Looking back on the crash of TAA flight 538

TRANS AUSTRALIAN AIRLINES FOKKER F 27 VH-TFF (MSN 10121)

WAS ALSO REGESTERED AS: N1036U; F-GAOT; OO-SVM; F-WKPX.

On the 10th of June 1960, a Fokker Friendship passenger aircraft operated by Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) was on approach at night to land at Mackay airport in Queensland, Australia when it crashed into the sea. All 29 people on board Trans Australia Airlines Flight 538 were killed.

The Fokker F-27 aircraft was on a regular passenger flight from Brisbane (BNE/YBBN) to Mackay (MKY/YBMK) via Maryborough (MBH/YMYB) and Rockhampton (ROK/YBRK). The aircraft departed Brisbane at 17:11 and arrived at Maryborough at 17:52. It then took off at 18:12 on the next portion of the trip to Rockhampton where it landed without incident one hour later. Just prior to the landing at Rockhampton, the aircraft was advised of a special weather report which indicated shallow ground fog at Mackay to a height of 20 ft with a visibility of 880 yd, and also that an alternate aerodrome would be required for the rest of the flight.

The flight departed Rockhampton at 19:52. On departure the air traffic controller at Mackay was advised that the expected flight time to Mackay was 52 minutes at an altitude of 13000 ft, that Townsville had been selected as the alternate. It was advised that Mackay Airport was closed to landings at that time, and the situation remained the same when the aircraft reached the point at which it would normally have commenced its descent to Mackay. The captain indicated that he would continue the flight at 13000 ft and would hold over Mackay at that altitude. At 20:45 the ATC Officer advised the pilot that visibility was fluctuating between 2 and 2-1/2 miles along runway 14/32. 

The pilot replied that the airport lighting, the city area, and the surrounding country could be clearly seen, but that a belt of fog extending about 10 miles was situated to the southwest of the airport and was moving in a slightly northeasterly direction across the airport. The pilot then requested landing instructions. The aircraft was cleared to make a visual approach with a view to landing on runway 14. He reported on final approach, and at 20:55 the aircraft was cleared to land.

As the aircraft approached close to the runway threshold at a height of about 50ft, the pilot advised that a small patch of fog had suddenly appeared on the approach to the runway. It then flew along the runway at a height of approximately 50 ft and commenced to climb away. The pilot advised that he would look at the approach to runway 32.

The ATC Officer next observed the aircraft descending to approach runway 32. It reached a height of approximately 200 ft, but before crossing the threshold it began to climb along the line of the runway, and the pilot requested permission to hold over Mackay at 5000 ft until an improvement in the weather occurred. This procedure was approved. The aircraft continued to hold over Mackay until about 22:00. At approximately 22:02 the ATC Officer noted the conditions improved rapidly and visibility was continually improving. When the aircraft was thus informed, it replied: "Roger tower, will commence let down to approach on runway 32". The aircraft was cleared for a visual approach and was given the wind (calm) and QNH (1019 mb) and was asked to report on final approach. Nothing more was heard from the flight. During the approach the airplane contacted the sea and crashed, some 12 km short of the runway.


Aircraft Information:
Airline: TAA (Trans Australian Airlines)
Code: TN/TAA
Aircraft: Fokker F-27 Friendship 100
Registration: VH-TFB
Serial Number: 10112
First Flew: 26/02/1959
Age: 1 Year 4 Mts

Other Information: 

Entered onto the Dutch Aircraft Register as PH-FAH on the 19th February 1959
First flew as PH-FAH on the 26th of February 1959

Cancelled from the Dutch Aircraft Register on the 6th April 1959
Accepted by Trans-Australia Airlines at Amsterdam (Schiphol) on the same day.

The Trans Australia Airlines crash is the second-worst air accident in Australia behind the 1950 Australian National Airways Douglas DC-4 crash, with 29 fatalities.

American Airlines sent a plane to Italy and wasn't allowed to land

AMERICAN AIRLINES BOEING 787-9 N826AN (MSN 40649)

An American Airlines flight had to divert, and passengers were transported by bus, after the carrier sent a plane that was too big for its destination. Flight AA780 departed Philadelphia, USA (PHL/KPHL) at 7:42 p.m. and was supposed to land in Naples, Italy (NAP/LIRN) at 10 a.m. local time.

