Wonders of the Modern World

Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines

A couple of months ago a dear friend handed me QF32 by Richard De Crespigny (Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, 2012).  It is the account of the ill-fated A380 Qantas flight out of Singapore in November 2010. 

Most of us have more than a passing interest in commercial aircraft, since we all use them from time to time.  For the period of time we are up in the skies most of us are conscious somewhere in our minds that our lives are entirely dependant upon a machine that ought not to be sustained in the air, apart from natural laws and engineering design.  There is so much that could go wrong.  There is, thus, a sense in which our lives are suspended until we return again in safety to terra firma.  Consequently, most of us have a deep respect for those professionals flying and working in aircraft. 

Four minutes out of Singapore on the 4th November, 2010 QF32 hit big trouble.