5 ms·

It's always impressive to see pilots who are able to recover from seemingly impossible situations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transat_Flight_236 https:/

by smackay 13y ago

It's always impressive to see pilots who are able to recover from seemingly impossible situations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transat_Flight_236 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transat_Flight_236 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4288383.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4288383.stm More tales of derring-do that will be a thing of the past when everything is automated.

FigBug 13y ago
This one impressed me the most: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232 After a total hydraulic failure, the pilots still managed to land just using thrust difference between the two engines. I'm impressed anybody survived.
- oasisbob 13y ago
  The interview of the pilot Dennis Fitch by Erol Morris in the TV show First Person [1] is one of the most riveting interviews I've ever seen -- would highly recommend it. [1] First Person, Season 2 "Leaving the Earth"
- ak217 13y ago
  Add the RA-85563 test flight to the list. http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=122072 http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=122072
- mhurron 13y ago
  I've always been extremely impressed and awed by the pilots of the Gimli Glider. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider
  - lutorm 13y ago
    "The aircraft's fuel gauges were inoperative because of an electronic fault which was indicated on the instrument panel and airplane logs (the pilots believed flight to be legal with this malfunction)." Dudes, wtf? Unless Canadian regulations differ from US ones, you're not even allowed to fly a single-seater in day VFR without a fuel gauge.
    - munin 13y ago
      this story is longer, I think: http://www.damninteresting.com/the-gimli-glider/ http://www.damninteresting.com/the-gimli-glider/ it explains why they flew without a fuel gauge. tl;dr - they knew the gauge was broken, but regs allowed the flight if the maintenance crew did a manual sounding of the tanks and the measured fuel was enough. they sounded and measured, but converted incorrectly between pounds and kilos. I think the pilots were severely disciplined for that failure.
      - mhurron 13y ago
        They were disciplined by Air Canada as Air Canada held the pilots and ground crew at fault even though the Aviation Board found Air Canada at fault. Their disciplinary action was later overturned and "the pilots were awarded the first ever Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Diploma for Outstanding Airmanship."
- toomuchtodo 13y ago
  Due to this incident, using thrust vectoring in a control surface failure scenario is now built into flight management software.
  - 001sky 13y ago
    That's a hell of a resume item.
- Tloewald 13y ago
  I read about an earlier incident where all hydraulics in a DC10 failed as a result of cargo door failure as a kid. The passengers on that plane were very, very lucky that their pilot had practiced doing this for fun in a simulator. I suspect that a lot of pilots learned this technique precisely because of the earlier incident. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-10#American_Airlines_Flight_96 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-10#America...
- PhasmaFelis 13y ago
  Yeah, that's an amazing story. You know things were bad when your landing kills a third of your passengers and you get a presidential commendation for saving that many.
foldr 13y ago
I know this is kind of nitpicky, but a loss of engine power isn't really an impossible situation if the plane is close enough to a runway. It's by no means easy to land one of those things without power, but they are designed for it to be possible.
- neurotech1 13y ago
  In US Airways 1549 mishap, the "miraculous" part is that he ditched in the water in a large airliner with 100% survival. If he had a runway available "down range" it would have been somewhat lesser event to land the jet safely. That said, I think TACA Flight 110 (737-300) was an impressive "miracle" glide landing too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TACA_Flight_110 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TACA_Flight_110
  - foldr 13y ago
    Ah I see, I missed the water landing part, sorry.
twistedpair 13y ago
Personal favorite is the first officer landing the plane while holding on to the captain who has been sucked out of the blown out windshield. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_5390 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_5390
- lutorm 13y ago
  That's pretty weird, given that flight crews are required to wear their seat belts at all times.
  - dredmorbius 13y ago
    I'd have to revisit the story to see just how that happened, but explosive decompression is a hell of a drug. When it's happened in the passenger portion of aircraft, seats have been ripped off the floor to which they're bolted. Pulling someone out of a loosely-fastened seat belt (even, possibly, a multi-point harness) isn't beyond contemplation.
    - thedrbrian 13y ago
      [Citation needed] The few times someone has been pulled out of a plane due to decompression has been because they were stood right under the panel that failed( Ahola 243 ) or have been sat right on top of the cargo door that failed (aa96 and Turkish 981 ). I'd love to know how decompression unbolted a seat.
      - dredmorbius 13y ago
        Acking your cite req. I don't have one handy, though a review of decomp cases should be reasonable feasible -- there are pretty comprehensive lists of aircraft accidents. And I'll admit not being positive of my information, though I do believe there are cases where a seat or seats have been ripped out.
      - dredmorbius 13y ago
        As to your req: TWA Flight 800 incident reports claim that the pilot and 70% of the passengers were pulled from the fuselage following structural failure of the aircraft (the front 1/3 of the plane detached from the remainder following a fuel tank explosion). Several rows of seats were also detached. Situation would have been massive structural failure and exposure of the aircraft interior to the jetstream and fireball, which is more than an explosive decompression, but it is a referenced case. Specific mentions begin at about 20 minutes into the following video based on NTSB reports: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbny8XnAifY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbny8XnAifY There's some mention of passengers being hurled from the plane in the NTSB accident report that I can find, but I can't find full cites for the claims of the video: http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2000/AAR0003.pdf http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2000/AAR0003.pdf There's the fact that most of the passengers suffered "severe" trauma (described as "internal decapitation" in the video), likely from sudden deceleration as the nose separated.
stcredzero 13y ago
A Belgian pilot managed to land a DHL Airbus A300B4-200F jet after a missile attack had drained all 3 hydraulic systems and damaged the left wing. He also landed the plane using throttle control only. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Baghdad_DHL_attempted_shootdown_incident http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Baghdad_DHL_attempted_shoo...
- stygiansonic 13y ago
  Definitely came to this thread expecting this link. It's a great story. As an addendum, NASA has been doing research into autopilot control for this sort of scenario. They call it Propulsion Controlled Aircraft (PCA): http://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-041-DFRC.html http://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-041...
gonzo 13y ago
I co-own a sailboat with two Hawaiian Airlines pilots (both formerly Aloha Airlines pilots). One is my best friend, the other is Mimi Tompkins http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline_Tompkins http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline_Tompkins
jussij 13y ago
The F-16 fighter has the glide characteristics approaching that of a rock. Yet this guy still managed to dead stick land his crippled F-16 aircraft. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=21b_1358528621&comments=1 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=21b_1358528621&comments=1

