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Richard De Crespigny
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QF32: From the author of Fly!: Life Lessons from the Cockpit of QF32 Kindle Edition

by Richard de Crespigny (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,116 ratings
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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

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  1. Print length
    380 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Macmillan Australia
  4. Publication date
    1 August 2012
  5. File size
    14271 KB
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  7. Word Wise
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  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Product description

Review

The ABIA and Indies award winner and Australian bestseller.

From the Publisher

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 him 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.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007KTLQ5W
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Macmillan Australia (1 August 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 14271 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 380 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,116 ratings

About the author

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Richard De Crespigny

Richard De Crespigny

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,116 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book well-written and easy to understand. They describe it as an informative and interesting read with a good explanation of the incident. Readers also appreciate the skill level of talented pilots.

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ReadabilityEnlightened readSkill level
13 customers mention ‘Readability’13 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written and easy to understand. They say it's an excellent book for anyone interested in finding out what makes a good pilot. Readers also mention it makes complicated matters easier to understand.

"...This book is so easy to read, and yet so thoroughly overwhelming in the way Richard tell's his life story leading up to that amazing flight from..." Read more

"...The book is quite well written in easy to understand language and provides an insight into how difficult it is to become a pilot on commercial..." Read more

"...A great read, obviously with a lot of technical data but the author broke it down to make it as easy to read as possible...." Read more

"A great read. Richard recounts his amazing history leading into the QF32 incident. I could not put it down. Thanks" Read more

7 customers mention ‘Enlightened read’7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and interesting. They say it provides a good explanation of the incident and an interesting autobiography. Readers mention the book contains a lot of technical data and makes them appreciate the training and technology.

"I found this story totally fascinating in so many different ways...." Read more

"Well written, very informative and not dry at all. Makes complicated matters easier to understand.Really enjoyed it." Read more

"...It is a great read for pilots, but JUST as an enlightening read for anyone who likes to know what can go wrong when things do go wrong up in the air." Read more

"de Crespigny gave an interesting autobiography and it was a good read, even mentioned my old boss, RADM James Goldrick...." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Skill level’3 positive0 negative

Customers find the skill level of the pilots extreme. They also say it shows how good Richard de Crespigny is.

"...It also shows how good a pilot Richard de Crespigny is and how fortunate those on board were to have him as the pilot of their doomed aircraft...." Read more

"A great read by an astonishingly experienced pilot, who writes well, and who saved the entire passengers and crew from what most probably could have..." Read more

"The extreme skill of talented pilots...." Read more

Top reviews from Australia

Asher Stark
5.0 out of 5 stars The most amazing thing about this story it is that it's all ...
Reviewed in Australia on 14 January 2016
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One of those books you just can't put down. The most amazing thing about this story it is that it's all true! Having listened to Richard present at a conference and then reading the book, it certainly inspires you to consider the life you lead and how to maximize your potential.
This book is so easy to read, and yet so thoroughly overwhelming in the way Richard tell's his life story leading up to that amazing flight from Singapore. I read most of it on an international flight and it really helped put the work of the cockpit staff, cabin crew and ground support in perspective. A life time of training and practice put to the ultimate test - and everyone walks away alive and uninjured - WOW!
2 people found this helpful
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Genna
4.0 out of 5 stars Insight into the difficulties experienced by the Pilot and crew of flight QF 32 after leaving Singapore.
Reviewed in Australia on 15 May 2014
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This is am excellent book for anyone interested in finding out what makes a good pilot. The book is quite well written in easy to understand language and provides an insight into how difficult it is to become a pilot on commercial airlines in Australia.

It also shows how good a pilot Richard de Crespigny is and how fortunate those on board were to have him as the pilot of their doomed aircraft. His experience and knowledge of the workings of the aircraft assisted him in his decision making even under such extreme pressure and he and the rest of the crew are to be applauded for this handling of the situation.

