Kyra Dempsey - Admiral Cloudberg
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kyracloudy.bsky.social
Kyra Dempsey - Admiral Cloudberg
@kyracloudy.bsky.social
3.1K followers 42 following 380 posts
Aviation writer Admiral Cloudberg 🏳️‍⚧️
Controlled Pod Into Terrain cohost
Mentour Pilot script writer/researcher
https://admiralcloudberg.medium.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@ControlledPodIntoTerrain
Posts Replies Media Videos
kyracloudy.bsky.social
The NTSB has released its 419 page final report on the DCA mid-air: www.ntsb.gov/investigatio...

I'm expecting to finish my Hawker stall test article tomorrow, and I'll start diving into this crash immediately after.
www.ntsb.gov
February 17, 2026 at 8:01 PM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
I think the Hawker stall test article should be done in the next couple of days, at the current rate. I'll get more specific soon!
February 16, 2026 at 11:05 PM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
Post by the National Transportation Safety Board on Twitter: "Big safety rec win: Cockpit Voice Recorders are going from recording 2 hours to 25 hours on new aircraft. The FAA’s final rule aligns the U.S. with international safety standards and reflects years of NTSB safety recs. More data = better investigations = safer skies."
February 7, 2026 at 7:51 PM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
Hi everyone, my mental health is maybe sorta recovering after falling off a cliff. At this point my research on the Hawker stall test crashes is pretty much done except I'm still waiting to hear back from some Hawker test pilots, if any of them will talk to me. DCA mid-air is still next after that.
February 1, 2026 at 10:52 PM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
At its meeting minutes ago, the National Transportation Safety Board adopted the following probable cause and contributing factors to the January 2025 DCA mid-air collision. See replies for a few notes
January 27, 2026 at 11:18 PM
Reposted by Kyra Dempsey - Admiral Cloudberg
chasingray.bsky.social
Ugh. www.cnn.com/2026/01/25/u...
Private jet carrying 8 people crashes at Bangor, Maine, airport, FAA says | CNN
A private jet carrying eight people crashed on takeoff from Bangor, Maine, Sunday evening, according to the FAA.
www.cnn.com
January 26, 2026 at 2:35 AM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
So if you're wondering where my updates are and when my next article is coming out... I may have had a bit of a mental breakdown lately, I've barely gotten anything done for the last week. I promise you it's still coming but as you're all so fond of reminding me, my own well being does come first.
January 23, 2026 at 11:36 PM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
Many of you have already seen this, but if you haven't, the new NTSB update on the UPS MD-11 crash has some interesting new information. I recommend reading directly from the source rather than news media, feel free to ask me any questions it raises. www.ntsb.gov/investigatio...
www.ntsb.gov
January 15, 2026 at 3:35 AM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
The NTSB will determine the probable cause of the Potomac mid-air on January 27th with the final report to release approx. 2 weeks after. As soon as it's out I will start working on an article. For now I've been working on a piece on the Hawker 900 stall test accidents.
January 12, 2026 at 6:12 PM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
A new story of heroism and luck in the early jet age, written for Mentour Pilot by yours truly: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M_H...
“Brace For IMPACT!!” | Carmel Mid-Air Collision
YouTube video by Mentour Pilot
www.youtube.com
December 27, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Kyra Dempsey - Admiral Cloudberg
noelreports.com
Azerbaijan has sharply criticized Russia after Moscow suspended the criminal investigation into the 2024 AZAL plane crash. FM Jeyhun Bayramov says the move raises serious questions, noting Russia admitted its air defense downed the aircraft. Baku expects Moscow to fulfill its obligations.
December 27, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Reposted by Kyra Dempsey - Admiral Cloudberg
turttay.bsky.social
This was such a cute brave lil mushroom that it inspired me to art. Happy holidays! ❤️✈️🍄
An artistic rendering of the original poster's photograph. This was generated in Procreate, and it features more vivid colors than the original. The scene features a single, red-capped mushroom standing in a forest path. There are leaves and branches strewn about the path. Sun beams are shining through the barely-visible blue sky atop the forest fog. Strong shadows are presented along the sides in the part of the frame including the forest to the sides of the path.
December 22, 2025 at 12:13 AM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
On the 30th anniversary of the disaster, Mentour Pilot retells the story of American Airlines flight 965. Research and script by me. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-jK...
"Where Are We GOING?!” | American Airlines 965
YouTube video by Mentour Pilot
www.youtube.com
December 20, 2025 at 7:01 PM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
This is by far the best article about the DCA mid-air and the systemic issues in that airspace that I have read to date: theaircurrent.com/aviation-saf...
