Air Disaster (Vol. 2)

Air Disaster (Vol. 2)
by Macarthur Job, Matthew Tesch

Air Disaster (Vol. 2)
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Book Summary Information

Author: Macarthur Job, Matthew Tesch
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1996-04
ISBN: 1875671196
Number of pages: 217
Publisher: Australian Aviation

Book Reviews of Air Disaster (Vol. 2)

Book Review: "We're hit man, we are hit !" PSA182
Summary: 5 Stars

Since I was a child, I have always had a fear and fascination of aviation accidents. People ask me if I am afraid of flying, I tell them, "No, but I am afraid of 'not flying'".

McArthur Job's Air Disaster series (4 books) is my favorite, and perhaps the most comprehensive and detailed books on aviation accidents. It is written technically enough to engage experts in aviation field, yet easy enough for anyone to read, understand and enjoy.

I chose to review book 2 because I am most fascinated by the Sept 25, 1978 PSA-182 collision with a Cessna. I have read many other reports and accounts of this accident, and Job has written the most thorough and detailed account.

One of the reasons for this is the CVR transcript. I dont know what his resource was for the transcript, but it includes transmissions that do not appear in any other transcript I have read, such as FO Fox setting flaps and gear, and a few expressions/expletives ("Whoo!" "####") in the final few seconds of the disaster. While these by themselves do not enhance the investigation, they do give you a more accurate feeling of what those in the cockpit may have experienced.

Another reason is artist Matthew Tesch. He further dramatizes and explains the stories/reports, with a very generous supply of detailed drawings, maps, and diagrams. This is in addition to the many photos included in the book (all B&W, the only drawback).

The writing is outstanding. Job combines rich details and aviation-specific vocabulary/terminology, along with a easy story-telling style that lets you feel you are right there in the cockpit.

All in all, I would give Vol 2, as well as the entire series (although I have not read Vol 4), a full five stars.

While I think this is by far the best collection of aviation accidents, I am disappointed that there are some major events omitted (such as Delta 191), and some not so well known events included. I dont mind reading the lesser known events, I would only like to see more major events, even if the books cost more.

However, that still does not detract anything...Job has created an excellent and fascinating collection, and in my opinion these are still the most fascinating reads about aviation disasters that I could find.

Summary of Air Disaster (Vol. 2)

Air Disaster Volume 2 continues the theme established in Volume 1, examining the way the unforeseen hazards of jet age aviation progressively came to light through costly real world experience - often with an inevitable toll in tragedy and human lives.

Yet for all their grim, spectacular consequences, these harsh lessons have helped to evolve a global transport system on a scale beyond anything the world has ever seen, and at a level of safety that statistically surpasses even the normal hazards of everyday life.

Despite all of aviation's quite astonishing technical successes, and the overall standards of safety it has achieved, the art and science of advanced aeronautics and their associated technologies are not yet fully perfected. This book examines instances in which flying conditions were so adverse that accepted aviation wisdom, even after so many years and countless thousands of flying hours, was shown to be lacking. The fate of a DC-9 enroute to Atlanta in April 1977, a Boeing 727 taking off from New Orleans in July, 1982, and a Boeing 747 which flew into a cloud of volcanic dust over the Timor Sea in June of the same year, all further attest to the truth so clearly spelt out in Volume 1, that air safety standards are won at a price.

Nor has the complex relationship between technological progress and expertise on the one hand, and human frailty on the other, been fully resolved. In aviation, perhaps more so than in other fields of human endeavour, mankind remains as much a victim of himself as of the elements around him. It is ironic that while one facet of the world airline industry was operating supersonic aircraft designed to stretch one foot in length as a result of atmospheric frictional heating at Mach 2 airspeeds, another was "saving" time and effort by using a forklift to change the wing engines of a widebodied trijet - with fatal consequences to all on board a DC-10 at Chicago in May 1979. Other tragedies examined in this book, in which human failings negated state-of-the-art technology in either flying operations or engineering maintenance, tell of similar contradictions.

In this second volume, covering the years 1977 to 1991, specialist air safety author Macarthur Job and noted aviation artist Matthew Tesch continue their collaborative efforts, combining their skills and flying experiences to provide detailed, lucid analyses of the stories behind a further 15 significant jet airline disasters - and one amazing near tragedy.

Based primarily on official investigation reports, supplemented by extensive external research, each of these events has been carefully selected to exemplify the problems encountered, both operational and human, as jet airline flying moved into its second quarter century. Liberally complemented with photographs and diagrams, Air Disaster Volume 2 continues the unique style set in Volume 1, with many specially drawn diagrams and explanatory graphics. Clear and accurate, they blend actual piloting experience with artistic skill to enable readers to properly visualise the compelling events related in the text.

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