Without a Trace: 1970-2016

by Sylvia Wrigley

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 in 2014 is considered the greatest aviation mystery of our time but it does not stand alone. The second volume of Without a Trace begins in 1970, when a military pilot chased a glowing unidentified object only for both to disappear in an instant. How did India manage to misplace five fighter jets? Did the young pilot chasing an inexplicable aircraft over the Australian coast really get abducted by aliens? These questions and more are explored in volume 2 of Without a Trace. We explore modern mysteries as recent as 2016, with the sudden disappearance of an Antonov An-32 on a routine courier flight, while the aircraft ahead and behind saw nothing. Each case is laid out in rich detail and presented chronologically, with explanations of technology, aviation jargon and cultural aspects involved in each mystery. Sylvia Wrigley introduces the crews, innocent bystanders and rescuers in this collection of true stories. Documenting the popular theories from each case, she uses her knowledge and experience as a pilot and an aviation journalist to demystify aviation jargon and narrow down each disappearance to the most likely explanations. The stories range from fighter jets to commercial airliners, all of which have vanished within our lifetimes without a trace.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

214 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2019

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rounded up from 3.5 stars...brief, fascinating aviation mysteries. This was a quick entertaining read...some technical jargon that occasionally went over my head, but nothing too heavy.

[Victor Ji · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Without a Trace' has always been one of my favorite books, and now with the second book of the series out now, things have just gotten even better and relevant to our modern travel lives. Even though 'Without a Trace' was an extremely good read, I felt as if it was a bit irrelevant because of the time when the incidents happened was very far back in history. However, this book is more relevant to us, as the incidents are newer and relate to modern aircraft technology and regulations around the world. These mysteries are also oftentimes more interesting, because of modern search and rescue technologies (such as flight tracking and black boxes), so details about the crash are more accurate. You may think that this actually reduces the 'mysteriousness' of the crashes because of how much information about the crash and the location of the aircraft, due to modern aircraft tracking technologies such as radar. However, this just amplifies the mysteriousness, because even with such advanced technologies, things can still go terribly wrong and a modern aircraft can still go missing in some way. The incidents that happen in this book is a clear reminder to everyone that modern aviation is still not perfect, and various accidents can happen out of the blue.

[F · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy this writer. For the most part she sheds unnecessary information [for instance, the name of U.S. Rep Larry McDonald in the section about KAL007- though of some interest, it wasn't actually relevant to the purpose of the book and so was not mentioned] and writes the stories in an interesting, competent manner. You can tell she has done her research but she is not so fact-driven as to be dry and tedious. This is the second volume of the "Without a Trace" series and I do look forward to any future volumes she may write in this genre.

[James Reyome · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first volume of this series that I plunked down the hard-earned for the second. Wrigley's writing is engaging and informative without being overwhelming, so both parts were entertaining reads about topics that are just a little bit dark. But you know all of the stories anyway, so why not learn just a little bit more? Dive in!

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and very well written. She presents the facts and some current theories but keeps the book free from bias. Both volumes 1 and 2 are intriguing and I will be looking deeper into some of these mysteries.

[Christopher Jaime · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book gos over varios planes and people on airplanes that were lost in the given time period. Other than the initial D.B. Cooper Hijacking the other stores are a bit dull and very technical with airplane pilot jargo. I did not find this book very interesting at all

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of stories, nicely detailed and researched. I would have liked more information and more details, which I realize may not actually be available. Enjoyable read and now I’ll go look for the other volume in the series.

[Steve Tabbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book

I found this book to be a good follow-up to previous edition of earlier accidents.I have always been interested in any thing avaition related

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stories, but I found it horribly written.

[Studvet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always fascinating😊 Puts things so clearly, concisely and authoritatively.

[SUSAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting and highly detailed but ultimately what can be added to unsolved disappearances?

[Alayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating set of stories about planes lost without a trace, including MH370. A bit frustrating as few of them were found and very little is known about what happened. However an enjoyable read (even if I might think twice before boarding another plane!)

[Bob Goedjen]

Written primarily for people who have a strong interest in getting information on aircraft crashes or disappearances over the past few decades. It has a lot of detail and some you may not have every seen in newspaper articles...It is for the curious. Fairly easy to read and engaging