Special Report: The night everything at DCA finally went wrong
D.C. midair crash was the result of a complete collapse of the protections designed to keep aviation safe — and the institutions that design and maintain them
theaircurrent.com
December 19, 2025 at 6:25 AM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
Not a plane crash but I saw a cool mushroom today.
December 14, 2025 at 11:02 PM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
It's time for the article you've all hopefully been waiting for. Enjoy my dive into a part of the aviation industry that respectable experts ignore! admiralcloudberg.medium.com/dark-network...
Dark Networks: The 2003 Timor-Leste Il-76 crash and the global air cargo shadow industry
How the crash of a Russian cargo plane at a remote airfield provides a glimpse into an aviation underworld that we aren’t meant to see.
admiralcloudberg.medium.com
December 14, 2025 at 12:07 AM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
The text of my article on the 2003 Timor-Leste Il-76 crash is done. I'll be uploading it late in the day on Saturday the 13th (early Sunday the 14th if you live in the eastern hemisphere). I can't believe I spent over a month thinking about this story, but it just would not stop.
December 13, 2025 at 10:26 AM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
So, if you're someone who follows the bureaucratic side of aviation safety, you probably already know about this, but if you aren't, you might not. This is something that I feel the need to raise awareness about. (1/10)
December 11, 2025 at 7:43 PM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
After weeks of development hell, my most ambitious Mentour Pilot script to date has finally seen the light of day. Enjoy! www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0B4...
Litany of LIES! | The Mount Erebus Disaster
YouTube video by Mentour Pilot
www.youtube.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:13 PM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
You know an article is gonna be weird when I spend most of the first 2.5 pages explaining the history of the country where it takes place
December 5, 2025 at 5:38 AM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
Teaser for my upcoming article (and the answer to my earlier hint).
On the 31st of January 2003, a huge four-engine Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane crashed just short of the poorly developed airstrip in the town of Baucau, Timor-Leste, killing all six crewmembers. The crash was briefly noted by world news sources but never made headlines, nor would it have been likely to do so, because accidents like it happen all the time. Cargo flights into remote and impoverished warzones on behalf of short-lived paper companies form a dangerous but essential underworld of the global aviation industry, bringing crucial supplies and humanitarian aid into some of the most desperate places on earth, while simultaneously supporting a shadow industry of arms trafficking, human smuggling, tax evasion, and other criminal enterprises. These flights crash with alarming regularity, but almost all of these accidents are never properly investigated and very little is known about them—sometimes basic facts such as the number of people killed, their identities, and even whether the crash happened at all are left up for debate. Due to a fortuitous geopolitical happenstance, the crash in Timor-Leste in 2003 did not meet that fate. The government of the tiny, newly independent island nation instead invited Australia to investigate the cause of the crash and publish a final report, shedding light on the realities of these fly-by-night freight operations, as well as the difficult circumstances and poor decision-making that doomed the six crew of the enormous Ilyushin. The investigation also provided a starting point for me to dig into the history of the owners and operators of the aircraft, in an effort to understand who was responsible for the flight and their possible connections to the broader industry of clandestine cargo. What I found was a confusing maze of shell companies, conflicting records, leases and sub-leases and re-registrations. And by the end, one thing was clear: whoever owned this plane didn’t want to be found.
December 2, 2025 at 4:44 AM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
Figured I'd drop a hint about my next article: It takes place in a country that has never previously been mentioned in any previous articles.
November 11, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Reposted by Kyra Dempsey - Admiral Cloudberg
flightradar24.com
Boeing recommends MD-11s suspend operations “while additional engineering analysis is performed,” as the investigation into the crash of #5X2976 continues. The recommendation affects 54 active MD-11s across 3 airlines. www.flightradar24.com/blog/aviatio...
FedEx MD-11 departing Anchorage UPS MD-11 departing Anchorage Western Global MD-11 in Taipei
November 8, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Kyra Dempsey - Admiral Cloudberg
flightradar24.com
❗️UPS is grounding its MD-11(F) fleet with immediate effect at the recommendation of the aircraft manufacturer.

There are currently 26 MD-11s in the UPS fleet of 294 total aircraft. www.flightradar24.com/data/airline...
Out of an abundance of caution and in the interest of safety, we have made the decision to temporarily ground our MD-11 fleet. MD-11s are approximately 9% of the UPS Airlines fleet. The grounding is effective immediately. We made this decision proactively at the recommendation of the aircraft manufacturer. Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our employees and the communities we serve. Contingency plans are in place to ensure we can continue to deliver the reliable service our customers around the world count on. List of UPS MD-11 aircraft from the Flightradar24 fleet list.
November 8, 2025 at 5:34 AM
kyracloudy.bsky.social
The scale of the Louisville crash scene is mind-boggling. Massive props to everyone currently working on this horrible tragic mess.
November 6, 2025 at 12:53 AM