Posted on 09/22/2022 8:33:05 AM PDT by BenLurkin
An initial maintenance inspection suggests an issue with a hydraulic pump on the aircraft, which had 256 passengers on board for the flight, United Airlines said. Sparks flew off the plane as it climbed after takeoff, according to a video posted online that purports to show the flight.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating what happened with Flight 149, which departed Newark airport late Wednesday night, then declared an emergency. The Boeing 777-200 aircraft had been headed to Sao Paulo, Brazil, before returning to Newark, the FAA said. The hydraulic system on the Boeing 777 runs key systems, such as the landing gear, flaps and brakes. There are three redundant hydraulic systems on the plane, meaning two can fail and the airplane can still operate normally.
The flight circled over the Atlantic Ocean to burn fuel before returning to the airport about two hours after departure, flight tracking data shows.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
They don’t like to land with a full load of fuel, apparently.
It would have made the news if it were the a Trump family member.
“after circling over the Atlantic...”
Well, their left turn signal was stuck in the “On” position, what else were they supposed to do?
No, they don't. Max takeoff weight for many commercial airliners is greater than max landing weight. Fuel is heavy.
Gotcha.
A flight to Rio from Newark is full of fuel.
They circled to burn and dump fuel, making the plane much lighter before emergency landing. Reduce risk of fire on landing less stress on the plane.
Plus if it was a hydraulic problem possible landing gear or flaps/ speed brakes won’t work properly on landing.
6 gallons of gas per mile or 150 gallons per passenger so maybe 18000 gallons of fuel or slightly more than 100.000 pounds of fuel which is the weight of a fully loaded freight truck, cargo, truck and everything.
“ They don’t like to land with a full load of fuel, apparently.”
I believe it has to do with preparing to crash in case the gear doesn’t work. Fuel tends to explode
That too
I have heard jet fuel is close to kerosene. Would that be less volatile than gasoline? Maybe a smart freeper can enlighten me.
Circling the Atlantic must have taken 2 whole days
I am sure that to newark and surrounding structures and aircraft gasoline Vs kerosene vs jp4 no one cares as long as they contain the explosion to relatively small
No one watches “Speed” on a regular basis as we do around here, I guess
That would put the plane above the Maximum Landing Weight (MLW).
The the landing gear isn’t designed to land at weights above the maximum landing weight which is lower than the maximum takeoff weight. Landing overweight can cause damage to the structures of the plane. This can be especially dangerous if much of the excess weight is fuel. The fuel tanks could rupture and cause a fire.
There are take off weight limits AND landing weight limits. Just because it could take off with that weight doesn’t mean they can safely land with it. (Usually landing gear concerns)
Key word “safely”.
Also, they would use the time dumping fuel to assess their situation, go through various check lists and prepare for a non-standard (emergency) landing.
Awhile back, we missed our flight in Ft Sill, OK because the plane coming from Dallas, TX had been 100% refueled and that short flight distance would not have used enough fuel for it to land.
They had to defuel the jet in Dallas before it could make its way to Ft. Sill.
Interesting. Of course
The landing gear are utilized differently take off vs landing
Haven’t you heard ? - jet fuel (kerosene) burns hot enough to literally melt steel I beams
There are numerous comments on here about reducing landing weight due to stress on the landing gear. That is partially true. But the main reason is braking energy. If the plane is over the maximum gross landing weight, then the landing distance calculations are invalid.
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