Happened to be in countries when….

I started work on the first edition of Air Crashes and Miracle Landings when  a 747 of the “safest airline” overran the runway at 100 m.p.h at Bangkok in torrential rain. Luckily the rain had made the ground next to the golf  course beyond so soggy that the wheels sank into it slowing the massive aircraft.

By pure chance I happened to be in countries when headline accidents occurred such as the Turkish Airlines DC-10 in Paris that happened on this very day (#OTD) in 1974.

There were others: Two in Japan, namely the “sightseeing” BOAC 707  near Mount Fuji in 1966, and the worst-ever single aircraft accident, JL123, in 1985.

Being in the country at the time, enabled me to pick up on facts mentioned in the local media, making them more real in my book.

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