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Niki Lauda is the man I will always remember as the one who successfully threatened Boeing into admitting they were at fault for a thrust reverser issue that ca

Niki Lauda is the man I will always remember as the one who successfully threatened Boeing into admitting they were at fault for a thrust reverser issue that caused the crash of Lauda Air Flight 004, operated by his company [1]. He had the courage to say that if Boeing does not recognize they were at fault, he would fly a plane himself in conditions similar to the crash and see if he could reproduce the issue. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004#Lauda's_visit_with_Boeing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004#Lauda's_v...

dingaling 7y ago
Although he was brave in saying that, he really had no choice. LaudaAir was being criticised at the time for scaling-up too quickly and putting crews under a lot of stress, with duty rosters pushed to the limit and minimal rest time. Pilot unions had said that an accident was inevitable, and then one happened. There was genuinely a technical failing with the 767 but he had to do something headline-ish to emphasise that and to shift suspicion away from his management style. To his credit, his later airline ventures were more sensibly planned and paced and didn't involve him flying routes to fill staffing gaps. He does seem to have been open to learning.
- StreamBright 7y ago
  Exhausted staff was not the cause of the crash at all. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004 "The official investigation, lead by Thailand's Aircraft Accident investigation Committee, took about eight months, and was released with the "probable cause" stating: "The Accident Investigation Committee of the Government of Thailand determines the probable cause of this accident to be [an] uncommanded in-flight deployment of the left engine thrust reverser, which resulted in loss of flight path control. The specific cause of the thrust reverser deployment has not been positively identified."[18] Different possibilities were investigated, including a short circuit in the system. Due in part to the destruction of much of the wiring, no definitive reason for the activation of the thrust reverser could be found.[10] As evidence started to point towards the thrust reversers as the cause of the accident, Lauda made simulator flights at Gatwick Airport which appeared to show that deployment of a thrust reverser was a survivable incident. Lauda said that the thrust reverser could not be the sole cause of the crash.[19] However the accident report states that the "flightcrew training simulators yielded erroneous results"[4] and stated that recovery from the loss of lift from the reverser deployment "was uncontrollable for an unexpecting flight crew".[20] The incident led Boeing to modify the thrust reverser system to prevent similar occurrences by adding sync-locks, which prevent the thrust reversers from deploying when the main landing gear truck tilt angle is not at the ground position.[10] The aviation writer Macarthur Job has said that "had that Boeing 767 been of an earlier version of the type, fitted with engines that were controlled mechanically rather than electronically, then that accident could not have happened".[7]"
  - tty7 7y ago
    You need to read the _whole_ comment.. dingaling said it was a technical failure and didn't even imply it was due to staff, just commenting on the general public's opinion at the time. I know people don't read the article, but at least read the comment lol
  - no_identd 7y ago
    >The incident led Boeing to modify the thrust reverser system to prevent similar occurrences by adding sync-locks, which prevent the thrust reversers from deploying when the main landing gear truck tilt angle is not at the ground position.[10] The aviation writer Macarthur Job has said that "had that Boeing 767 been of an earlier version of the type, fitted with engines that were controlled mechanically rather than electronically, then that accident could not have happened".[7]" How much similarity does this have to the current Boeing 737 Max woes? Also, I just tried to see if I could find if Lauda had commented on the whole 737 Max disaster - it led me to finding this 20 year old documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjW2AtRWdgo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjW2AtRWdgo
- owenversteeg 7y ago
  Yeah, but what makes it stand out to me is how he really firmly pushed Boeing for a while after that, flew simulators himself, and got them to admit wrongdoing, which is very impressive to me. Furthermore, getting further into the media when there are deaths on the line at your own airline is a tricky thing to do.
Mediterraneo10 7y ago
Funny that nearly the first comment on this thread dealt not with Lauda’s Formula 1 career but his airline ventures. He really must be more widely known for that now. I’m not a sports fan, and I learned who Lauda is by seeing the words "Fly Niki" plastered all over Air Berlin cabins, as Lauda’s airline established a partnership with Air Berlin. (Of course, Air Berlin itself is now defunct.) "Niki" seemed an odd name for an airline, which led me to Wikipedia the company and thus discover that there was a Formula 1 star behind it.
- _ph_ 7y ago
  I don't think it is, because he is more widely known for his airline, but for the fact that this episode tells so much about him as a person. He was a perfectionist, very focussed on technical excellence, especially on safety. That his airline would suffer such a tragical crash came as a shock to many and it is very fitting how he pushed to find the technical failure that led to the crash.
  - ascagnel_ 7y ago
    Lauda and Jackie Stewart were pioneers of motorsport safety. F1 has had a single on-track death over the past twenty years in a one-off accident, and work began immediately to make sure that type of accident won't happen again.
- estomagordo 7y ago
  I had no idea he had an airline.
  - mcv 7y ago
    Neither did I. I'm not a huge Formula 1 fan, but when I was a kid, his name was practically synonymous with car racing.
    - michalstanko 7y ago
      For me he's synonymous with flying. First Lauda Air, then Fly Niki with Air Berlin and now Lauda Motion with Ryanair.
q-base 7y ago
I had never heard this before. Knew him from F1. So thanks a lot for sharing this!
TomK32 7y ago
It shows that as a Formula 1 driver (and much earlier) he gained deep insight into complex machines and what can go wrong with them.
sschueller 7y ago
"Niki Lauda said that the crash in 1991 and the period after was the worst time in his life." [1] This after he almost burned alive in a F1 crash. The Boeing crash deeply affected him and he felt responsible for it. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004#Lauda's_visit_with_Boeing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004#Lauda's_v...
deytempo 7y ago
The ultimate tech support
okusername 7y ago
He did the same thing a few years ago when vulcanic ash clouds grounded Europe's air travel. He hopped into one of his A320 and flew through the ash clouds to prove that it was safe and wouldn't damage the engines.
- Someone 7y ago
  n=1, survivor bias, etc. That doesn’t prove it was safe, it showed it wasn’t 100% lethal. If this had a 1:1000 chance of going wrong, how long would it be before the first plane making an emergency landing or worse? Probably a few days, at most. Who would be blamed for not grounding planes?
- anoncake 7y ago
  I think there is a difference between the safety standards of civil aviation and "safe enough for a former F1 driver".
PedroBatista 7y ago
And that's nothing, if your read about his life from young age with huge conflicts with his family because of racing, his racing career and later his airline, the man had some huge balls.
Shorel 7y ago
The infamous flight 203 to Cali on November 27, 1989, was allegedly taken down by a bomb planted under orders from Pablo Escobar. This is the government story. However, further investigations imply the failure could have been the fault of a fuel pump and Boeing tried to cover it. https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/avianca-203-historia-nunca-nos-contaron-articulo-667717 https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/avianca-203-h... https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=598797 https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=598797 https://gosint.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/suspicious-aviation-tragedies-november-27-1989-avianca-flight-203/ https://gosint.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/suspicious-aviation-...

