Posted on 08/11/2003 5:17:47 PM PDT by blam
This is the captain speaking. Who wants to get off?
By Paul Stokes
(Filed: 12/08/2003)
Fourteen passengers, including a former pilot, refused to rejoin a holiday flight after they were involved in two high-speed test runs to check a faulty warning light.
The light came on as flight MYT392, a Boeing 757-200 operated by MyTravel, was preparing to take off from Minorca with 230 passengers bound for Leeds-Bradford airport. It indicated that the aircraft was airborne when it was still on the ground.
The captain used the recognised procedure of accelerating along the taxiway, a test area beside the runway, and braking sharply to redistribute the luggage in the hold.
The first attempt failed but the second succeeded in switching off the light.
Women and children were in tears as the aircraft then returned to the terminal at Mahon airport, where staff transferred luggage from the rear baggage hold to the front.
The captain stood on a chair and explained what had happened. He said that all safety precautions had been carried out and that the airliner was now ready for take-off.
Maurice Atkinson, 72, a former RAF pilot, and his wife Sheila were among those who refused to get back on.
Mr Atkinson said: "A lot of people did not want to, but when the pilot said that if they stayed behind they would be responsible for getting themselves back home, only 14 refused to go on board."
Mrs Atkinson said: "It was very chaotic. A lot of people were very upset.
"It was supposed to have been a computer problem that caused the light to come on, but I did not want anything going wrong as we flew over the Pyrenees."
The couple, from Harrogate, paid £100 each for a flight home on Saturday, a day late, and spent £46 more on train fares. They plan to seek compensation. Flight MYT392 arrived at Leeds-Bradford eight hours late.
MyTravel said: "The captain took all reasonable safety measures and kept passengers informed at all times.
"Anyone who did not choose to fly was assisted with alternative flights."
They have a computer that thinks they are airborne just because there is too much luggage in the rear of the plane?
That makes me distrust the "fly-by-wire" rage in airliner design even more!
I have a video of a fly-by-wire Airbus crashing into trees at the end of a runway because the computer wouldn't let him apply go-around power.
It was about 11 pm when we took off. Went roaring down the runway, then the captain stood on the brakes and brought us to a halt at the very end of the runway (the airport being on a mountaintop, the runway ended in a cliff). We taxied back and tried it again, with the same outcome.
As we taxied back down the runway one more time, the captain came on the intercom and explained that we seemed to have a "center of gravity" problem -- due to the baggage being stored forward and the passengers being seated forward, over the wing (there were only about twenty of us on the plane).
He speculated that we could probably solve the problem if, once the plane was underway, everybody ran to the rear of the cabin, then came back forward once we were airborne.
Nobody wanted to spend more time in Wheeling than was necessary and, being all good sports, we agreed to perform as required. Once more down the runway and, when told, we all stampeded to the rear -- whereupon the plane rotated and we got off the ground. After retracting the wheels and establishing a climb, we were all invited to go back forward to our seats.
The stewardess, who had joined our little track meet, broke out the bar and -- between Wheeling and Cincinnati -- we each got all the adult refreshment we could drink.
For about 20 seconds there was a (weak) negative G-force in the cabin.
My cigarette was securely in my mouth (does that tell you how long ago it was?) but my drink, camera and snacks started to drift towards the ceiling.
I was belted in as always (never trusted those planes), but most of my neighbors experienced levitation while I was busy grabbing my property out of the air.
No injuries on that flight.
After about 30 seconds of nervous silence, the pilot got on the cabin MC, explained that we had experienced an unknown malfunction ("duh..."), and that we'd be returning to the gate to disembark, as soon as we could get a tow.
Guess the problem was some sort of pump. Don't know if the pilot killed power, or the malfunction did, and have no idea how he managed to prevent us all from dying, but three hours later, and we were in the air. Guess all that training they do pays off.
FReegards, SFS.
The vote of an RAF pilot would have been enough for me. I'd have followed him off the plane.
The captain took all reasonable safety measures and kept passengers informed at all times
Prior too rather than afterwards would have worked a lot better. As far as slamming on the brakes to slide the baggage in the hold around....that's a whole 'nother deal.
If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
After boarding, I sat in my seat and watched this guy try for four or five minutes to figure out how to close the cockpit door. Finally, he gave up and the stewardess closed it for him. He was the co-pilot.
We pushed back from the gate on time, and then just sat there for about ten minutes, by which time it's a good ninety degrees in the aircraft. Not a word was uttered by the crew until the stewardess took a phone call, I suppose from the cockpit that was about twelve inches away. Then she stood up and said she needed one volunteer to move to the back of the aircraft for weight-and-balance reasons. Someone volunteered quickly and moved.
Unfortunately, still no movement from the aircraft. The stewardess sat back down in her little jump-seat and we all sat there and stared at her. About ten minutes later, which by this time means we're about twenty minutes past our scheduled departure time, the captain came on the intercom and apologized for the delay, said there were some "problems with uh..er..uh..some weight...uh, STUFF, but not to worry, he would make up lost time once we were in the air."
This went on for FIFTY minutes, and I kid you not, EACH time the pilot came on the intercom, he stammered nonsensically and promised to "make up lost time in the air." The last time he said that, he also specifically said, "we'll still have you in the gate on time." At that moment, we were still on the ground in Memphis, and scheduled to arrive in Jackson in SEVEN MINUTES.
The flight itself was uneventful once it finally got underway, but we were seriously considering asking to be let off toward the end of the tarmac debacle. We will NOT be booking another leg on Northwest Airlink.
MM
That was an after-the-fact statement by the travel company. Probably just CYA.
No, you have a video of a fly-by-wire Airbus mushing into the trees because the pilot flying was too low, too slow, and added power too late. Turbine engines take time to spool up, fly-by-wire or not. The captain didn't give them that time. If anything, the fly-by-wire systems kept the aircraft level as it descended. Had the captain been able to ignore the stick shaker and haul back on the control column (the instinctive reation, and hard to overcome when the treeline is approaching), the plane likely would have stalled, dropped one wing, and cartwheeled in. Hard to believe when looking at that video, but it could have been a LOT worse. Had the same mistake been made in a conventionally rigged aircraft it probably would have been.
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