Happy Landings

[Frank Catt]

Hi Dave, see one of your colleagues got taken a bit short today !

[David Morton]

Very lucky. It sounds as though he did a brilliant job. Sounds like a catastrophic
systems failure. He would have been starting to lose all hydraulics as well unless he had the APU on.
I'm in awe

[Simon]

Seems like he landed short, what would cause that? wind shear?

[Pete.]

From reports on BBC he had a total loss of power and without any warning from the instruments. Every passenger should buy him a beer. It will be interesting to find out the cause.

[David Morton]

Loss of power often has lack of fuel going into the combuster cans as the prime reason, but with FBW aeroplanes like this, wiggly wriggly amps have a lot to answer for as well.
I used to get bollocked for having declared an extra five tons. When the office wallers asked why 5 tons, I would usually say "Thats how many people in my immediate family" or "Because I can."

[Pete.]

Lack of that five tons would show up on the instruments, but maybe the boss has already told him to keep his head down?

[Scott Calabro]

Well since we are speculating, and that is all it is until the FDR/CVR data is recovered and analyzed, it sounds like exactly what David said.

No more Jet-A on board!

It is interesting there was no fire, considering the way the MLG came up through the wing box, but with little elec. pwr. available maybe this is why.

I know there are reports of very loud "engine noise" before it went in but to me this sounds like the aircraft probably has a "RAT" (ram air turbine) or "ADG" (air driven generator). Due to its FBW design with only 2 engines. This device automatically deploys in case of a complete loss of elec. pwr. It makes a huge amount of noise. To the average joe it could easily be mistaken for the pilots applying power.

Good thing it was not worse.

Just my .02

Regards,
Scott

[Ron Earp]

Where is the link to the happenings?

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

The Beeb's take on it...

BBC NEWS | England | London | Airliner crash-lands at Heathrow

[Pete.]

Here is another. Bloody Aussie's.Aussie prankster fools network over jet crash.

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

Perhaps he was emulating the infamous "Gimley Glider" of Air Canada?

[Pete.]

I think thats Gimli. Gimli Glider - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Big-Foot]

Looks like he hit so hard that it punched the mains right up through the root of the wings!

I've made a few carrier landings in a Tomahawk and Warrior during primary training but never in a big-guy....

[David S.]

Yea Yea make fun of Air Canada. Just a couple of weeks ago had an Airbus bank in midflight. It banged up a few passenger that were not belted in. The pilot said system failure. I believe him and not the news who later said it was turbulance. He would be on auto pilot in mid flight and I figured he recovered the plane rather quickly. Also don't forget the Air Transat flight that landed in the Azores a few years back and the Air France Lightening Special in Toronto last year.

[Pete.]

Settle Petal, I don't think anyone is making fun of Air Canada, if you read the story of the Gimli glider the guy did a fantastic job getting everyone home in one piece.

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Hmmmm - I was once told (most likely a story) of a Concorde Pilot that pushed his luck with fuel quantity. They did not flame out in the air, but I believe they did after landing whilst taxing, or had so little fuel aboard that someone (captain?) was somewhat 'reprimanded' afterwards... (note I was told this some 20 yrs ago if that dates it)

Anyway, back to the case in hand.....

Whats your vote for the reason for this latest event??

1) HUMAN ERROR - NOT necessarily the captain/air-crew..

2) TECHY ERROR - i.e Electronic systems/software failure/glitch..

3) MECHANICAL FAILURE - failure of a physical/mechanical component(s)..

My money is currently on '1' Human error, with the redundancy and extensive testing of systems I find '2' hard to believe and I think it unlikely that with the dual redundancy built into flight control systems that '3' is likely either...

Anyone else....??

[Jac Mac]

Any landing that you can walk away from is supposed to be a 'successful',landing, given that this thing decided to turn itself into a glider at one of the worst possible moments just made it that much tougher, would have been tougher if it happened @ around 200' ft agl on takeoff. Instuctors do it to unsuspecting students in Traumahawks etc, not sure I would like it to happen in one of those.

[David Morton]

Latest news > Accident: Heathrow 17 January 2008 - initial report
18 January 2008



Accident: Heathrow 17 January 2008 - initial report


Formal Report 2/2008


January 2008 Bulletin


Progress Report 2007


Special Bulletin S4/2007 Published


Guidance Document for Police and Emergency Services


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Accident to Boeing 777-236, G-YMMM at London Heathrow Airport on 17 January 2008 - Initial Report


Initial Report AAIB Ref: EW/C2008/01/01

Accident
Aircraft Type and Registration: Boeing 777-236, G-YMMMNo & Type of Engines: 2 Rolls-Royce RB211 Trent 895-17 turbofan enginesYear of Manufacture: 2001Date & Time: 17 January 2008 at 1243 hrsLocation: Undershoot RWY 27L, London Heathrow AirportType of Flight: Commercial Air Transport (passenger)Persons on Board: Crew - 16
Passengers - 136Injuries: Crew - 4 (minor)
Passengers - 1 (serious)
Passengers - 8 (minor)Nature of Damage: SubstantialInformation Source: AAIB Field InvestigationFollowing an uneventful flight from Beijing, China, the aircraft was established on an ILS approach to Runway 27L at London Heathrow. Initially the approach progressed normally, with the Autopilot and Autothrottle engaged, until the aircraft was at a height of approximately 600 ft and 2 miles from touch down. The aircraft then descended rapidly and struck the ground, some 1,000 ft short of the paved runway surface, just inside the airfield boundary fence. The aircraft stopped on the very beginning of the paved surface of Runway 27L. During the short ground roll the right main landing gear separated from the wing and the left main landing gear was pushed up through the wing root. A significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraft but there was no fire. An emergency evacuation via the slides was supervised by the cabin crew and all occupants left the aircraft, some receiving minor injuries.
The AAIB was notified of the accident within a few minutes and a team of Inspectors including engineers, pilots and a flight recorder specialist deployed to Heathrow. In accordance with the established international arrangements the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the USA, representing the State of Design and Manufacture of the aircraft, was informed of the event. The NTSB appointed an Accredited Representative to lead a team from the USA made up of investigators from the NTSB, the FAA and Boeing. A Boeing investigator already in the UK joined the investigation on the evening of the event, the remainder of the team arrived in the UK on Friday 18th January. Rolls-Royce, the engine manufacturer is also supporting the investigation, an investigator having joined the AAIB team.
Activity at the accident scene was coordinated with the Airport Fire and Rescue Service, the Police, the British Airports Authority and British Airways to ensure the recovery of all relevant evidence, to facilitate the removal of the aircraft and the reinstatement of airport operations.
The flight crew were interviewed on the evening of the event by an AAIB Operations Inspector and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR), Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Quick Access Recorder (QAR) were removed for replay. The CVR and FDR have been successfully downloaded at the AAIB laboratories at Farnborough and both records cover the critical final stages of the flight. The QAR was downloaded with the assistance of British Airways and the equipment manufacturer. All of the downloaded information is now the subject of detailed analysis.
Examination of the aircraft systems and engines is ongoing.
Initial indications from the interviews and Flight Recorder analyses show the flight and approach to have progressed normally until the aircraft was established on late finals for Runway 27L. At approximately 600 ft and 2 miles from touch down, the Autothrottle demanded an increase in thrust from the two engines but the engines did not respond. Following further demands for increased thrust from the Autothrottle, and subsequently the flight crew moving the throttle levers, the engines similarly failed to respond. The aircraft speed reduced and the aircraft descended onto the grass short of the paved runway surface.
The investigation is now focussed on more detailed analysis of the Flight Recorder information, collecting further recorded information from various system modules and examining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operation.