Close calls

Close calls

By Civil Aviation Safety AuthorityEducation
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Close calls episodes

  • Silent scream

    Using your ears is a much less stressful way to maintain separation than relying on your eyes alone.

    Read this close call at: https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2025/062/silent-scream/.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    5 min
  • A brutal hazing

    Flight Safety Australia reader Nic Barnes discovers conditions are different in northern Australia.

    Read this close call at: https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2025/03/a-brutal-hazing/.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    7 min
  • Positive climb

    Audio adds a new dimension to this anonymous  first officer's close call, first published in 2021.

    Read this close call at https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2025/05/positive-climb/.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    7 min
  • Double blind

    The source of anxiety was in, or rather on, the pilot's face. But impatience was an even more effective blindfold.

    Read this close call at: https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2025/02/double-blind/.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    7 min
  • Flight planning fail

    Nothing emphasises the importance of flight planning like that knotted feeling in your gut when you have failed to do it. This pilot got that feeling when a cascade of minor circumstances overwhelmed a superficial plan. Read this close call at https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2025/01/flight-planning-fail/.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    7 min
  • Earth, wind and water

    The elements humble a newly qualified pilot.

    Read this close call at: https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2024/03/earth wind and water/

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    8 min
  • Tropical chill

    This is a story of ice. Not ice you put in a drink. Not ice that forms on an aircraft, but ice that can frighten and kill a pilot.
    Read this close call at: https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2024/10/tropical-chill/.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    7 min
  • Head on a swivel

    Unpleasant close encounters as a low-hours commercial licence fledgling taught this now experienced airline transport pilot some lasting lessons.

    Read this close call at: https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2024/07/head-on-a-swivel/

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    6 min
  • Bogged down in assumptions

    A quick glance suggested everything would be okay – this was an expectations-driven illusion.

    Read this close call at: https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2024/07/bogged-down-in-assumptions/.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    6 min

About Close calls

From the publisher's feed

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is a government body that regulates Australian aviation safety. We license pilots, register aircraft and oversee safety.

Best of Close calls

Ranked by our users in the last 21 days

  1. Number 2: A brutal hazing
    7 min

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