Airliner Crashes In Russia, 62 Killed

Ameriscot said:
UAE United Arab Emirates. We fly Emirates airlines frequently and it's the best I've ever been on. Also the only airline where my ears don't hurt or get blocked.
Click to expand...

Hmm.. This is beyond my technical expertise. I'm stumped.
 
oldman said:
Hmm.. This is beyond my technical expertise. I'm stumped.
Click to expand...

On flights to the US I always get ear pain when the plane starts to descend and my ears are blocked when we land. When I fly in Emirates the descent is so gradual - or maybe the air pressure inside is better? - that sometimes I don't even know when they are descending. No ear pain no blockage.
 

OK, that makes a little more sense. There is no one size fits all when it comes to a rate of descent. It really depends on the plane size, weight, wind, etc. It also depends on when the pilot begins his descent. Some will start at 100 miles from the airport while others may start at 80 miles from the airport. A pilot cannot just put the plane on the ground. It has to be a gradual thing, otherwise, the plane could actually implode (come apart). Smaller planes can normally descend at a faster rate than larger planes. I have heard of different remedies used by passengers to alleviate earaches, discomfort or whatever you want to call it. Some use antihistamine tablets, some use decongestant sprays and I have even heard some passengers tell me that staying awake during the landing helps them. I have also seen special earplugs for flying that are 'supposed' to alleviate ear problems while flying. The young are more susceptible to ear issues than us older folks, but some people do have sensitive ears. People that already have inner ear issues seem to really mind flying and use the earplugs.

To take it one step further, I have been asked how many hours does a plane fly before the airlines takes it out of service. Actually, it is the number of pressurizations that means more than hours of flying. Hours flying is a good gauge as to when to overhaul or perform maintenance on an engine or other mechanical part of the plane. You have to think of the plane as a big balloon. Every time you blow into the balloon and fill it with air, that would be one pressurization. Let the air out, then do it again. Keep doing it over and over again until the balloon bursts and then you will know the number of "pressurizations" that the balloon can withstand. Take another exact size of balloon and you now know the number of times you can pressurize the balloon and when to stop before it bursts. Get the idea? That may be a poor analogy, but I am sure that you get the idea.
 
About the wing touching -- I was on a flight out of Frankfurt, Germany, bound for the US when a wing touched down on takeoff. It was terrifying and all the stuff came out of the overhead compartments and flew all over the cabin. Didn't crash, though -- came to a not very pleasant KER-BUMP back down on the runway and was able to stop. All that was one of the longest few seconds of my life. I was pretty shook up.

And then I had to get right back on another airplane because I was on my way home for my father's funeral. I shut my eyes really tight and prayed a lot during that second takeoff.
 
oldman said:
Absolutely. The Captain has the final word and if he feels that it's unsafe to land, he will ask the tower for instructions to divert to the next closest airport that can handle his size of plane. Of course, it doesn't hurt for him to include the airline in his decision. I once flew from New York non stop to Dallas-Ft. Worth. We were alerted at take-off that DFW (Dallas-Ft. Worth) was experiencing light to moderate showers with heavier rain and winds expected in the next few hours. When we were about 80 miles from the airport, I received a weather update from METAR stating that DFW was reporting heavy rain, thunder and lightning with surface winds gusting to 45 kts. (50 mph). Our plane was all but maxed out on weight with 290 passengers, luggage, freight, fuel, etc., on-board. I conferred with my First Officer and we agreed to divert to Houston. I spoke with my supervisor and he told me to use my own discretion, which I did. What it meant was that passengers would have to re-connect back to Dallas. Some were not happy, but we were all safe.

The worse thing a pilot can do is to "think" that he can get his plane on the ground during a thunderstorm. Rule number one is to never fly into a cloud that contain lightning and to try to fly over or under them is also a high risk move. Crosswinds on the ground can and has caused many accidents. Here is a lucky man:

Click to expand...

I was on a plane that had at divert from Dallas to Houston because of weather and some of the passengers were bitching their heads off about how it was going to ruin their trip, etc. Geez! I figured that ending up smithereens on the ground would ruin a trip a whole lot worse than landing somewhere else would, and I was glad we didn't try to land if it was unsafe!
 
Wing strikes are usually caused by cross winds. Anytime I was alerted to crosswinds, I would bring the aircraft over the runway short of stall speed and then idle the accelerators until the plane would sit down gently and then pull back on the thrust reversers. It also helps to keep the ailerons open and the spoilers and brakes armed. With the issue that you experienced, it is a cause for concern. The plane would have had to be taken out of service and inspected for tears in the skin or cracks in the wing. This is a very intensive job and the pilot is charged with what is called a minor incident, which does go on his record for future reference. The NTSB and FAA would also be notified. An investigation would be dependent upon the extent of any damage that may have occurred. If it is found that no damage occurred then no investigation. The airline would probably request (or maybe demand) that the pilot get some training in the simulator using the similar situation. Wing strikes and Tail strikes are not good things for a pilot to have happen, but they do and are more common then most people think. I won't go into the mechanics of what the causes are because it would probably not make sense to you, unless you have aviation experience, but it's generally a miscalculation of V-speeds and not rotating the nose at the proper time.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top