2025-07-23T03:56:19Z")
Deleted. Wrong thread. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8150 "2025-07-24T03:17:52Z")
[Graphic video of plane crash in Italy](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=28fff17e3de8b0c6&q=plane+crash+italy&udm=7&fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZrjP_Cx0LI1Ytb_FGcOviEreERTNAkkP8Y6EXltYTGWs9RGaEMfZ2dZFFrbmM-rnqDh6hIMjQfCAhrLJz0ZmMZpUjCqTWcnwxm3CIjs0GarosQfLkZI74FJnvDMIm-XrwYNH_ZLlnLC3tycVbHgi9_Y2zDHGtoE3W6PReY7DiZvfCy8yTVgdH6w-S-Wt5wwt6R5lw8w&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiokviQwtSOAxXqlYkEHZ5kPdEQtKgLKAJ6BAgREAE&biw=1525&bih=638&dpr=0.9#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:6521c088,vid:uU-KWpahZ2U,st:0). [Mirror 23 Jul 2025](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/italy-plane-crash-jet-nosedives-35606757) Eyewitness Enzo Bregoli said they saw the plane flying low, but it did not seem to be in any sort of trouble. According to a translation of their comments to Corriere della Sera, they said: “Suddenly, the pilot seemed to lose control: the ultralight spun around and fell straight down onto the road, nose-first. If he had just tried to turn, it could have hit me. The moment the aircraft touched the asphalt, it immediately caught fire.” ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8151 "2025-07-24T12:55:21Z")
> Russia’s Interfax news agency said there were adverse weather conditions at the time of the crash, citing unnamed sources in the emergency services. Several Russian news outlets also reported that the aircraft was almost 50 years old, citing data taken from the plane’s tail number. > **[48 people die in a passenger plane crash in Russia's far east, officials say](https://apnews.com/article/russia-plane-disappears-far-east-amur-819e5bd46dfa440246f37b4d4976eb23)** > > All 48 passengers and crew onboard a passenger plane that crashed in Russia’s Far East have died, the head of the country’s Amur region said Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8152 "2025-07-25T19:23:35Z")
Here’s a bit more on that Russian crash: > **[Angara Airlines Flight 2311](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angara_Airlines_Flight_2311)** > > Angara Airlines Flight 2311 was a scheduled domestic flight operated by Angara Airlines from Ignatyevo Airport to Tynda Airport in Russia that crashed during final approach in poor visibility on 24 July 2025, during its second landing attempt. The aircraft, an Antonov An-24RV, crashed about 16 kilometres (9.9 miles) from Tynda airport into a forest near Tynda in Amur Oblast in eastern Russia. All 42 passengers and 6 crew members on board died. > The aircraft involved, manufactured on 29 January ... The info is of course real preliminary, but wiki sez … The weather was decent at the airport. Although it had probably been poor earlier. There was a weather delay at the departure airport but it’s unclear whether that was for weather there, enroute, or at the detsination where they later crashed. They had missed an approach and were maneuvering around for a second approach when they crashed ~10mi from the field. It’s a minor city in the Russian Far east, so the airport facilities and approaches are probably rather limited. Assuming typical approach procedures found most everywhere in Russia and the west, nothing about the weather suggests they should have missed that approach due to weather. Unless the approach has unusually high minimums, perhaps due to terrain. The weather may have been conducive to icing. It’s unclear whether they simply mistakenly flew into the side of terrain under control (CFIT), or they lost control first whether due to icing, instrument failure, engine failure, buffoonery, etc., then plummeted until they met the ground. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8153 "2025-07-26T01:34:01Z")
And one more time… [Southwest Flight Abruptly Drops Nearly 500 Feet to Avoid ‘Midair Collision’](https://www.msn.com/en-us/public-safety-and-emergencies/health-and-safety-alerts/southwest-flight-abruptly-drops-nearly-500-feet-to-avoid-midair-collision/ar-AA1JjMrD?ocid=BingNewsVerp) > A Southwest flight dropped 475 feet to avoid a “midair collision” with a Hawker Hunter aircraft. > > Southwest flight 1496 took off from Hollywood Burbank Airport just before noon Friday, headed an hour east to Las Vegas. But about six minutes after departure, it rapidly descended from 14,100 feet to 13,625 feet, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8154 "2025-07-26T01:42:03Z")
Whoa, whoa. A Hawker Hunter??? And the article said there were several Hawker Hunters in the area. Not impossible, but I’d like some confirmation of that. Maybe somebody heard Hawker and didn’t realize it’s a common type of bizjet? There are civilian Hunters flying as warbirds, and maybe some for commercial purposes (aggressor training perhaps), but they’re not common. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8155 "2025-07-26T02:49:27Z")
Yeah I’d think a Hunter in the US would be quite uncommon. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8156 "2025-07-26T03:05:14Z")
Looks like it was indeed a Hawker Hunter. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54679553060_73eb3bc7c2_b.jpg "Screenshot 2025-07-26 at 15.01.03") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/200199460@N02/54679553060/) ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8157 "2025-07-26T04:24:34Z")
This one appears to be civilian registration, but the pessimist in me is wondering whether there is a pattern of military/missionized aircraft causing issues with civilian operations. I think I just want to blame Trump somehow. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8158 "2025-07-26T04:34:57Z")
That’s a reach. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8159 "2025-07-26T04:36:37Z")
Oh, I know, I’m just in a mood to look for something to blame and he seems like a good target. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8160 "2025-07-26T04:49:54Z")
I see them on ADS-B down here in SoCal regularly. They’re operated by ATAC and contracted by the DoD for opposing force stuff. Dunno exactly what. > **[ATAC- Airborne Tactical Advantage Company](https://www.atacusa.com/mk-58-hawker-hunter)** > The Hunter was also a flight of two. Wingman about a mile behind the aircraft shown. They were VFR, issued a turn, reported SWA in sight. SWA was told to stop climb at 14,000, but ballooned up some and was returning down when they got the RA. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8161 "2025-07-26T07:15:50Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > SWA was told to stop climb at 14,000, but ballooned up some and was returning down when they got the RA. So SWA didn’t follow instructions and had to dive back down to their assigned altitude. What are the odds the news outlets correct their reporting. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499/8162 "2025-07-26T08:05:19Z")
The instructions might have been too late. Ye cannae change the laws of physics Jim! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499.md?page=407) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-aviation-thread-general-and-other-part-1/600499.md?page=409)