Colleen Mondor
@chasingray.bsky.social
Aviation journalist, especially on Alaska. Never met a federal database I didn't love. "Probable Cause" newsletter is here: https://colleenmondor.substack.com/
I need to sleep on it, then read it a few times to make sure I didn't mess up, and add some links. But this is coming tomorrow. Subscribe to get it in your inbox and also, because I would really appreciate it, to support my work. colleenmondor.substack.com
Love this. (Love Gary Clark Jr.) I'm still up. Still writing about Bering 445 for the newsletter. It will be going out to subscribers in the next day or so. (I will def need to check for typos.) In the meantime, enjoy this. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUYb...
Gary Clark Jr. “Come Together” on the Howard Stern Show
YouTube video by The Howard Stern Show
youtube.com
And now it's up to 5,000+ likes. SIGH. That second paragraph is ridiculous. The GPS being unavailable was in a NOTAM which they would have gotten on the ground. They were unable to hold an altitude which has nothing to do with GPS. All pilots must fly & land without GPS. If you can't, do not fly.
Justin Ling@justinling.ca · 19h agoHoly shit. www.wired.com/story/a-civi...
I love this school. UAF is where I learned to conduct large scale research on aviation accidents. Support from my professors at UAF (most especially Terrance Cole, Sherry Simpson & Judi Kleinfeld) set me on the path of aviation safety reportage I have continued to this day.
Anchorage Daily News@adn.com · 17h agoIn a bid to attract more students from outside of Alaska, the UA Board of Regents voted to eliminate higher tuition rates for students with out-of-state residency. www.adn.com/alaska-news/...
The board of a Michigan township agreed to rezone a terrain to make way for a data center. Residents opposed to the data center forced a vote on the matter, and they blocked the rezoning tonight: www.mlive.com/news/ann-arb...
I am blasting the music in my office so loud right now. You cannot imagine.
Because I am actively researching and writing about the FAA practically every day, I spend a lot of time reading about accidents from the 1970s and 80s. You have no idea how incredibly dangerous it was back then. No idea at all. Just read the commercial crash stats for AK in the '90s. Good grief.
Constantine@ajaxsinger.bsky.social · 14h agoFood, man. Food is so much better than it was in 1986. All of it. Poor-people food, restaurant food, fresh food, frozen food. Food is just a hell of a lot better.
I have had it with this. There was a NOTAM that the GPS jamming activities were taking place in the area. Pilots must check NOTAMs prior to departure, especially commercial pilots. It is part of the damn job. If you need GPS to fly then reconsider your career choices.
Justin Ling@justinling.ca · 19h agoHoly shit. www.wired.com/story/a-civi...
The number of people on here who don't know anything about aviation but are 100% certain that lack of GPS is a excuse for an airplane to crash is stunning.
3,000+ likes on this article that is now pushed by yahoo and still, it changes nothing. There was a NOTAM on the GPS. Pilots are trained to fly & land without GPS. The crew failed to hold its assigned altitude which has nothing to do with GPS. If you can't fly without GPS, do not fly. Ever.
Hoodlum 🇺🇸@nothoodlum.bsky.social · 18h agoA civilian medical plane went down after an experimental US military GPS jamming test reportedly disrupted its radar. Every person aboard lost their life. www.yahoo.com/news/us/arti...
FIVE MONTHS.
Rick Thoman@alaskawx.bsky.social · 13h agoOngoing crisis in Northwest Arctic Borough. Outstanding reporting from Desiree Hagen at KOTZ, Kotzebue: "Ambler, a Northwest Arctic community of about 270 people, has been without water or sewer for more than five months." #Alaska #AlaskaSky @napaaqtuk.bsky.social www.kotz.org/kotz-local-n...
Unlike any SpaceX return so far thus would be over land -- southern path for now -- and could halt all air traffic near the path for half an hour or more (which FAA says is worth it). SpaceX intends dozens of launches per day eventually
Next Starship Will Deliver Operational V3 Starlinks to Orbit, Maybe Catch Ship spacepolicyonline.com/news/next-st...