However, data from Flightradar24 shows how seven hours later, the Boeing 787-9 abruptly turned around over the Tyrrhenian Sea, west of the Italian mainland. It was only about 70 miles away from Naples International Airport before it diverted north to Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO/LIRF).

An American Airlines spokesperson said that the flight diverted due to "operational limitations."

Historical flight data shows that the airline usually sends a Boeing 787-8 on flights to Naples. While these two Dreamliner variants are pretty similar, with the same wingspan, the 787-9 is actually 20 feet longer. Documents from Boeing and the International Civil Aviation Organization show how this means the two planes have different requirements for rescue-and-firefighting services (RFFS).

The 787-8 is small enough to land at an airport with a Category 8 RFFS, but the 787-9 needs a Category 9 RFFS airport. An aviation enthusiast who first shared the incident on X, reported that the airport authority said 787-9 planes can't land in Naples. The Naples and Rome airport authorities didn't immediately respond to requests for comment sent by BI outside Italian working hours.

After landing at Rome Fiumicino Airport around 9:45 a.m., passengers were transported to Naples by bus, the airline spokesperson said. The two airports are around 145 miles away by road, which would take more than two hours thirty minutes.

"We apologize to them for this disruption to their journey," they added.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: American Airlines

Code: AA/AAL

Aircraft: Boeing 787-9

Registration: N837AN

Serial Number: 40658

Engines: 2 x Genx-1b74/75/P1

First Flew: 15 August 2018

Age: 6.10 Years

97th Anniversary of the Southern Cross’s historic flight

  

On the 9th of June 1928 the Southern Cross, a Fokker F.VIIb/3m Trimotor, settled on to the grass of Brisbane’s Eagle Farm Aerodrome, having left Oakland, USA, 10 days earlier. The aircraft flew 11,585km and had been airborne for 84 hours, with refuelling stops in Hawaii and Fiji.
Chuffed with the first ever trans-Pacific flight, the Prime Minister, Stanley Bruce, presented a cheque for £5,000 to the flight crew. Equally pleased the flight’s financial backer Californian, George Hancock, waived any right to recover his substantial investment.
It was Saturday night and hero Australian pilots, Brisbane born Charles Kingsford Smith “Smithy” and Melbourne born Charles Ulm, together with Americans, radio operator James Warner and American navigator and engineer Harry Lyon were thirsty, cashed up and debt free.
It’s not recorded what beer they celebrated their world record breaking flight with, but “Smithy was heard well into the night yelling that’s a Fokkin’ Good Beer”.
Alliance Airlines commemorated the 90th Anniversary of the Southern Cross’s historic flight by painting one of their F28's.

ALLIANCE FOKKER F28 MK100 VH-FGB (CN 11446)

The Fokker F28 MK 100 has been aptly registered VH-FGB which stands for Fokken Good Beer... The Southern Cross is on public display near Brisbane Airport’s International Terminal.

Smithy enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1915 and served in Gallipoli. His wartime experience gave him a lifelong love of flying, and he worked as a pilot after the war. Smithy and Ulm, who worked together as Interstate Flying Services, made the trans-Pacific flight to see if air services across the Pacific between Australia and the United States had a commercial future. For their journey, Smithy and Ulm equipped a second-hand Fokker plane with three new engines and the best navigation and radio equipment available. Named the Southern Cross, Smithy called it the ‘Old Bus’. Captain Harry Lyon joined the pair as navigator, and Jim Warner as radio operator.

 

Alliance Airlines was established in 2002 when Brisbane-based Queensland Airline Holdings acquired the assets of the dormant Flight West Airlines, which had been established in May 1987 and ceased scheduled services in 2001. Alliance commenced operations with two Fokker 100 aircraft and has since expanded its fleet and operational capabilities to service the growing demand from the mining and energy sector. The airline is wholly owned by Alliance Aviation Services Limited which was listed on the ASX in 2011 and now has over 920 employees. 

