#aviation accidents

[honourablejester]

I’m watching this youtube documentary by Mentour Pilot on the glider landing of TACA flight 110 in 1988, and there’s this lovely bit:

“And he also does something that you just don’t hear people do on commercial airliners, he does what we call a sideslip. Right, that is when you push rudder and opposite aileron, in order to essentially push the aircraft body into the airstream and make the whole body work as an air brake. This is a very efficient way to lose altitude, something that you would use on smaller aircraft or on gliders to get down, but not on airliners, because if you do that, you can actually induce an engine failure on one side because of the vortices that comes off the body and into the engine. But of course, these guys, they don’t have any engines, so that’s not really a risk that he’s taking.”

I just love that. You’ve got to look at the silver linings! I can do this manoeuvre now because I lost both engines 10 minutes ago, so it’s not a problem anymore!

He lands the airplane absolutely perfectly on a levee in New Orleans, to the point where it can be flown off again 13 days later after an engine change, so everything is fine, but I just love that little note. Just the way it was phrased. Like, normally this would be a problem, but our earlier, significantly worse problems already cancelled this one out, so we’re golden? Mostly golden. It’s fine. (It actually is fine).

The joy you’ve got to take when circumstances conspire so that one of your problems becomes a solution to other of your problems, and by luck, skill and fate you come out on top.

[matthewmoorwood]

Reading a book on aviation accidents and how they contributed to regulations and things.

Obviously there is some classic human error where a captain knows they're unqualified to fly in the scenario and yet choose to do it anyway.

Half of the remainder is "oh shit I thought you were doing that" leading to missed instructions.

And then there is just, the evil capitalism ones. Half of most disasters that result in massive loss of life are usually "haha yeah the engineers kept saying that we needed to replace this but that cost money. so we didn't do that"

and then.

The thing breaks and they're like "huh. well. No one could have seen that coming :/"

BRO YES? IT WAS VERY WELL DOCUMENTED??

[socialjusticefail]

This video is talking about an airplane crashing into a vent stack that was not painted as required. From the comments, the plant with the vent stacks might have not contacted the FAA about their new vent stacks. I feel like the plant is a problem in this approach.

May the pilot's family be able to find peace with this final report.

[deslatham]

The Evolution of Aviation Safety: From the "Umbrella of Death" to Doolittle's Clear Ways

In the latest episode of “Plane Crash Diaries,” we delve into a series of historical aviation accidents that have significantly shaped the landscape of air travel safety. I share insights from my recent aviation journey, transitioning to a tailwheel rating, setting the stage for a broader discussion on how past tragedies have led to crucial advancements in aviation safety. Early Days of…

[harbingrs]

Video of the day: Unstable Aircraft Design?! The Incredible Story of China Eastern flight 583 (or, a cautionary tale on why you should fasten your seatbelt whenever you're sitting down on a plane)

Chances are that anything you're flying in today is more pitch stable than the MD-11, but it's definitely better safe than sorry.

Video thumbnail description: An MD-11 passenger airliner with China Eastern Airlines livery, obviously photoshopped with a 'wiggly' distortion effect. Text reads ROLLERCOASTER AT 33,000 FEET!

Sponsored segment timecodes: 6:35 - 8:00 (it's BetterHelp so skip it)

Under the read more:

Video 'spoilers'

Content warnings

Accessibility notes

Comment highlights

Content warnings: The plane doesn't crash, but many passengers are injured and several killed during a rollercoaster-style cycle of flying to recover from an issue. The video is simulated and doesn't show passengers or injuries.

Accessibility: Video is well-narrated with accurate captions. Some animated diagrams are used to illustrate plane design and engineering, but are described in narration. A few definitions of terminology are shown visually, but are also summarised verbally.

Highlights from the comments:

From user @.djmech3871: I remember this very well. I was a World Airways 31:51 mechanic on the MD-11 and after this incident we had to install a mechanical lock on the flap/slat handle. RIP to the two people who died.

From user @.randallhunt9170: It was this and other peculiarities that eventually relegated the MD-11 to cargo work only.