"The power to incinerate cities in a single blow, long ascribed only to gods, was now an option for the species that invented bloodletting, the cholera belt, and the electric tablecloth." www.rogerebert.com/mzs/silhouet...
Silhouettes and Warnings: On Reading Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains" On the Exact Day When It's Set
The events of Ray Bradbury's short story "There Will Come Soft Rains" occur today: August 4, 2026.
rogerebert.com
The more that we ignore the basic piloting failures on the New Mexico medevac crash, and try to excuse them as due to lack of GPS, the more we deny the basic requirements of piloting. You can not need GPS in order to fly. You can not need autopilot in order to fly. We learn without those things.
I have had it with this. There was a NOTAM that the GPS jamming activities were taking place in the area. Pilots must check NOTAMs prior to departure, especially commercial pilots. It is part of the damn job. If you need GPS to fly then reconsider your career choices.
Justin Ling@justinling.ca · 19h agoHoly shit. www.wired.com/story/a-civi...
If you are an editor that wants a writer with lots of ideas, please for the love of god, hit me up.
✈️ National Weather Service’s Aviation Weather Center debuted a new turbulence tool to help make flights smoother. The Graphical Turbulence Guidance Nowcast gives pilots more frequent, higher-resolution turbulence information to support safer, more informed decisions. weather.gov/news/260803-gtgn
You guys are going to make me write about that New Mexico medevac crash, aren't you? Stop spreading articles claiming it was shot down by DOD or DHS or CBP, etc. Read the Prelim here. There was a NOTAM on the GPS being down. If the crew needs GPS to fly, then don't fly. web.ntsb.gov/investigatio...
Tribune reporter Courtney Tanner and photographer Rick Egan spent the day in Fillmore covering the Widemouth 2 Fire. The story will post tomorrow, but in the meantime, this photo needs to be seen.
Yes, the other Dan Sullivan is still in the race for Alaska senate. This is a great interview with him.
Alaska Public Media@alaskapublic.org · 2d ago“As I look around Petersburg, as I look around Alaska, maybe even the country, I don’t see great strides forward. In fact, I see a decline, and so I’m using this as a way to voice that," Petersburg’s Dan J. Sullivan said.
You need to read this. www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...
'When the sun rises, we are going to be in shock': Thousands evacuated in north Spokane as wildfire crosses river into city
Walls of flames destroyed dozens of homes and other structures in the Indian Trail neighborhood and more areas of Spokane on Saturday amid one of the worst natural disasters in the city’s history.
spokesman.com
The front page of this morning’s Spokesman-Review, Aug. 2, 2026, the day after one of the worst wildfires in Washington state history. More than 600 structures, mostly homes, have been lost in the #OldTrailsFire. Read local news.
Homes are being destroyed in Spokane, Washington as the Old Trails Fire spreads faster than emergency responders can keep up with. Each of those homes represents someone's entire life. Source: @MarioNawfal on X Original Post: https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/2083731356647821755
Anybody reading about the stories about “migrants storming Spain” really needs to spend 5 minutes researching Ceuta, especially on the long long long territorial dispute over who owns the city. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceuta
Ceuta - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
The legendary Vincent Pastore, co-star of The Sopranos, has died. He was 80.
On Bering Air flight 445 and how unanswerable questions about the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed and exit icing conditions will haunt this crash forever. alaskabeacon.com/2026/07/31/a...
After fed report, Alaska pilots grapple with unanswered questions in tragic Nome crash | Alaska Beacon
The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday released the final report for the February 6, 2025, accident involving Bering Air flight 445 that killed all 10 people on board. While the NTSB’s r...
alaskabeacon.com
10 years ago Ally Brueger, a student of mine, was murdered in broad daylight while she was out jogging. To this day there have been no arrests. But someone out there knows something. If you know anything that could bring some closure and peace to her parents, please contact Michigan State Police.
Who shot Ally Brueger? After 10 years, jogger's killing remains a mystery
Students at Western Michigan University are helping digitize and organize the case file.
freep.com