ALLIANCE FOKKER F28 MK 100 VH-UQG (CN 11520)

More from Brisbane Airport

Anticipating the arrival of two 767 freighters in Brisbane on Friday afternoon, my wife, daughter, and I made our way to Brisbane Airport for the afternoon. One was expected to be a DHL 767, and the other an Astral 767. Unfortunately, the DHL aircraft did not arrive, but we nonetheless had an enjoyable time.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SHW (MSN 485)
SQ236 OFF TO SINGAPORE (SIN) 3 YEARS  

ALLIANCE FOKKER 70 VH-NKQ (MSN 11572)

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-7FE VH-VBZ (MSN 34322)
VA641 OFF TO LAUNCESTON (LST) 19 YEARS

AIR NIUGINI BOEING 737-81M P2-PXB (MSN 40067)
PX4 OFF TO PORT MORESBY (POM) 10 YEARS

GLOBAL JET INTERNATIONAL BOMBARDIER GLOBAL EXPRESS
VH-8MJ (MSN 9385) 15 YEARS

ALLIANCE EMBRAER E190AR VH-A2U (MSN 19000219)

ASTRAL AVIATION BOEING 767-338 5Y-SVR (MSN 24146)
ACP7005 ARRIVING FROM HONG KONG (HKG) 36 YEARS

EMIRATES AIRBUS A380-861 A6-EOD (MSN 168)
EK435 OFF TO DUBAI (DXB) 10 YEARS

ALLIANCE FOKKER 70 VH-NUU (MSN 11532)
VA1265 OFF TO EMERALD (EMD) 30 YEARS
FLYING FOR VIRGIN AUSTRALIA

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-7K2 VH-NHW (MSN 39257)
VA1498 ARRIVING FROM HAMILTON ISLAND (HTI) 13 YEARS

REX SAAB 340B VH-ZPN (MSN 340B-384)
ZL5727 ARRIVING FROM ROMA (RMA) 29 YEARS

LINK AIRWAYS FAIRCHILD METRO 32 VH-VEK (MSN DC-845B)
FC7714 ARRIVING IN FROM INVERELL (IVR) 31 YEARS

MACHJET CESSNA CITATION CJ2 VH-SUY (MSN 525A0167)

TEXEL AIR BOEING 737-8BK ZK-TXA (MSN 33013)
TFX98 ARRIVING FROM DARWIN (DRW) 22 YEARS

BOMBARDIER CHALLENGER 605 N605JL (MSN 5828)

JETSTAR AIRBUS A320-251N VH-A5C (MSN 12374)
JQ818 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY (SYD) 6 MONTHS

QANTAS BOEING 737-838 VH-VZX (MSN 34188)
QF620 ARRIVING FROM MELBOURNE (MEL) 13 YEARS

QATAR AIRWAYS BOEING 777-3DZ A7-BEQ (MSN 64085)
QR898 ARRIVING FROM DOHA (DOH) 7 YEARS

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8FE VH-VUK (MSN 36602)
VA957 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY (SYD) 17 YEARS

AIR NEW ZEALAND AIRBUS A321-271NX ZK-NND (MSN 8629) 
NZ271 ARRIVING FROM WELLINGTON (WEL) 6 YEARS

JETSTAR AIRBUS A320-232 VH-VFV (MSN 5858)
JQ935 ARRIVING FROM CAIRNS (CNS) 11 YEARS

SOLOMON AIRLINES AIRBUS A320-232 H4-SIB (MSN 2445)
IE700 ARRIVING FROM HONIARA (HIR) 20 YEARS

QANTAS BOEING 737-838 VH-XZA (MSN 39367)
QF126 ARRIVING FROM AUCKLAND (AKL) 12 YEARS

Spirit Airlines passenger missed his flight, then made a bomb threat to delay it

SPIRIT AIRLINES AIRBUS A321-231 N664NK (MSN 7021)

One day after missing his flight to Los Angeles (LAX/KLAX), a Spirit Airlines passenger landed in federal court for allegedly taking his travel frustration to extremes: He called in a bomb threat, causing chaos at Detroit Metro Airport (DTW/KDTW) on the 5th of June and triggering federal charges and a warrant for his arrest, prosecutors say.

According to a criminal complaint filed on the 6th of June in U.S. District Court in Detroit, the bomb threat that led to a Spirit Airlines flight NK2145 being evacuated and delayed by six hours at Metro Airport on Thursday the 5th of June was a hoax. The person behind the hoax, the complaint says, is 23-year-old John Charles Robinson, of Monroe, who prosecutors say was headed to Los Angeles on Thursday morning when he missed his 7 a.m. Spirit Airlines flight and was told at the gate that he had to rebook.

Robinson, though, had another idea in mind: he'd call in a bomb threat with the hopes of the flight being delayed long enough so that he could still make it on the plane, court records state.