dingaling 7y ago

Although he was brave in saying that, he really had no choice. LaudaAir was being criticised at the time for scaling-up too quickly and putting crews under a lot of stress, with duty rosters pushed to the limit and minimal rest time. Pilot unions had said that an accident was inevitable, and then one happened. There was genuinely a technical failing with the 767 but he had to do something headline-ish to emphasise that and to shift suspicion away from his management style. To his credit, his later airline ventures were more sensibly planned and paced and didn't involve him flying routes to fill staffing gaps. He does seem to have been open to learning.

StreamBright 7y ago
Exhausted staff was not the cause of the crash at all. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004 "The official investigation, lead by Thailand's Aircraft Accident investigation Committee, took about eight months, and was released with the "probable cause" stating: "The Accident Investigation Committee of the Government of Thailand determines the probable cause of this accident to be [an] uncommanded in-flight deployment of the left engine thrust reverser, which resulted in loss of flight path control. The specific cause of the thrust reverser deployment has not been positively identified."[18] Different possibilities were investigated, including a short circuit in the system. Due in part to the destruction of much of the wiring, no definitive reason for the activation of the thrust reverser could be found.[10] As evidence started to point towards the thrust reversers as the cause of the accident, Lauda made simulator flights at Gatwick Airport which appeared to show that deployment of a thrust reverser was a survivable incident. Lauda said that the thrust reverser could not be the sole cause of the crash.[19] However the accident report states that the "flightcrew training simulators yielded erroneous results"[4] and stated that recovery from the loss of lift from the reverser deployment "was uncontrollable for an unexpecting flight crew".[20] The incident led Boeing to modify the thrust reverser system to prevent similar occurrences by adding sync-locks, which prevent the thrust reversers from deploying when the main landing gear truck tilt angle is not at the ground position.[10] The aviation writer Macarthur Job has said that "had that Boeing 767 been of an earlier version of the type, fitted with engines that were controlled mechanically rather than electronically, then that accident could not have happened".[7]"
- tty7 7y ago
  You need to read the _whole_ comment.. dingaling said it was a technical failure and didn't even imply it was due to staff, just commenting on the general public's opinion at the time. I know people don't read the article, but at least read the comment lol
- no_identd 7y ago
  >The incident led Boeing to modify the thrust reverser system to prevent similar occurrences by adding sync-locks, which prevent the thrust reversers from deploying when the main landing gear truck tilt angle is not at the ground position.[10] The aviation writer Macarthur Job has said that "had that Boeing 767 been of an earlier version of the type, fitted with engines that were controlled mechanically rather than electronically, then that accident could not have happened".[7]" How much similarity does this have to the current Boeing 737 Max woes? Also, I just tried to see if I could find if Lauda had commented on the whole 737 Max disaster - it led me to finding this 20 year old documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjW2AtRWdgo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjW2AtRWdgo
owenversteeg 7y ago
Yeah, but what makes it stand out to me is how he really firmly pushed Boeing for a while after that, flew simulators himself, and got them to admit wrongdoing, which is very impressive to me. Furthermore, getting further into the media when there are deaths on the line at your own airline is a tricky thing to do.

