Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

Dutch investigators have found that a faulty altimeter likely played a role in last week’s crash of a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 on approach to Amsterdam Schipol International Airport, killing nine aboard. At a new conference in the Hague, Dutch Safety Board chairman Pieter van Vollenhoven said the left radio altimeter registered an altitude of eight feet as the airplane approached Schiphol at around 1,950 feet, causing the automatic throttle system to reduce power and configuring the rest of the systems for an imminent landing. The Boeing slowed to a stall and crashed into a muddy field about a half mile away from the runway threshold.
A conversation recorded between the captain and two first officers in the cockpit indicated they had knew about the altimeter irregularity but did not react until the stall warning system sounded, at which time they tried to power up the engines. 
The Dutch Safety Board has issued a warning to Boeing for possible shortcomings of the radio altimeters in all Boeing 737-800s.

Dutch Investigators Cite Faulty Altimeter in Crash of Turkish Airlines 737-800

Dutch investigators have found that a faulty altimeter likely played a role in last week’s crash of a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 on approach to Amster

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