Were they arguing? Were they asleep? It's not clear yet why two pilots overflew the Minneapolis airport by 150 miles before turning around in Wisconsin. What is known is that they dropped radio contact over Kansas, that Air Force fighters were put on alert, and that, according to MN Public radio, passengers saw cops and stern-looking men in suits waiting on the jetway when they were finally allowed off the plane. MSP alt-weekly City Pages aggregates info about the flight as it comes in, and discussion on local sites is spirited.
posted by COBRA! on Oct 23, 2009 - 74 comments

15 year old Kimberly Anyadike is flying across the country (YouTube) to honor the Tuskegee Airmen. [more inside]
posted by lord_wolf on Jul 1, 2009 - 6 comments

Stories that Fly is a citizen media project that features a growing collection of digital stories about general aviation. The stories are contributed by student journalists, aviators, and interested community members and cover regional airports, events, and people in the Ohio aviation community.
posted by netbros on Mar 23, 2009 - 3 comments

Pilot School. A nice collection of teevee show pilot scripts. Observe the embryonic state of many of the classics of the past few decades, including Buffy, The Wire, Hill Street Blues, Battlestar Galactica, The Sopranos and The West Wing. [more inside]
posted by Bookhouse on Nov 21, 2008 - 29 comments

A collection of airliner videos. Strangely absent: Barrel rolling a 707 [YT].
posted by saladin on Feb 25, 2008 - 24 comments

Professional Pilots Rumor Network is not recommended reading if you care to fly again. For example, you will discover that what was was initially described by the FAA as a "vibration in the No. 2 engine" was actually uncontained engine failure. Passengers who were on the flight could have told you that. Am I editorializing to say that I'm amazed that this forum is public?
posted by spock on Nov 27, 2007 - 45 comments

Wanna sell your TV show idea? There is no shortage of advice out there, or contests. Here are the winning pilots picked from this year's New York TV Festival, sort of a Sundance for TV newbies.
posted by CameraObscura on Oct 24, 2007 - 8 comments

Join Hitler and his pirate robots on a hacky journey of learning. Eight video tutorials on how to create a great video pilot (starring Jack Black, with a cameo by Andy Dick as a police car). Just be aware... true success in the entertainment business entails a lot more than just decent cinematography.
Courtesy Acceptable.tv and Channel101.com (of Yacht Rock fame.)
posted by miss lynnster on Mar 31, 2007 - 14 comments

Bruce Peterson has died. Peterson was one of NASA's top test pilots for the lifting body program, a wingless aircraft with which NASA experimented during the sixties. Peterson retired from research flying after he barely survived a spectacular crash of his M2-F2--after Peterson recovered from an oscillation in which the aircraft rolled uncontrollably from side to side, he changed course to avoid colliding with a rescue helicopter, but a cross wind shifted him to an unmarked area of the lakebed. Peterson fired his landing rockets for additional lift, but the M2-F2 hit the lakebed at 250 mph before the landing gear was fully down and locked, rolled six times, and came to rest upside down. Peterson survived, but lost sight in his right eye.

You may not have heard of Bruce Peterson, but you're probably familiar with his crash of the M2-F2, although Peterson didn't appreciate being the inspiration and backstory for another fictitious NASA pilot who was badly hurt and lost an eye when his experimental aircraft crashed. Here he is.
posted by fandango_matt on May 4, 2006 - 17 comments

The greatest Hollywood stunt pilots of them all, Frank Tallman and Paul Mantz not only looked the part, but flew camera ships, raced planes, and performed amazing aerial stunts in films for over 40 years. Not long after forming Tallmantz Aviation, Mantz was killed on location in the excellent 1965 version of Flight of the Phoenix. Tallman, grounded on FOTP due to a go-cart accident, lost his leg as a result but flew in movies for another 13 years until crashing in 1978.
posted by cenoxo on Feb 11, 2006 - 6 comments

Kamikaze. 'American and Japanese images of kamikaze pilots differ greatly. This web site explores diverse portrayals and perceptions of the young men who carried out suicide attacks near the end of World War II.'
'When Japanese kamikaze pilots carried out their attacks between October 1944 and October 1945, Japanese and American people had opposite perspectives. Japanese people saw young smiling pilots as they waved goodbye. In contrast, American soldiers viewed death and destruction when the pilots' planes exploded upon crashing into their ships. These very different points of view continue to influence Japanese and American perceptions of kamikaze pilots even until today.'
posted by plep on Mar 3, 2005 - 16 comments

