Text 9482, 136 rader
Skriven 2008-01-03 21:54:56 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
     Kommentar till en text av Bob Seaborn
Ärende: Re: Plane Crashes
=========================
Bob,
 
BS> > And "with" navaids "and "radio" you cannot get lost? Even over Europe?
 
BS> Wouldn't be legal over here, ...
 
The point I wished to make is that even a DC10 can get lost here. I know a
specific case of a B52 which got lost, I know about a "Galaxy" during Operation
Reforger (Return of Forces to Germany, formerly an annual US exercise) which
was on final here in Antwerp and there was a hick-up between military and
civilian controllers ... The runway here is 1.560 meters ... a Galaxy needs
some 3.000. The pilot noticed in time the runway looked awfully short. I also
know about an MD80 getting lost over Houston while Air Force 1 was on final ...
for Houston.
 
BS> Mind you, isn't Europe all control zones?  :)
 
Crossing Europe can be a nightmare due to the number of control-zones one needs
to pass depending on ones altitude.
 
BS> > Did I tell you the story already of that Northwest DC10?
 
BS> Not that I recall.
 
An excellent story, happened in the 1990's.
 
A Northwest DC10 on a flight from Detroit to Frankfurt approaches the Irish
coast, reports to Shanwick and announces "Destination Frankfurt, alternate
Brussels".
 
The operator of Shanwick erroneously enters into the flight database
"Destination Brussels, alternate Frankfurt".
 
The system is fully automated so in Frankfurt the arrival board immediately
reads "Diverted to Brussels". In Brussels automatically it appears on the
arrival board and a gate is automatically assigned by the computer.
 
Not knowing about this error and fully trusting ATC the flight continues. Mind
you, an old DC10 whose panel is full of dials and switches but no CRT on which
the problem would be obvious.
 
When over London at FL300 flightcontrollers order the plane to descend to FL200
which is normal for a Brussels arrival but not Frankfurt. The flightdeck crew
does not get alarmed by this and remark "Wow. Already? This is fast" and start
the descent while normally that should have to occur 45 minutes later.
 
They follow precise indications from controllers and get lined-up for landing
in Brussels. It was overcast so they had no visual reference and the Brussels
runway was in the same angle as Frankfurt. They were ordered to "contact
approach at <frequency>" which they did. they got the answer "Approach here
NW57. Please <an they got instructions on wind, barometric pressure, etc etc>".
 
At not one point did anyone mention "Brussels approach" "Brussels tower"
"Brussels arrivals" ... just "approach" "arrivals" and a frequency.
 
At low altitude they broke cloud cover, saw 25R in front of them, that is a
CAT-IIIB (I think) and were on the ground in seconds and then the captain spoke
the famous words "Fuck. Where are we? This isn't Frankfurt" and only then did
they call the tower and were told "Welcome to Brussels".
 
This was not the end of the fun.
 
In the cabin the passengers had seen on the flight monitors that they were
nowhere near Frankfurt and were landing in Brussels. The flight attendants were
notified who didn't call the flight deck ... wouldn't want to question a
captain with thousands and thousands of hours.
 
When they landed they said through the PA "Welcome to Frankfurt" though every
passenger saw it was Brussels on the screen.
 
The only thing the crew could do was to announce "there was an issue to be
cleared" and go to their assigned gate.
 
Now a friend of mine that day was on duty for KLM operations who handle
Northwest in Amsterdam. They had seen a Northwest flight announced but
considered it a mistake. So 20 minutes after the DC10 arrived at the gate and
no-one operated the jetway they got a phonecall if someone please wanted to
come and accept the plane.
 
2 girls ran there, not knowing what to expect and indeed, there they saw a NW
DC10. Imagine their surprise ... they handle Fokker-50s normally.
 
The plane was completely in turmoil and the crew nearly got lynched. People
missed connections, relatives were waiting in Frankfurt, pax had to be their
for work or meetings etc etc ... just imagine.
 
The first plan was to fuel the plane, push back and make the 45min hop to
Frankfurt. As the plane was not scheduled in Brussels, fuel had not been
ordered. So a fuel-truck was called-in and this took a while. When the plane
was fueled the cockpit crew had surpassed its max number of hours and was not
allowed to fly anymore that day. So a standby crew was ordered from Frankfurt.
 
They had to be flown in by German carrier Lufthansa and its next two flights
were full so the fastest mode of transportation was a minibus and they were
driven from Frankfurt to Brussels.
 
Finally the passengers were allowed off the plane and transported to the local
Sheraton for a meal. The kitchen was not ready for this load so that took a
while.
 
In the meantime the FE had signaled a problem with one of the engines and
figured to have it fixed in Brussels to save time in Frankfurt, so
Sabena-technics proceeded to repair.
 
The new crew arrived, did the pre-flight checks and asked KLM to start boarding
... the people were in the Sheraton and the firstones were just getting their
meal ... To explain you further: the landing in Brussels was around 7am. It was
now after 12.00.
 
So KLM cancelled the meal and hoarded the people back the plane. They were
hungry, thirsty, tired and grumpy.
 
Finally they pushed-back, engines started and they taxied to the runway. When
they were on the runway #1 ready for take-off they were called by the tower
stating their aircraft was considered not airworthy because the flight engineer
had not inspected the repair and had not signed-off the repair at Sabena
Technics.
 
Without take-off clearance they had to return to the gate, shut-off their
engines and a technician came on board.
 
The paperwork was finished, doors closed and they wanted to depart again. Only
to be told they had missed their slot and needed to re-apply for a new
departure slot ... an hour or two later.
 
Eventually they arrived at Frankfurt around 7pm ... hungry, thursty, tired and
grumpy ... 12hrs behind schedule.
 
A board of inquiry determined it was pilot-error. The captain was fired, the
co-pilot and the FE were disciplinary suspended for 4 months. Both quit and all
three had other jobs the same week elsewhere ... flying DC10s.
 
 \%/@rd

--- D'Bridge 2.94
 * Origin: Many Glacier -o=O=o- Preserve - Protect - Conserve (2:292/854)