Most of the posters that’s been on here for years probably are aware that I flew for United for 33 years. I was talking with another retired pilot on the phone over the weekend and he told me about a near very scary incident that occurred in December that I was unaware of. I am usually on top of anything that goes on at United.
A plane (Boeing Triple 7) left Mauri and during their climb-out, the Captain, who was flying the plane while the first officer took care of observing the instruments and taking care of communications with the tower, called out “Flaps 5.” There are generally 4 or 5 flap settings, depending on what aircraft is being flown. The first officer set the flaps at “15”, which forces the nose down.
Because they were in the clouds, the Captain never recognized that the plane had began to lose altitude. I guess the first officer wasn’t also paying attention to the Altimeter. At the time of the Captain calling for “Flaps 5” the plane was at about level 2200 feet above the water (Pacific Ocean).
They continued on with a flap setting at 15. When the plane came out of the clouds, the pilots got an aural warning to “Pull Up!”. An aural warning is a verbal sound alert the plane emits if a dangerous situation is occurring. The plane had descended to about 750 feet above the water. You can only imagine what the passengers were experiencing. I believe there were over 200 passengers onboard. The Captain was able to push the throttles to full thrust and get the plane back up to the altitude where it should have been.
After they landed in San Francisco, they checked on the passengers and everyone was alright, other than some probably being traumatized. The pilots were honest enough to file an incident report, which the NTSB investigated and found that when the Captain called for “Flaps 5” the first officer said he heard “Flaps 15.” It didn’t make sense to me because 5 and 15 doesn’t even sound similar. The othe important part is that when the pilot flying the plane makes a call out, the other pilot is supposed to repeat it. Doing this is supposed to prevent accidents.
The NTSB ruled the incident as pilot error. Both pilots are still flying for United. IMO, this near terrifying accident should never have happened. Personally, I would have at least suspended the pilots for a short time.
United Plane
A plane (Boeing Triple 7) left Mauri and during their climb-out, the Captain, who was flying the plane while the first officer took care of observing the instruments and taking care of communications with the tower, called out “Flaps 5.” There are generally 4 or 5 flap settings, depending on what aircraft is being flown. The first officer set the flaps at “15”, which forces the nose down.
Because they were in the clouds, the Captain never recognized that the plane had began to lose altitude. I guess the first officer wasn’t also paying attention to the Altimeter. At the time of the Captain calling for “Flaps 5” the plane was at about level 2200 feet above the water (Pacific Ocean).
They continued on with a flap setting at 15. When the plane came out of the clouds, the pilots got an aural warning to “Pull Up!”. An aural warning is a verbal sound alert the plane emits if a dangerous situation is occurring. The plane had descended to about 750 feet above the water. You can only imagine what the passengers were experiencing. I believe there were over 200 passengers onboard. The Captain was able to push the throttles to full thrust and get the plane back up to the altitude where it should have been.
After they landed in San Francisco, they checked on the passengers and everyone was alright, other than some probably being traumatized. The pilots were honest enough to file an incident report, which the NTSB investigated and found that when the Captain called for “Flaps 5” the first officer said he heard “Flaps 15.” It didn’t make sense to me because 5 and 15 doesn’t even sound similar. The othe important part is that when the pilot flying the plane makes a call out, the other pilot is supposed to repeat it. Doing this is supposed to prevent accidents.
The NTSB ruled the incident as pilot error. Both pilots are still flying for United. IMO, this near terrifying accident should never have happened. Personally, I would have at least suspended the pilots for a short time.
United Plane
