Francisco Cunha
@OnDisasters • 70,661 subscribers
Mostly aviation safety, with an appearance on Mayday - ACI: deviations include auto racing, true crime, and whatever I feel like.
Shorts
![The War was cold, but accidents happened... May 25 1968: a Soviet Air Force Tu-16 "Badger" [Reg. Unknown] crashes 150 mi West of Norway, all 6 aboard die. Jet made a low pass near US Navy aircraft carrier USS Essex (CV-9), flying just 50 ft above the sea, when the wingtip hit a wave that sent the bomber into a cartwheel. The accident was captured in camera by a US film crew that was aboard the ship. More info below ⬇️ 🧵 ‘I was there and watched the entire thing while working on the flight deck. I was a helicopter mechanic in HS-9 at the time. When it overflew the flight deck you could feel the heat and smell at jet exhaust. After the flight deck overfly (starboard to port) he continued to fly away from the ship at low level. He gained a little altitude and started to make a left turn, leveled back out, lost altitude and just when it looked like he was going to make a controlled ditching his left wing dipped and hit the water and then he cartwheeled in a ball of flame.. Our helicopters were in the air already and made a beeline for the crash, hovered in the smoke but no one survived.’ Extra info with statements by an eyewitness are from an article from "The Aviation Geek Club" (will add link to their full article later](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2059031943728013425/ext_tw_video_thumb/2059031920848023552/pu/img/ibHzHsdZWHR-V-IZ.jpg)
![May 19 1956: a US Navy F-9 [141065] crashes while landing on Carrier USS Essex (Location of ship unknown). Fighter broke landing gear on touchdown. Aircraft slid off deck and fell into sea, on the carrier´s aft. Pilot was rescued by a support helicopter on standby.](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2056540552368115955/ext_tw_video_thumb/2056540525470044160/pu/img/Ab2dlWiguFuWdRdq.jpg)
![OTD in 1975: a General Dynamics prototype YF-16 [72-1568] crash lands in Texas (US). Test pilot Neil Anderson made a wheels-up landing in a grassy area along the runway after reporting landing gear problems. He was unhurt, jet rebuilt, and testing program continued.](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2052539139837378749/ext_tw_video_thumb/2052539119343960065/pu/img/HIOVPFGG4YML-xO1.jpg)
![OTD in 1987: a US Navy A-6 [15565] crashes off Florida (US), 2 crew survive. When landing at Carrier USS Lexington, the aircraft´s arrestor cable broke, jet dropped below deck height. Crew ejected safely, plane climbed away unmanned, as seen on this carrier surveillance camera. More info below ⬇️ 🧵](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2053988703320572194/ext_tw_video_thumb/2053988692067336192/pu/img/FAdG_4IkO-UkQRPD.jpg)
![😳😳 Not the most comforting of cabin views... Passenger seat of yesterday´s B-737, experiencing an uncontained #1 engine failure over Nigeria. Thankfully it was only a scare. They were very lucky that they landed safely. Debris went so far that they actually hit the tail. The aircraft involved was a B-737 [Reg. 5N-MJF] was operating as Arik Air flight WP740 from Lagos to Port Harcourt. Crew was able to land safely in Benin, no one was hurt.](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2021906195976450091/amplify_video_thumb/2021906077307351046/img/w1XATT8l3xgO-Hu2.jpg)
Videos
The accident was this one: Air France Flight 447, an A330, went down North East off Brazil. Aircraft disappeared on a transatlantic route, wreck was found 1300 miles northeast of Natal. Investigators pointed to a combination of frozen sensors and pilot actions/training resulting in loss of control. Seeing the accident reenactement, namely the scenes in the cockpit, was terrifying. Putting it very simply, the crew got confused by a simple issue and ended up entering into an irrecoverable scenario. (and as pointed by KC-10 Driver ✈️ 👨✈️ B-737 Wrangler its likely that this court case is to end on appeals. Its not the first lawsuit related to this occurrence)
Francisco Cunha3,435,499 views • 13 days ago
43 years ago today: a watershed event on aviation safety June 2 1983: Air Canada Flight 797, a DC-9, suffers an onboard fire over Kentucky (USA). The crew was able to make an emergency landing, but 23 of 46 aboard died in a flash fire on the ground. The accident became a case study for safety regulations, namely on cabin evacuation and fire detection. More details below The jet experienced an in-flight fire that originated near the rear lavatory. The fire spread between the outer skin and inner decorative panels, filling the cabin with toxic smoke. It also burned through critical electrical cables, disabling most cockpit instrumentation and forcing a diversion to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. 90 seconds after landing, when the doors were opened, the influx of fresh oxygen caused a backdraft. The interior was rapidly engulfed in flames, killing 23 passengers—half of those on board—who were unable to evacuate. The accident prompted major changes to global aviation regulations. New requirements included smoke detectors in lavatories, floor proximity lighting for exit paths, enhanced firefighting training and equipment for crew, and updated evacuation procedures. Aircraft manufacturers must now demonstrate that their aircraft can be fully evacuated within 90 seconds, and passengers seated at overwing exits are required to assist in emergencies. Among the fatalities was Canadian folk musician and songwriter Steve Rogers. He was only 33 at the time. Also killed was George Curtis Mathes Jr., whose company “Curtis Mathes Corporation” famously marketed color TV sets in the 1970s. 🎥 WCPO 9
Francisco Cunha123,230 views • 1 day ago
