Jump to content

I taught this guy everything he knows..


Wilbur

Recommended Posts

Wow!

On July 17, 1996, my companion Phyllis and I took off on a NW Airlines flight from JFK Airport in NY. Taking off from JFK 15 minutes behind us and following us across the Atlantic was TWA Flight 800. We probably crossed paths with some of the passengers in the airport. It blew up behind us over the ocean but we were totally ignorant of the event!

We were heading to Amsterdam on NW Airlines to make a connecting Royal Dutch KLM flight to Athens to begin a 2-week incredible vacation: 3 days in Athens/Southern Greece, 7 days on an "Aegean Odyssey" Cruise, and 3 days in Istanbul.

When we landed in Amsterdam, we were startled that security was being extra vigilant - no one told us anything. After we landed in Athens we were shepherded into a meeting room in our hotel - there were about 20 from the same tour on our plane - and told about TWA Flight 800.

We went on to have one of the most memorable and pleasing vacations of our lives, but then it came time to fly home and still no one knew what had caused the plane to explode.  Phyllis said she was glad we were flying home from Istanbul instead of Athens because of much better security.  Still, she grabbed the armrests on both flights, white-knuckled, all the way back to JFK.  When the wheels touched down in NY, the whole plane erupted in tremendous applause!  I think most of us didn't realize how much nervous tension had built-up in us until it was all over.

I imagine something like that occurred when that Airbus at Dusseldorf came to a stop!

  • Heart 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

Wow!

On July 17, 1996, my companion Phyllis and I took off on a NW Airlines flight from JFK Airport in NY. Taking off from JFK 15 minutes behind us and following us across the Atlantic was TWA Flight 800. We probably crossed paths with some of the passengers in the airport. It blew up behind us over the ocean but we were totally ignorant of the event!

We were heading to Amsterdam on NW Airlines to make a connecting Royal Dutch KLM flight to Athens to begin a 2-week incredible vacation: 3 days in Athens/Southern Greece, 7 days on an "Aegean Odyssey" Cruise, and 3 days in Istanbul.

When we landed in Amsterdam, we were startled that security was being extra vigilant - no one told us anything. After we landed in Athens we were shepherded into a meeting room in our hotel - there were about 20 from the same tour on our plane - and told about TWA Flight 800.

We went on to have one of the most memorable and pleasing vacations of our lives, but then it came time to fly home and still no one knew what had caused the plane to explode.  Phyllis said she was glad we were flying home from Istanbul instead of Athens because of much better security.  Still, she grabbed the armrests on both flights, white-knuckled, all the way back to JFK.  When the wheels touched down in NY, the whole plane erupted in tremendous applause!  I think most of us didn't realize how much nervous tension had built-up in us until it was all over.

I imagine something like that occurred when that Airbus at Dusseldorf came to a stop!

Wow!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Zephyr said:

Our best friends brother is a Captain for that airline, i still haven't gotten to chat with her to see if that was him.  Yikes!

Just a bad combination of crab relative to the runway and rudder deflection.  Once the tires touch and provide friction, the rudder isn't effective enough to straighten it out.  Unless gusty, then all bets are off. :)  All good, worked out well but a little uncomfortable for those in back.  IT happens. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What would have been funny is if the tower had called "Go Around" at 100 feet.  Well, maybe not funny for them.  ;) 

Poor nose gear.  I'd have that checked out.  And it looks like he over-corrected the crab at touchdown and then when the rudder response left it was all up to the nose wheel steering, or the gust died down at that exact moment.  When the pilots did these on the C-130 their Before Landing Briefing included a directive to the co-pilot that on touchdown controls would go the co-pilot and the pilot would immediately go to nose wheel steering.  All the co-pilot had to concentrate on was keeping the wings level after touchdown. 

I used to go sit on the bunk in the cockpit to watch the landings, which were normal unless we were doing short-fields, or cross wind landings.  It wasn't funny when both pilots were sitting at attention and the wheel was going from one stop to the next and it looked like the pilot was stomping rats with the rudder pedals.  The engineer would have a white-knuckled grip on the back of the pilot's seats calling out airspeed and the GCAS would get stuck on "Ten".  Pause.  "Ten".  Pause.  "Ten".

As I got older I quit doing that.  My crew position was in the back anyway.  :whistle:

  • Heart 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, tybeegb said:

What would have been funny is if the tower had called "Go Around" at 100 feet.  Well, maybe not funny for them.  ;) 

Poor nose gear.  I'd have that checked out.  And it looks like he over-corrected the crab at touchdown and then when the rudder response left it was all up to the nose wheel steering, or the gust died down at that exact moment.  When the pilots did these on the C-130 their Before Landing Briefing included a directive to the co-pilot that on touchdown controls would go the co-pilot and the pilot would immediately go to nose wheel steering.  All the co-pilot had to concentrate on was keeping the wings level after touchdown. 

I used to go sit on the bunk in the cockpit to watch the landings, which were normal unless we were doing short-fields, or cross wind landings.  It wasn't funny when both pilots were sitting at attention and the wheel was going from one stop to the next and it looked like the pilot was stomping rats with the rudder pedals.  The engineer would have a white-knuckled grip on the back of the pilot's seats calling out airspeed and the GCAS would get stuck on "Ten".  Pause.  "Ten".  Pause.  "Ten".

As I got older I quit doing that.  My crew position was in the back anyway.  :whistle:

Yup.  I would hope a heavy landing inspection was required there.  G-meters will tell the story, especially on those vertical stabs after full rudder deflection.  They were a little heavy footed and missed the part where you arrest the descent rate but... that must have been a gust. :)  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...