Come fly with me........

[cwithboat]

I think my pants are brown just from reading this
Check your battery sir?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/busine...ml?source=mypi

[cabinetman]

I like this quote: "An American Airlines representative was not available for comment late Friday".

More than likely, that representative was out gettin' plastered.
.

[jackellis]

I just read a more technical version of that little episode this morning.

Any idiot can steer an airplane. Poor judgment is what gets people killed. The pilots on this flight screwed up. Badly.

[Uncle Cracker]

And for every one of these we hear about, there are probably ten that we don't...

[jackellis]

And for every one of these we hear about, there are probably ten that we don't

I don't think so. The original version appeared here: http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?C...-d04e61b27650&

Some journalist found the article and then wrote a story. I can't say nothing gets whitewashed in aviation, but it's highly unlikely.

[LCHIEN]

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...07X03940&key=1

While the planes crew was heroic in landing a plane with multiple systems failures it should never have gotten that far. They switch to battery power and the manual said that the battery would power systems for 30 minutes. What part of 30 minutes don't they understand? They then should have landed. Instead they tried to fly across the country on battery power alone with no charging source. The pilot must have had a hot date waiting in NYC.

[Uncle Cracker]

I don't think so. The original version appeared here: http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?C...-d04e61b27650&

Some journalist found the article and then wrote a story. I can't say nothing gets whitewashed in aviation, but it's highly unlikely.

I'm talking about stuff that never gets logged by the flight crew. DAMHIKT

[Tom Slick]

I'm talking about stuff that never gets logged by the flight crew. DAMHIKT

luckily, newer planes record everything for maintenance, making it hard for flight crews covering up.

This crew must have been ignoring the warnings, newer planes don't let critical systems shut down without warning.

[Wood_workur]

The redundancy isn't place to fly cross country with, its there so when the primary system fails you can safely divert.

Thank god they were not in an Airbus, 777, or any other plane with a fly by wire system because they would have crashed then.

[jackellis]

I'm talking about stuff that never gets logged by the flight crew. DAMHIKT

Not much of that any more. Electronic recording is part of it. More importantly, the FAA and NASA put a system in place for voluntary reporting so that incidents would not be covered up. If you submit, you're entitled to one get-out-of-jail-free card every so often.

I think the pilots who were involved should be canned, but on the other hand, stuff like this is newsworthy because it happen so infrequently. 125 people die on the highways every day, whereas it's often as long as several years between fatal airline accidents.

[cwithboat]

it's often as long as several years between fatal airline accidents.

Actually this statement is true only if you are considering U.S. carriers. It is not true if you consider U.S. made airplanes or events outside the U.S. There have been six aircraft crashes which resulted in deaths year to date, worldwide. Five of those planes were built in the U.S. See airdisaster.com

[niki]

I was an aircraft mechanic for 13 years and then, a flight engineer for another 23 years till I retired from aviation and became an amateur woodworker

Yes, the captain made a BIG "Fashlah" (Arabic for screwed-up, failure)...

The condition that they had (as I can see it) is "Loss of all AC power"...in this condition, every "baby" in aviation knows that the first think is, to get the "Essential bus" powered (normally, the essential bus gets power automatically when a circuit feels that there is no AC power) and the second thing is - as it's written in the check-list - "Land at the nearest suitable airport"...

In this condition, only very limited systems are operative just to allow Emergency landing.

I think (at list, that was my company procedure) that he had to declare Emergency and land immediately.

During the landing roll, they did not have the "Anti-skid" nor the "Auto Brake system" (like the ABS in a car) and the pilot pressed the brake pedals without any control and caused "Locked wheels" (hence the skid marks) even though, there is a procedure how to brake when those systems are inoperative.

I think that every pilot will tell you that a "Locked wheel" or skidding wheel is not braking, the best (and shortest distance) braking is when the wheel is rotating or, very slightly skidding and that 's what the Anti-skid system does - releasing the pressure to any locked wheel - yeap, of course they ended-up almost at the end of the runway...

But still, aviation is the safest transportation method....I think...

As I read on one of the sawstop threads...."Still, it doesn't have brain - you must use yours"

niki

[jackellis]

Charlie, you're right about the distinction between US carriers and many foreign flag carriers when it comes to reporting incidents and potential safety lapses. However, the UK in particular is not an easy place to hide anything. No offense to our members from across the pond but the UK press corps reminds me of a pack of hungry wolves when it comes to exposing misdeeds. Makes the US press seem weak and compliant by comparison.

Niki, did you used to work for LOT by chance?

[niki]

No Jackellis

Even though I live in Poland, originally, I'm an Israeli and I worked for "EL-AL" Israel Air lines...

The last 11 years, I worked for "Japan Air System" (doesn't exists anymore, JAL "ate" them).

Regards
niki

[Tom Slick]

EL-AL would certainly be an interesting place to work. If these guys had an FE I'll bet they wouldn't have made this blunder.