Customer Reviews

Air Disaster (Vol. 3)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sometimes, it is uncanny when the pilots say something in the cockpit that is later retrieved by the voice-recorder, it is as if they knew something was going to happen. Like the United Airlines pilot that commented: "Nice looking day - hard to believe the skies are unfriendly."

The most interesting one I found was where the Thai Airways A310 crashed into the Himalayas in Nepal. How could a plane crash into a mountain? Communication errors, mainly. But you'll have to read it to find out.

Another unusual one, was when the pilot's children came to the cockpit of a Russian Aeroflot plane and the son then "flew" the aircraft under his father's supervision, leading to the rather drastic consequences of everyone aboard perishing. It was not as you might think, the son's fault, rather, the autopilot disconnected without them becoming aware of it and the fact that the captains control-yoke overrides the second officer's.

After reading the first three books, my respect for pilots has increased tenfold. Most of them do what they think is the correct action (at the time) for averting a disaster. It is all too easy to say with the benefit of hindsight that they should have done this or they should have done that. It has also made me aware, that it is often pilot error that causes incidents. Rarely does a "wing fall off" like I used to think happened. Oh, and bring back the Flight Engineer - had they been present on flight decks during some of the more recent incidents of this book, they probably could have prevented or averted those disasters.

I would like to see the authors make a 5th instalment, focusing on more recent disasters, and ones in which the circumstances are caused by something other than turbulence or the autopilot being in the wrong mode. Such as the collision caused in Lima, Peru on October 2nd, 1997 -where a pilot radioed that his cockpit instrumentation was malfunctioning. Turned out workers forgot to remove the duct tape that they had placed over key sensors while cleaning the plane. In this edition, too many of the crashes are similar, and it is like reading the same story twice.

Air Disaster 3 lives up to the high standard of Air Disaster Volumes 1 & 2. It takes an in depth look at several major air disasters, and includes information from before the incident, then describes what happened and then explains why. Has great graphics and photos. The best Aviation Safety related book I have ever read.

Once again, Macarthur Job delves into the world that houses our darkest fears. Written in striking detail thanks to the increased parameters and quality of CVR/FDR recordings, Job takes the stuff of nightmare and soothes the reader, with the knowledge that the answer is always found at the end.

Written above the average reading level, Job does draw on his substantial experience and knowledge of the working of planes. However, even the average traveler will be reassured by the competence, while sometimes surprised by the choices, of the flight crews in this book.

I would like to see Job take on some of the more messy cases of the present days - this series is a very even-handed review of accidents with no speculation or questioning conclusions. I look forward, as always, to the next installment!

MacArthur Job's books continue as the standard by which all books on industrial accidents ought to be measured. A non-nonsense but readible prose style, an unnerving focus on the significant elements of the accidents, and the superb drawings of Matthew Tesch provide all the information in an understandable, accurate, and chilling narrative of disastrous events.

It's all too easy to imagine being in the cockpit in the last few minutes of a plane's -- and often pilots' existence.

This series is unlike any other in the field or any similar field. I've been to some of the accidents described by Mr. Job and can attest to his precise accounting of the facts.

If only Government agencies could write descriptions like this.

Volume Three of "Air Disaster" features 155 pages, with 13 different commercial aviation accidents examined within its eight total chapters. This book covers aircraft disasters spanning from 1988 to 1998.

This volume begins with the crash of a brand-new Air France Airbus A320 (registration number F-GFKC) on June 26, 1988, at a French airshow. Other accidents that are probed in-depth here include a Thai Airways A310 incident in late July of 1992; the March 22, 1992, crash of a Fokker F28 of U.S. Air at LaGuardia Airport in New York City; and the frightening adventure of United Airlines Flight 811 on February 24, 1989, near Honolulu, Hawaii, when the Boeing 747-100 suddenly had one of its cargo doors blow off while in flight.

In addition, this book examines the two Boeing 737 accidents (in 1991 and 1994) that had investigators stumped and scratching their heads for years. The two Boeing twin-jets suddenly dropped out of the sky while approaching their respective destinations (Colorado Springs and Pittsburgh), without a readily evident cause for either crash. It was finally discovered, after the 1994 disaster in Pittsburgh, that the rudder system on the 737 had a potentially-deadly design flaw, which most likely caused both of these 737s to suddenly turn sharply and dive into the ground.

Volume 3 in this series by air safety author Macarthur Job continues the rich and expertly-written tradition of the first two volumes. Definitely worth a look.

If you are interested in this topic, you'll not regret to purchase this collection. Every chapter if fully detailed with an objective description of what happened (graphics are also very detailed)... excellent work!

Simply the best books on airline disasters I've ever read. The sequential drawings that show how certain planes suffered structural beakup are fascinating and are just one example of the great amount of detail that goes into these convincing analyses.

I'm a huge fan of Mac and Matthew's work...Volumes One and Two were brilliant. My problem with Volume Three is that there seems to be less original text and more reliance on the official accident investigation reports. Still worth the purchase, however, and I eagerly await Volume Four

I just recently bought and read Air Diaster Volume 3 by Macathur Job. I have already read volumes 1 and 2 and volume 3 is just as good. He has chossen a great selection of accidents to write about this time. And as in the 2 previous volumes Matt Tesch added some great artwork to add to the effect. I think this is a great book and I cannot wait for Volume 4 to come out.

For anyone interested in airline accidents, this series is a must. Volumes 1 & 2 were outstanding, and V-3 is even better. Each event is spelled out in intricate detail, and you finish each chapter with a wealth of knowledge about the accident, the aircraft, the investigation, and the aftermath. Each accident is so detailed, it almost borders on too much without overdoing it. You come away knowing much more than you ever thought you would, and therefore have that much more insight. Highly Recommended! When does Volume 4 come out?