According to an FBI agent's affidavit on file in federal court, here is what Robinson did after being turned away from the gate: At about 6:25 a.m. Thursday, a person called Spirit Airlines and stated the following: “I was calling about flight 2145 … because I have information about that flight.” The caller continued: "There’s gonna be someone who’s gonna try to blow up the airport,” and “there’s gonna be someone that’s gonna try to blow up that flight, 2145.”

The caller gave a description of the alleged bomber, then stated: “They’re going to be carrying a bomb through the TSA,” and “they’re still threatening to do it, they’re still attempting to do it, they said it’s not going to be able to be detected. Please don’t let that flight board.”

According to the FBI, the phone call was recorded and reported to law enforcement, who responded to the gate where Spirit Airlines flight 2145 was set to depart. At this point, the doors to the plane had been closed by the flight crew. The plane was ordered to taxi to a remote location where passengers were deplaned and bussed back to the Evans Terminal.

Bomb-sniffing dogs and FBI agents then swept the plane. Passengers went through additional screening, including several who were interviewed by the FBI and Wayne County Airport Police. The investigation found no bombs on the airplane, or in any luggage.

But what authorities would eventually discover was a hoax, with cellphone records leading the FBI to Robinson, who had rebooked a 6:28 p.m. flight to Los Angeles.

But he didn't make that flight either.
Robinson did arrive at the terminal on time, only FBI agents showed up to arrest him.

According to the complaint, Robinson initially denied making any phone calls to Spirit Airlines. Though after he gave consent to have his cellphone searched, the complaint states, the agents discovered the hoax.

Robinson then reportedly fessed up:

"(He) stated that he made the call with the hope that it would delay the flight long enough for him to make it in time so he would not have to take a different flight," the complaint states.

Flight NK2145 was scheduled to depart at 7:00 a.m. local time but was delayed and did not depart until 1:21 p.m. 

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Spirit Airlines

Code: NK/NKS

Aircraft: Airbus A321-271NX

Registration: N744NK

Serial Number: 12425

Engines: 2 x PW PW1133G

First Flew: May 2025

Age: 1 Month

British Airways bans cabin crew from taking layover photos

British Airways has introduced stringent new social policies that prohibit cabin crew from taking photographs of layover accommodation sites in popular destinations such as the Maldives, Cape Town, and Singapore.

BRITISH AIRWAYS EMBRAER E190LR G-LCYV (MSN 19000255)

The London Heathrow-based airline has attributed its comprehensive ban to security concerns regarding potential AI-driven location identification. The latest social media policy imposes strict measures than previous regulations, mandating crew members to remove existing photos and videos from their personal accounts, including private ones.

This policy affects all British Airways employees, including pilots and cabin crew, who previously shared content from layover accommodations. British Airways justified the sweeping policy by explaining that sophisticated computer software could analyze seemingly innocent background details to identify specific hotel locations and crew accommodation patterns.

The airline emphasized its commitment to “eliminate all risk” associated with revealing crew lodging information through social media platforms. The comprehensive ban prohibits several popular content categories previously allowed under existing guidelines. Get Ready With Me (GRWM) videos filmed in hotel rooms and bathrooms now face complete restriction.

Outfit of the Day (OOTD) content showcasing uniform preparation before flights is similarly banned. Additionally, recreational photos at hotel pools, private beaches, and grand lobby areas are strictly forbidden under the new policy.

This latest restriction builds upon previous social media policies implemented by British Airways in February 2023. The earlier guidelines prohibited crew members from posting content while “professionally engaged” in their duties, including security checks, passenger service, and operational activities.

That initial clampdown targeted growing trends of cabin crew documenting their work lives and inadvertently disclosing sensitive operational information. The 2023 policy specifically banned iconic photos of crew sitting inside aircraft engines, galley time-lapse videos, and any content revealing secret crew bunk facilities.

Following employee backlash, British Airways clarified that crew could still share photos in uniform when not actively working, provided uniforms were worn correctly. The new layover hotel photography ban places British Airways at odds with most major international carriers’ social media policies.

While airlines traditionally maintain strict confidentiality around crew accommodation locations, few implement such comprehensive content restrictions. The policy echoes historical approaches by carriers like Qatar Airways (QR), which previously banned all uniformed crew photos before recently adopting more relaxed social media guidelines.

Hotel location confidentiality has long been standard practice across the aviation industry, with crew members prohibited from publicly discussing specific accommodation names and addresses. However, these locations often remain poorly concealed secrets, as major cities typically feature one or two hotels securing the majority of airline crew contracts.