by smackay 13y ago

FigBug 13y ago

This one impressed me the most: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232 After a total hydraulic failure, the pilots still managed to land just using thrust difference between the two engines. I'm impressed anybody survived.

oasisbob 13y ago
The interview of the pilot Dennis Fitch by Erol Morris in the TV show First Person [1] is one of the most riveting interviews I've ever seen -- would highly recommend it. [1] First Person, Season 2 "Leaving the Earth"
ak217 13y ago
Add the RA-85563 test flight to the list. http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=122072 http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=122072
mhurron 13y ago
I've always been extremely impressed and awed by the pilots of the Gimli Glider. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider
- lutorm 13y ago
  "The aircraft's fuel gauges were inoperative because of an electronic fault which was indicated on the instrument panel and airplane logs (the pilots believed flight to be legal with this malfunction)." Dudes, wtf? Unless Canadian regulations differ from US ones, you're not even allowed to fly a single-seater in day VFR without a fuel gauge.
  - munin 13y ago
    this story is longer, I think: http://www.damninteresting.com/the-gimli-glider/ http://www.damninteresting.com/the-gimli-glider/ it explains why they flew without a fuel gauge. tl;dr - they knew the gauge was broken, but regs allowed the flight if the maintenance crew did a manual sounding of the tanks and the measured fuel was enough. they sounded and measured, but converted incorrectly between pounds and kilos. I think the pilots were severely disciplined for that failure.
    - mhurron 13y ago
      They were disciplined by Air Canada as Air Canada held the pilots and ground crew at fault even though the Aviation Board found Air Canada at fault. Their disciplinary action was later overturned and "the pilots were awarded the first ever Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Diploma for Outstanding Airmanship."
toomuchtodo 13y ago
Due to this incident, using thrust vectoring in a control surface failure scenario is now built into flight management software.
- 001sky 13y ago
  That's a hell of a resume item.
Tloewald 13y ago
I read about an earlier incident where all hydraulics in a DC10 failed as a result of cargo door failure as a kid. The passengers on that plane were very, very lucky that their pilot had practiced doing this for fun in a simulator. I suspect that a lot of pilots learned this technique precisely because of the earlier incident. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-10#American_Airlines_Flight_96 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-10#America...
PhasmaFelis 13y ago
Yeah, that's an amazing story. You know things were bad when your landing kills a third of your passengers and you get a presidential commendation for saving that many.

