Airmanship in action
Your first choice isn’t always right. So keep turning! Plot from AA flight ORD to DCA. Looks like they ended up on the upwind side of the storm, almost always a better place to be, even if it is a longer track.
airmanship
A340 engine shutdown video
YouTube has a great 15-minute video of an Airbus A340 crew running ECAMs and checklists that results in shutting down an engine in flight. For real. It’s been viewed a bunch of times, but I hadn’t seen it till today, so maybe you haven’t either. It’s an interesting, thought provoking experience. The Swiss airline crew were being filmed by PilotsEye.tv for a high-quality video production of their Zurich to Shanghai flight. But during climb out the number three engine oil temperature starts to gently rise. It’s not TOPGUN, but rather a rare invitation for an intimate look at how professional … Continue reading A340 engine shutdown video
Harrison Ford talks (some) flying
“When the engine quit, my training had prepared me to deal with it in a way. I really didn’t get scared. I just got busy. I knew what I was going to do, and I knew how to do it. The mantra aviators carry around in our heads is: Fly the airplane, first thing. Fly the airplane — even if it doesn’t have an engine, fly. Don’t give up that ship, matey. And even though I don’t remember the details of it, I guess I was able to do that, because the way I landed, the wings were level. I … Continue reading Harrison Ford talks (some) flying
“We’ll get that straight when we get airborne”
It’s better to look a little stupid now, than a lot stupid later. The US NTSB has released full investigative notes on last year’s crash of US Airways flight 1702, an A320 taking off from Philadelphia International airport. We can learn a lot from this crash of a fully airworthy Airbus. It actually got into the air, and then the captain decided to force it back onto the runway. There was substantial damage. It departed the runway. I’m glad all 149 passengers and 5 crew exited the aircraft via emergency exits with no serious injuries. But the jet didn’t look good: Airline … Continue reading “We’ll get that straight when we get airborne”
Do you wear a watch?
Airplane owners always say “safety is number one,” but how many encourage us to not wear a watch? Captain Richard de Crespigny is a former military pilot, and was PIC of QF32, the A380 that suffered massive damage after engine #2 exploded. The quote is from his fantastic book, QF32.