It's pilot season! Each May the networks announce their fall schedules. Here are the many, many shows battling for a prime time spot. (continued inside)
posted by braun_richard on Apr 30, 2004 - 42 comments

The Hundred Dollar Hamburger. A pilot's guide to fly-in restaurants.
posted by gottabefunky on Feb 5, 2004 - 16 comments

Aviation Explorer "Your online source for aviation information and media...aviation web resources for pilots and flight enthusiasts." I'm neither a pilot nor a flight enthusiast, but still found this site interesting (especially the accidents section, which reminded me of this previous thread on cockpit voice recorders).
posted by jdroth on Jan 21, 2004 - 5 comments

Austrailian pilot stuck in Antarctica That story is interesting enough, but the background on the pilot (just your typical nurse-midwife homebuilt avionics adventurer) available here is fascinating. I love reading these stories about common folk following their dreams and accomplishing huge things. Dare I say inspiring? Lifted from SlashDot
posted by dirtylittlemonkey on Dec 11, 2003 - 13 comments

27 Israeli Pilots have been grounded by the military after refusing to take part in airstrikes carried out in the occupied territories. Some active, some retired, they were accused of "making cynical use of the Israeli air force to express a civilian view," but in a joint letter to their command, they spoke out against "air force attacks in civilian population centers." Either way, Edward Said may be resting a little easier, at least tonight.
posted by scarabic on Sep 25, 2003 - 10 comments

Want to create your own TV Show? So do some folks who aren't from the big lit up place we call Hollywood.... All you've got to do is click up on the site, sign up, pay $25 bucks, and you're in... Oh - and you have to have an idea, too. [thanks MSNBC]
posted by djspicerack on Jul 30, 2003 - 3 comments

Friendly fire pilots cleared. Even though a joint US-Canada investigation found that there was sufficient evidence to proceed with court-martial proceedings against the two pilots, no military charges will be filed.

Now, while charging these two pilots will not bring the dead Canadians back, I don't think that it's too much to ask that these two hotshots be required to face the consequences of their lethal actions.

Frankly, a court-martial is not too much to expect, in the face of the fact that these officers disobeyed a direct order.
posted by Dipsomaniac on Jun 18, 2003 - 16 comments

Man and his family booted off airplane after asking if pilots were sober. Hans von Schweinitz, on his way to go fishing in Canada, asked one of the flight crew whether the pilots had taken a sobriety test. They hadn't. A blood alcohol test kit was sent for. Two and a half hours later, with the plane sitting there on the tarmac, the pilots were found to be clean. Then they ordered von Schweinitz and his family to get off the plane, while the other passengers cheered.
posted by RylandDotNet on Jul 16, 2002 - 43 comments

USAF pilots flying combat missions on amphetamines prescribed by USAF doctors, including part time members who are also commercial airline pilots. A war on drugs indeed!
posted by magullo on Jun 5, 2002 - 43 comments

U.S. Spy agencies say Gulf War pilot likely seized. A U.S. intelligence report on the case of Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher provides the most complete explanation by the U.S. government on why the pilot probably was captured alive by Iraqis after ejecting from his F-18 in 1991. Interesting that this story comes out just as the U.S. is preparing to war on Iraq.
posted by Ty Webb on Mar 15, 2002 - 26 comments

London pilot taught hijackers I found this on MSN, and since no one mentioned it here on MetaFilter today, and it was dated for today, I decided to post it. How many people were involved in this???
posted by Katy Action on Sep 28, 2001 - 13 comments

Egyptian plane crashes and U.S. says pilot a suicide Egypt denies suicide as cause of plane that crashed just off our coast. Any connection to WTC?
posted by Postroad on Sep 19, 2001 - 5 comments

The "Tuskegee Airmen" of the Marine Corps. This is sort of a self-link; the history of the Washington DC Chapter of the Montford Point Marine Association is a project I'm working on, but I have nothing to do with their website. The Montford Point Marines were the first black Marines specifically trained to serve in combat, but very few people seem to know about them. I decided to link this after watching a special on A&E about the men who raised the flags (there were two flag raisings) at Iwo Jima. Nothing was mentioned about the black Marines who served and died there, since none of the flag-raisers were black, but they should be remembered nonetheless.
posted by jennaratrix on Jun 21, 2001 - 5 comments