I would recommend this book to people of all ages interested in what occurs on the Flight Deck of a Quantas airplane.
One person found this helpful
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Anna
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read, obviously with a lot of technical data ...
Reviewed in Australia on 11 March 2015
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I found this story totally fascinating in so many different ways. The people aboard that aircraft were lucky in more ways that one can count and the survival of the aircraft was a testament to the quality of the aircraft builders and the flight deck crew in place on the day. A great read, obviously with a lot of technical data but the author broke it down to make it as easy to read as possible. I think anyone who flies, especially those who have a fear of flying, should read this story. It will restore your faith in the marvel which is modern aircraft design.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
Reviewed in Australia on 30 July 2021
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A great read. Richard recounts his amazing history leading into the QF32 incident. I could not put it down. Thanks
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Desktop
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, great service
Reviewed in Australia on 3 June 2021
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Great book and Amazon shipping service was just amazing ... top job.
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Donald Ash
4.0 out of 5 stars Q32 Remarkable Event
Reviewed in Australia on 19 December 2018
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A fascinating account of teamwork skill and mind control. Well written except to many repeated problems but still a book I found hard to put down.
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Jo-Ann W.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great reading so far.
Reviewed in Australia on 11 February 2021
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Fantastic book. I was on this flight so I’m a bit nervous to finish reading it.
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Peter A.
4.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
Reviewed in Australia on 8 January 2019
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Well written, very informative and not dry at all. Makes complicated matters easier to understand.
Really enjoyed it.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Miss Nomer
5.0 out of 5 stars Quite a gripping read. Lots of interesting technical info about commercial aircraft.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 January 2022
Verified Purchase
Standard format- Early life, learning to fly, transitioning to commercial aircraft, family life. Then into a lot of detail about the QF32 incident. This last part takes up about half the book, and was the highlight for me (though the rest is fairly interesting). The QF32 part includes a lot about the design of the Airbus A380, and I found that very interesting. In part it's a tribute to the engineers who design these massive machines, and who make sure we're safe when we go jetting off around the world. The kindle format worked well for me, though I didn't realise there were lots of photos until I got right to the end. I would have preferred these spread throughout the book. It's a good read, but my favourite book on commercial flight is still 'Fate is the hunter'.

By the way- if the subject interests you I can recommend downloading the ATSB incident report on QF32. It's easy and free to download, and it's a classic example of how they investigate these incidents and take lessons from them. This kind of report is one of the main reasons flying is so safe. I suspect they do the same sort of things with car accidents, but as far as I'm aware it isn't quite as well organised (or as accessible) as with flying accidents.
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Jack D. Morris
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read, especially for pilots and aviation fans
Reviewed in the United States on 21 September 2018
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This first half of the book covers the pilot life of the Captain, Richard de Crespigny prior ot the QF32 incident. His aviation experience probably contributed the skills necessary to save the passengers and land the Airbus 380 safely. Many newer airline pilots do not have extensive military flight training and I doubt they could have handled this incident. Considering the damage to the aircraft, this was an amazing feat.

The second half of the book covers the incident flight in significant detail. The Airbus 380 is computer controlled and fly by wire. Although the #2 engine turbine disk disintegration punctured the left wing fuel tanks and severed the electrical cables, the pilot was able to control the aircraft with what was left of the remaining systems still under fly by wire control. It seemed that his biggest problem was handling all the squawks generated by the computer system, which was never programmed to handle such a compromised aircraft. After taking in all the computer information, he just realized that he had to fly the plane and test it for whatever changes in aerodynamic performance occurred due to the damage. Normal flap settings and stall margins would be different and to safely land the airplane he needed to know what these values would be.

Some of the details in this book may only be interesting to other pilots, but I think he did a good job of explaining the situation for the non aviation minded person to make the book interesting and exciting. I can recommend this book to anyone involved with aviation or who has an interest in aviation related accidents/disasters. It is on par with the Miracle on the Hudson.

Jack
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Otavio Branco Araujo de Faria Santos
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelent book.
Reviewed in Brazil on 5 August 2017
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I cannot stop reading. Very well writting book. Highly recommended book. Congratulations to the writter.

Now in portuguese: excelente livro, recomendo a leitura a todos. Parabéns ao autor.
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Yoel Gal
5.0 out of 5 stars Qu'est ce que j'aurais fais à leur place???
Reviewed in France on 16 January 2017
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Très bon livre à lire pour les pilotes ou les passagers.
En tant que pilote de A380 je me suis régalé et j'ai beaucoup appris de ce livre sur une certaine mentalité à avoir.

Good job, mission accomplie pour cet équipage.
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Angel
5.0 out of 5 stars Muy recomendable
Reviewed in Spain on 1 January 2017
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Un excelente libro que relata un muy delicado accidente en vuelo que gracias a la pericia de la tripulación no causó víctimas.
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