49 years ago today: America´s worst air disaster May 25 1979: American Airlines Flight 191, a DC-10, crashes on takeoff from O'Hare (Chicago, US). All 271 aboard plus 2 on the ground die, the deadliest airliner crash in US, a figure only surpassed by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. On take-off, the engine separated from the wing due to improper maintenance, damaging hydraulics, and causing loss of control, as detailed below. Specifically, it was determined that during takeoff rotation, the No. 1 (left) engine separated from the left wing, flipped over the wing, and landed on the runway. The separation severed the hydraulic lines that lock the leading-edge slats in place and damaged a 3-foot (1 m) section of the left wing’s leading edge. Aerodynamic forces then caused an uncommanded retraction of the outboard slats. As the aircraft climbed, the damaged left wing generated substantially less lift than the right wing, whose slats remained deployed, and the engine provided full takeoff thrust. The resulting aerodynamic imbalance produced an abrupt left roll to a 112° bank angle—partially inverted—before the aircraft crashed in an open field adjacent to a trailer park near the runway’s end. The engine separation was caused by structural damage to the pylon, resulting from improper maintenance procedures at American Airlines, which are detailed in the thread below 1/6 ⬇️ 🧵 Video – Plane N´ Boom (animation from Mayday ACI series)
Francisco Cunha403,870 views • 9 days ago
“While rushing to the car, I noticed small splotches of a peculiar gray substance marking a trail on the asphalt leading up to the driver. When I reached the car, I was shocked to see that Smiley's helmet was gone, along with the top of his skull. He had essentially been scalped by the debris fence. The material on the race track was most of his brain. His helmet, due to massive centrifugal force, was literally pulled from his head on impact ... I rode to the care center with the body. On the way in I performed a cursory examination and realized that nearly every bone in his body was shattered. He had a gaping wound in his side that looked as if he had been attacked by a large shark. I had never seen such trauma.” Description of CART medical director Steve Olvey on the accident that killed Gordon Smiley, that happened on this day in 1982. During qualifying, on the second warm-up lap, his March 81C Cosworth began to oversteer on turn 3, causing the car to slightly slide. When Smiley steered right to correct this, the front wheels gained grip suddenly, sending his car directly across the track and into the wall nose-first at nearly 200 mph (320 km/h). He was killed instantly. According to team mate Desiree Wilson, (…) “the biggest piece was a little ball of engine. There was nothing else except shattered bits, a bit of gearbox, a bit of a wheel, not even a seat. It was very ugly.”(…) This was Smiley´s third run at Indy after competing mostly on the US domestic series, but the driver obtained a record overseas that remains to this day. In 1979, Smiley raced in the British Formula One Championship (sometimes called the "Aurora Formula One Championship") that used mostly obsolete F1 cars. Smiley won a race, and to this day, this is the last F1 win by an American driver in a FIA-sanctioned event. (I will drop more details on Smiley´s career in a video in the comments)
Francisco Cunha605,276 views • 20 days ago
![32 years ago today: the controversial British Chinook crash June 2 1994: a RAF Chinook [Registration “ZD576”] crashes in Strathclyde (Scotland). Flying under heavy fog, the helicopter impacted the Mull of Kintyre. All 29 aboard died in the RAF´s 4th worst peacetime disaster. Among the passengers were almost all the United Kingdom's senior Northern Ireland intelligence experts, which fueled speculations of a terrorist attack. Early inquiries pointed to pilot actions, but these were later cleared, with findings showing evidence of mechanical failure, as detailed below. In 1995, an RAF board of inquiry concluded that the exact cause of the accident could not be determined. This finding was overturned by two senior reviewing officers, who ruled that the pilots were grossly negligent for flying too fast and too low in dense fog. The decision proved highly controversial, given known irregularities and technical issues with the new Chinook HC2 variant, as well as pre-crash problems with the specific “ZD576” airframe. A 2001 parliamentary inquiry declared the gross negligence verdict unjustified. In 2011, an independent review cleared the crew of negligence and confirmed that the RAF had falsely declared the aircraft compliant with airworthiness regulations. Video – excerpt from the TV series “Seconds to Disaster”](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2061840901211627946/ext_tw_video_thumb/2061840864394055681/pu/img/C5_Xs_PZ0OgEORiM.jpg)
32 years ago today: the controversial British Chinook crash June 2 1994: a RAF Chinook [Registration “ZD576”] crashes in Strathclyde (Scotland). Flying under heavy fog, the helicopter impacted the Mull of Kintyre. All 29 aboard died in the RAF´s 4th worst peacetime disaster. Among the passengers were almost all the United Kingdom's senior Northern Ireland intelligence experts, which fueled speculations of a terrorist attack. Early inquiries pointed to pilot actions, but these were later cleared, with findings showing evidence of mechanical failure, as detailed below. In 1995, an RAF board of inquiry concluded that the exact cause of the accident could not be determined. This finding was overturned by two senior reviewing officers, who ruled that the pilots were grossly negligent for flying too fast and too low in dense fog. The decision proved highly controversial, given known irregularities and technical issues with the new Chinook HC2 variant, as well as pre-crash problems with the specific “ZD576” airframe. A 2001 parliamentary inquiry declared the gross negligence verdict unjustified. In 2011, an independent review cleared the crew of negligence and confirmed that the RAF had falsely declared the aircraft compliant with airworthiness regulations. Video – excerpt from the TV series “Seconds to Disaster”
Francisco Cunha23,315 views • 1 day ago
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On this day in 1982: Canadian F1 ace Gilles Villeneuve dies after a crash on qualifying for the Belgian GP in Zolder. While lapping a slower car, the wheels touched, sending his Ferrari cartwheeling into the air at over 140 Mph. It was airborne for more than 330 ft before smashing into the ground and breaking apart.