From user @.jackdbur: MD tried many "New" things to make sales many of their ideas were badly engineered and executed, much of this is due to how the company was organised, Management > bean counters > engineering. Thin push rods to lock baggage doors what could go wrong, those big bolts holding the engines on we can go a size down and save some money, & this one let's make this airliner unstable as to see what happens.

From user @.Wolfeson28

Exactly. My first thought when I heard that was: why on earth would you want the slats to always default to the retracted or the extended position? What you want in the event of the system failing is for the flaps and slats to stay in whichever position they're already in! This is so befuddling in that it's almost the same problem that contributed to the crash of American 191 in Chicago - the plane didn't have a mechanical system to lock the slats in place, so when the hydraulics on the left wing were compromised, those slats retracted under the air load and the wing ended up stalling. In the same vein, the unusually high speeds and reduced stability mentioned earlier directly contributed to the crashes of FedEx flights 14 (Newark) and 80 (Narita). The more I learn about the DC/MD-10/11 series of planes, the more I can't help feeling they're almost as bad as their reputations make them seem.

From user @.kenoliver8913:

And compounded by some poor ergonomic design. Keyboards and important levers/switches should be spaced far enough apart you can never hit one while operating the other. Think about if you were trying to punch numbers into that keyboard as you hit a little real turbulence …

From user @.grantcivyt

This thread is why there appears so little innovation in commercial aviation. Safety is important but so is experimentation.

From user @.sparkyy0007 All fail safe systems must be designed to fail to a predictable default position, either extended or retracted. In the case of a flap system failure, a flap remaining in some undefined position could cause complete loss of roll control by becoming an unintentional aileron. Flaps fully extended fail-safe position allows a reasonable landing speed and the ability to synchronize the working flaps to the fail-safe to maintain roll stability.

From user @.akchuck100: My wife was in management at the Hospital in Anchorage when this happened. It was called a 'CODE External" over the hospital wide speakers. That meant that there were a large number of casualties coming into the hospital from outside the hospital (as opposed to a code internal, casualties from an 'In Hospital' emergency'). The emergency plan was designed for emergencies like a plane crash at the airport in town. The expectation was that employees would rush to the hospital to give help within 20 minutes or so. However, even though Providence Alaska Medical Center was the closest Hospital and because of the distance from the incident over the Aleutian Islands, it was still another 6 hours before the first casualties were expected to arrive at the hospital. There were 150, non-English speaking Chinese nationals who needed medical help. Great praise should go to not only the hospital personnel who rushed into work and then waited for the emergency to arrive, but to the passengers and crew who dealt with the victims for A LONG F-ING TIME before they could get real medical help. Also, great appreciation should go to all the employees of every Chinese restaurant in town (especially 'Charlies Bakery') who supplied VOLUNTEER translators to the hospital at a moments notice.

[shiviverma]

10 Deadliest Plane Crashes in the World: A Comprehensive Guide - Finology Blog

Read about the 10 deadliest plane crashes in the world in this comprehensive guide. Discover the causes, fatalities, and aftermath of these tragic aviation disasters that claimed hundreds of lives. Learn how safe flying really is and why there's no need to fear flying. Visit Finology Blog for more.

[lovedeltaa]

bunch of misc stuff I've been doodlin and and chipping away at

[yuurionviktor]

They should be friends and also happy Halloween

[dronescapesvideos]

B --52 Stratofortress Bomber | The Boeing Plane That Could Fly Without T...

[ceasarslegion]

Followers what do we think about the fact that i looked on my ticket and im flying on the same plane model that got boeing into their current mess in june twice

[clemsfilmdiary]

Airport 1975 (1974, Jack Smight)

5/13/23

[wildtornado-o]

Something abt these 2 has me feeling a little feral rn

Kofi link

+ bonus angst

[enriquemzn262]

Uncontained Engine Failure

One of the few in-fight events that can’t be pinned to pilot error.

[hauntedbystorytelling]

view in hi-res on wordPress

George R. Watson :: Pilot Chas. Widmen & Helpers Right after Plane Landing Accident, 1926. Vintage gelatin silver print. Signed in ink in the image. Titled and dated on typewritten label, mount verso. | src Klotz Gallery

[postcard-from-the-past]

1913 fatal aviation accident of Captain Rey

French vintage postcard

[thestonecuttersguild]

Heath Parasol, Oshkosh 2023.