QF32: From the author of Fly!: Life Lessons from the Cockpit of QF32

Richard de Crespigny

Aug 2012 · Macmillan Publishers Aus.

About this ebook

QF32 is the award winning bestseller from Richard de Crespigny, author of the forthcoming Fly!: Life Lessons from the Cockpit of QF32

On 4 November 2010, a flight from Singapore to Sydney came within a knife edge of being one of the world's worst air disasters. Shortly after leaving Changi Airport, an explosion shattered Engine 2 of Qantas flight QF32 - an Airbus A380, the largest and most advanced passenger plane ever built. Hundreds of pieces of shrapnel ripped through the wing and fuselage, creating chaos as vital flight systems and back-ups were destroyed or degraded.

In other hands, the plane might have been lost with all 469 people on board, but a supremely experienced flight crew, led by Captain Richard de Crespigny, managed to land the crippled aircraft and safely disembark the passengers after hours of nerve-racking effort.

Tracing Richard's life and career up until that fateful flight, QF32 shows exactly what goes into the making of a top-level airline pilot, and the extraordinary skills and training needed to keep us safe in the air. Fascinating in its detail and vividly compelling in its narrative, QF32 is the riveting, blow-by-blow story of just what happens when things go badly wrong in the air, told by the captain himself.

Winner of ABIA Awards for Best General Non-fiction Book of the Year 2013 and Indie Awards' Best Non-fiction 2012

Shortlisted ABIA Awards' Book of the Year 2013

Ratings and reviews

It's gripping, hard to put down, edge of the seat stuff, even though the story is well known. Champion de Crespigny is a computer geek as well as a plane geek, so the information on A380 systems alone would be worth the price of the book. People managers will be interested in the author's approach to team building and leadership. He applies some classic techniques in innovative ways, not only in leading the crew but also in handling the passengers.

There are some critical opinions on here about the autobiographical elements in this book. I think they miss the point about how the author's life shaped his technical interests, and the very analytical approach he takes to understanding and solving problems. This was important in how he led his team to successfully deal with this incident. It's a good read.

Even though I don't fly aircraft, this book went into details during the incident with the aircraft that I could understand. I found this to be a very informative account of what happened before, during & after the incident. As to those people who got stuck into Richard de Crespigny for his brief autobiography, I think it helps to explain Richard's previous experiences which allowed him to get through an extremely serious situation. My recommendation: BUY THE BOOK!!!

About the author

Melbourne born and educated Richard De Crespigny got his first taste of a future flying career as a fourteen year old when his father took his on a tour of the RAAD Academy at Point Cook in Victoria.

In 1975, aged seventeen, he joined the RAAF. One year later, he started flying. During his eleven years with the RAAF, he was seconded as Aide-de-Camp to two Australian Governors-General – Sir Zelman Cowen and Sir Ninian Stephen. Richard remained with the RAAF until 1986 when he joined Qantas.