Francisco Cunha661,510 views • 26 days ago
Remember the C-130 crash in Colombia a month ago and killed 24 and left 43 injured? News reports indicated the pilots were arrested after the preliminary report came out. Given the outcome, the preliminary report pointed to pilot actions, along with runway conditions and weather, underlining there were no mechanical issues with the aircraft. Key findings from the investigation include: No mechanical failures contributed to the accident. The aircraft departed Viru Viru bound for El Alto. Weather conditions at the destination deteriorated en route, with storms and hail reported, but the crew received no weather updates. On arrival at El Alto, the crew was cleared to land on runway 10. Due to convective activity on that runway, they opted to approach runway 28 instead. Runway 28 is located at 13,300 ft elevation, measures 4,000 m in length, and has a negative gradient of 1.55%. METAR data indicated winds between 050°/10 kt and 360°/08 kt. According to the Investigators, the approach was conducted above the glide slope and at excessive speed. The aircraft touched down on the nose gear only, approximately 1,200 m beyond the threshold. Without compression of the main landing gear struts, the brakes and thrust reversers remained unavailable. Once the main gear touched down, the aircraft entered a section of runway contaminated by hail and slush, resulting in hydroplaning in the final third of the runway, an overrun, and the accident. Info - Aviation today
Francisco Cunha692,684 views • 28 days ago
The ‘Miracle on the Levee’ was 38 years ago May 24 1988: TACA Flight 110, a Boeing 737 with 45 aboard, lost both engines on a storm over Louisiana (US). Crew - including Captain Carlos Dardano, who had lost an eye years before - lands safely on a grass levee on a NASA facility, as seen on this reenactement of the occurrence for the Mayday – ACI series. The jet was repaired, took off from a nearby runway and returned to service (there is also a video of it on the thread) More info below ⬇️ 🧵 1/6
Francisco Cunha193,691 views • 10 days ago
Literally no redeeming qualities on this movie. The Battle of Britain scenes look like crap compared to the 1969 movie, with that "transformesque" edditing. I know its a movie and not a documentary, but its also painfully inacurate. The plot is also hideous. And cream of the crop, it stars Ben Affleck, who basically plays himself. 📹 JJ War Movies
Francisco Cunha251,942 views • 13 days ago
Nakajima was "not" the first Japanese driver in F1, but he was the first to race full-time. He joined Lotus in 1987 - as a teammate to Senna, as part of a deal to run Honda engines - but his first steps in F1 dated long before that. This footage here is from early 1983 and shows him on his first F1 test on a Lotus 91 Ford (an ´82 spec car) in Donington Park. This feature story was broadcast in a coverage of a 1983 Japanese F2 event.(Yes, I do see those races, even though I can´t understand much of what they say 😅) Nakajima spent the next years working towards an F1 drive, which included contesting some rounds of the 1986 F3000 season (now F2) in Europe and testing the Honda-powered F1 cars in Suzuka. I find it remarkable how Satoru debuted in F1 full time aged 34 - "old" for the day - but was able to hold his own and score points in all the seasons he raced, even when driving the lemon Lotus Judd of 89. (and paved the way for more Japanese racers to enter F1).
Francisco Cunha84,990 views • 5 days ago
One thing I learned with this account was that as time goes by, some accidents, no matter how tragic, simply fade from general memory. This is one of them, so surprised that a few days ago, someone uploaded this animation depicting the final moments of this avoidable crash
Air Safety #OTD by Francisco Cunha2,724,173 views • 3 months ago
