Disasters in the Air: Mysterious Air Disasters Explained [Hardcover]

Jan Bartelski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 22, 2001

Renowned air accident investigator Jan Bartelski tackles some of the most mystifying air disasters since World War II. Many of these cases remain officially unsolved, but Bartelski offers theories that may explain these puzzling crashes.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Crowood (June 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840372044
• ISBN-13: 978-1840372045
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,847,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AIR DISASTER FROM THE PILOT'S PERSPECTIVE, February 27, 2009

By 

Severin Olson (Hyattsville, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Disasters in the Air: Mysterious Air Disasters Explained (Hardcover)

Many books have been written on plane crashes, so what makes this one special? The answer lies with the author, who for a time was president of the International Air Line Pilots Assn. After serving in the RAF during WWII, he went on to a long career in aviation, primarily with KLM. So he is often directly connected to the disasters he writes about. For instance, he warned the Egyptian airport authorities about unsafe conditions at Cairo that contributed to a series of accidents in the 60's. In another instance he was in flight when a nearby plane was hijacked. In the next to last chapter he questions the findings on history's worst accident in the Canary Islands, where the report relied heavily on assessments of the KLM pilots' personalities. Barteslki knew the pilot, so his doubts carry a lot of weight. Again and again the reader will see air disasters from the vantage of an insider. The author knows his stuff.

As one might expect, the book strongly defends the pilot, first line of defense against a crash. In several cases, we are even told of cases where pilots were held criminally responsible for accidents, or threatend by angry locals looking to avenge a loved one. Bartelski worked for many years to protect his colleages from such treatment, and helped reform aviation law.

'Disasters in the air' got less attention than others on the subject, hence I am the first reviewer here. The reason may be partly that Bartelski spends too much time on cases of interest to him only. More major disasters should have been included in the book. But air disaster readers should be sure to include this one in their collection.