Aviation has always had its risks. It is unforgiving of human error, which accounts for most aircraft mishaps, whether it is a student pilot getting a landing wrong or, at the other end of the scale in experience and human tragedy, the airline pilot who flies a jetload of passengers into the side of a mountain.

This very readable, thoroughly researched book is the first to describe and analyse the aviation accidents and disasters that have claimed hundreds of New Zealand lives since 1899. From a detailed examination of both the Erebus disaster and the controversial Royal Commission of Inquiry that followed it, John King goes on to explain some of the factors that caused those crashes and how advances in equipment and aircraft design have helped to make the skies safer for pilots and their passengers.

The role of weather, flying under instruments, safety problems, mysterious disappearances, bad landings and takeoffs, wire strikes, near misses and more are described by an author who is himself a pilot and an experienced aviation writer. Lavish use of illustrations helps to make Aviation Accidents and Disasters an important and fascinating addition to New Zealand's aviation literature.

26x19 cm Paperback, 1995, 292pages, very good condition

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