Plane Crash: The Forensics of Aviation Disasters

by George Bibel, Robert Hedges

One of the most amazing feats of modern life is the frequency with which airplanes safely take off and land: about 40,000 times a day in the United States alone. Commercial aviation is by far the safest mode of transportation and is becoming safer all the time. But on the exceedingly rare occasion that a plane does crash, comprehensive accident analysis, thorough investigation, and implementation of remedial actions significantly reduces the probability of an already remote event ever recurring.

Plane Crash, an unprecedented collaboration between mechanical engineering professor George Bibel and airline Captain Robert Hedges, shares the riveting stories of both high-profile and lesser-known airplane accidents. Drawing on accident reports, eyewitness accounts, and simple diagrams to explain what went wrong in the plane and in the cockpit, Hedges provides invaluable insight into aviation human factors, while Bibel analyzes mechanical failures. No prior scientific knowledge is needed to understand the principles and procedures this book describes, only an interest in the view from what Captain Hedges describes as "the best seat in the house."

Organized around the phases of flight--takeoff, climb, cruise, approach, and landing--this book is a captivating look at some of the most dramatic plane crashes of the modern age, including Asiana Airlines 214, Air France 447, and Malaysia Airlines 370. If you have ever wondered what goes through a pilot's mind as a flight takes a turn for the dangerous, what impact turbulence actually has on flight safety, or even just how the wonders of aeronautics work to keep passengers safe day in and out, Plane Crash will both fascinate and educate.

Genres: Aviation, Nonfiction

328 pages, Hardcover

Published March 14, 2018

Reviews

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Perhaps the best subtitle for Plane Crash is the science of Aviation Disasters. Because unlike most books on the subject, this one is highly technical. To his credit, the author does attempt to explain all the mathematical formulae and phsyics as best he can - but this is never going to be a layman's book on plane crashes. Rather, the author breaks down plane crash types, the physics behind them, and how the problem as addressed and then remedied. His scientific analysis is complemented by observations of pilot Captain Robert Hedges.

The book is organized by the phases of flight and the accidents that were most interesting: Takeoff!, Takeoff (never mind), Controlling the plane, Vanished!, Practice makes perfect, Turbulence, The 168-Ton Glider, Approach, Landing. Epilogue. In each of this sections, he starts with a seminal plane crash, dissects it along with flight physics/math, and then discusses other crashes that were similar.

As an example, the first chapter starts with the crash of MK Airlines 62 in 1990 in Canada. It was notable for being a takeoff crash - the plane supposedly never left the ground. In going through the clues, discussions are created of takeoff angles, berms, pressure bulkhead locations, angle of attack, airflow, air deflection, ground pressure idle, acceleration knots, EPR amounts, runway length, locations of tail strikes from the doomed plane, take off weight calculations, runway gradients, Vr rotation speed, takeoff safety speed, etc. It gives you sentences such as: "The correct takeoff speeds for the Halifax accident flight were V1 = 150
knots, VR = 162 knots, and V2 = 172 knots. The incorrect speeds, used for
a plane that weighing 250,000 lbs less than the actual takeoff weight of
780,000 lbs, were V1 = 128 knots, VR = 128 knots, and V2 = 137 knots." or "The density of air is sensitive to changes in altitude and temperature.
The density of “standard air” (59°F at sea level) is 0.076474 lbs/foot3, about
2 lbs per cubic yard. Two extremes might be Anchorage (elevation 151 feet)
at −40°F (0.094 lbs/foot3) and Denver (elevation 5,431) at 100°F (0.0577 lbs/
foot3)—a swing of ±24%."

That's a lot of math! But the book is incredibly thorough and it is quite amazing in its depth and breadth of the subject. Anyone interested in aviation will likely find this compelling since the author treats very scientific subject manner in a smooth and matter-of-fact way.

But those looking for information on airline accidents (e.g., fans of "Mayday/Air Crash Investigators") will be daunted by the sheer amount of technical information. This isn't a breakdown of a crash so much as a breakdown of how planes fly and where they fail. There's far too much technical to make a cohesive 'story' and this is more about understanding planes rather than understanding plane crashes in particular. That's not a bad thing.

Plane Crash is extremely well written in that I am not a technical person nor did I study physics or math for my degree yet I found nearly all of the book to be readable (though I skipped over the breakdowns of the mathematical formulae and the more technical aspects of flight since they were not of interest to me). And this greatly increases my respect for all that goes into sleuthing the reasons why a plane crashed and how to prevent such accidents from happening again. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Nikky Southerland · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating mixture of engineering and pilot perspectives into all stages of modern aviation. The book provides in-depth looks at avionics, airplane design, crew resource management, and physics. There's not a lot of fluff here: the chapters dive right in to the meat of the content without too much preamble.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting, less worrying than you might expect. Good mix of physics, engineering, and aviation talk. Having Captain hedges explain some points from the position of the pilot was fascinating.

Could have done with a little tightening in the editing (there was some superfluous repetition), but doesn't detract enough to take a star away!