foldr 13y ago

I know this is kind of nitpicky, but a loss of engine power isn't really an impossible situation if the plane is close enough to a runway. It's by no means easy to land one of those things without power, but they are designed for it to be possible.

neurotech1 13y ago
In US Airways 1549 mishap, the "miraculous" part is that he ditched in the water in a large airliner with 100% survival. If he had a runway available "down range" it would have been somewhat lesser event to land the jet safely. That said, I think TACA Flight 110 (737-300) was an impressive "miracle" glide landing too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TACA_Flight_110 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TACA_Flight_110
- foldr 13y ago
  Ah I see, I missed the water landing part, sorry.

twistedpair 13y ago

Personal favorite is the first officer landing the plane while holding on to the captain who has been sucked out of the blown out windshield. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_5390 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_5390

lutorm 13y ago
That's pretty weird, given that flight crews are required to wear their seat belts at all times.
- dredmorbius 13y ago
  I'd have to revisit the story to see just how that happened, but explosive decompression is a hell of a drug. When it's happened in the passenger portion of aircraft, seats have been ripped off the floor to which they're bolted. Pulling someone out of a loosely-fastened seat belt (even, possibly, a multi-point harness) isn't beyond contemplation.
  - thedrbrian 13y ago
    [Citation needed] The few times someone has been pulled out of a plane due to decompression has been because they were stood right under the panel that failed( Ahola 243 ) or have been sat right on top of the cargo door that failed (aa96 and Turkish 981 ). I'd love to know how decompression unbolted a seat.
    - dredmorbius 13y ago
      Acking your cite req. I don't have one handy, though a review of decomp cases should be reasonable feasible -- there are pretty comprehensive lists of aircraft accidents. And I'll admit not being positive of my information, though I do believe there are cases where a seat or seats have been ripped out.
    - dredmorbius 13y ago
      As to your req: TWA Flight 800 incident reports claim that the pilot and 70% of the passengers were pulled from the fuselage following structural failure of the aircraft (the front 1/3 of the plane detached from the remainder following a fuel tank explosion). Several rows of seats were also detached. Situation would have been massive structural failure and exposure of the aircraft interior to the jetstream and fireball, which is more than an explosive decompression, but it is a referenced case. Specific mentions begin at about 20 minutes into the following video based on NTSB reports: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbny8XnAifY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbny8XnAifY There's some mention of passengers being hurled from the plane in the NTSB accident report that I can find, but I can't find full cites for the claims of the video: http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2000/AAR0003.pdf http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2000/AAR0003.pdf There's the fact that most of the passengers suffered "severe" trauma (described as "internal decapitation" in the video), likely from sudden deceleration as the nose separated.

stcredzero 13y ago

A Belgian pilot managed to land a DHL Airbus A300B4-200F jet after a missile attack had drained all 3 hydraulic systems and damaged the left wing. He also landed the plane using throttle control only. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Baghdad_DHL_attempted_shootdown_incident http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Baghdad_DHL_attempted_shoo...

stygiansonic 13y ago
Definitely came to this thread expecting this link. It's a great story. As an addendum, NASA has been doing research into autopilot control for this sort of scenario. They call it Propulsion Controlled Aircraft (PCA): http://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-041-DFRC.html http://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-041...

gonzo 13y ago

I co-own a sailboat with two Hawaiian Airlines pilots (both formerly Aloha Airlines pilots). One is my best friend, the other is Mimi Tompkins http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline_Tompkins http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline_Tompkins

jussij 13y ago

The F-16 fighter has the glide characteristics approaching that of a rock. Yet this guy still managed to dead stick land his crippled F-16 aircraft. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=21b_1358528621&comments=1 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=21b_1358528621&comments=1