Mediterraneo10 7y ago

Funny that nearly the first comment on this thread dealt not with Lauda’s Formula 1 career but his airline ventures. He really must be more widely known for that now. I’m not a sports fan, and I learned who Lauda is by seeing the words "Fly Niki" plastered all over Air Berlin cabins, as Lauda’s airline established a partnership with Air Berlin. (Of course, Air Berlin itself is now defunct.) "Niki" seemed an odd name for an airline, which led me to Wikipedia the company and thus discover that there was a Formula 1 star behind it.

_ph_ 7y ago
I don't think it is, because he is more widely known for his airline, but for the fact that this episode tells so much about him as a person. He was a perfectionist, very focussed on technical excellence, especially on safety. That his airline would suffer such a tragical crash came as a shock to many and it is very fitting how he pushed to find the technical failure that led to the crash.
- ascagnel_ 7y ago
  Lauda and Jackie Stewart were pioneers of motorsport safety. F1 has had a single on-track death over the past twenty years in a one-off accident, and work began immediately to make sure that type of accident won't happen again.
estomagordo 7y ago
I had no idea he had an airline.
- mcv 7y ago
  Neither did I. I'm not a huge Formula 1 fan, but when I was a kid, his name was practically synonymous with car racing.
  - michalstanko 7y ago
    For me he's synonymous with flying. First Lauda Air, then Fly Niki with Air Berlin and now Lauda Motion with Ryanair.

q-base 7y ago

I had never heard this before. Knew him from F1. So thanks a lot for sharing this!

TomK32 7y ago

It shows that as a Formula 1 driver (and much earlier) he gained deep insight into complex machines and what can go wrong with them.

sschueller 7y ago

"Niki Lauda said that the crash in 1991 and the period after was the worst time in his life." [1] This after he almost burned alive in a F1 crash. The Boeing crash deeply affected him and he felt responsible for it. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004#Lauda's_visit_with_Boeing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004#Lauda's_v...

deytempo 7y ago

The ultimate tech support

okusername 7y ago

He did the same thing a few years ago when vulcanic ash clouds grounded Europe's air travel. He hopped into one of his A320 and flew through the ash clouds to prove that it was safe and wouldn't damage the engines.

Someone 7y ago
n=1, survivor bias, etc. That doesn’t prove it was safe, it showed it wasn’t 100% lethal. If this had a 1:1000 chance of going wrong, how long would it be before the first plane making an emergency landing or worse? Probably a few days, at most. Who would be blamed for not grounding planes?
anoncake 7y ago
I think there is a difference between the safety standards of civil aviation and "safe enough for a former F1 driver".

PedroBatista 7y ago

And that's nothing, if your read about his life from young age with huge conflicts with his family because of racing, his racing career and later his airline, the man had some huge balls.

Shorel 7y ago

The infamous flight 203 to Cali on November 27, 1989, was allegedly taken down by a bomb planted under orders from Pablo Escobar. This is the government story. However, further investigations imply the failure could have been the fault of a fuel pump and Boeing tried to cover it. https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/avianca-203-historia-nunca-nos-contaron-articulo-667717 https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/avianca-203-h... https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=598797 https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=598797 https://gosint.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/suspicious-aviation-tragedies-november-27-1989-avianca-flight-203/ https://gosint.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/suspicious-aviation-...