Landing Gear Problems – Seen from the Cockpit
On 03/11/2011, in Life around runways, by phil
“It’s too much to say I am a national hero, I am absolutely sure that any one of our pilots could have landed the plane and the result would have been the same because we train for situations like this on simulators”, So said Captain Wrona after the wheels-up landing of the LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 767 at Warsaw. And he is absolutely right. No pilot I have ever known has wanted to be a hero; he or she just wants a quiet life and to do a good professional job, as do our ATC colleagues.
As a counter view to the previous article giving the view from the Control Tower, I would like to say a few words about how this incident would have been seen from the cockpit.
I have never operated ETOPS aircraft and so will not comment on the wisdom or otherwise of continuing across the Atlantic with one of the hydraulic systems out of action. I operated Boeing 747s where we had the luxury of having 4 engines and 4 hydraulic systems. But what I would like to comment on is how one handles a wheels-up landing and some of the decisions that would have had to be made by the flight crew.
The first thing is that no-one would have expected the alternate gear lowering system to fail. This consists of a simple electrical system which releases the uplocks so that gravity and aerodynamic loads will effect a free fall of all the undercarriage legs. The failure of this system would only have become apparent during the initial approach when the crew were ready to lower the gear. At this point there would probably have been sufficient fuel on board for somewhere between 1 and 2 hours flying time. Thus there was time to assess the situation, to consult the airline’s maintenance department, try a number of other methods of lowering the gear, to burn off fuel so as to reduce the landing weight and minimise the residual fuel in the tanks, and to prepare for an emergency landing and subsequent evacuation.
No-one wants to have to deal with an emergency of any sort, but these things are a fact of life and are trained for on the simulator. Most (all) aircraft manufacturers recommend, in these situations, landing with all available gears extended.
Click here to read the full article
Federal Airways Manual of Operations 1941 – Chapter C, Airway Traffic Control Section
On 28/03/2011, in Bookshelf, by steve
The Manual...
I do not know about you but I love old books. If nothing else, thinking about the many people and many hands that have owned and touched such an old volume feels like a travel back in time. But reading some of them and comparing the style and content to our contemporary reality is also an exercise worth undertaking.
It is a pity that so few professional books that were not sold in general bookstores remain. FAA forerunner CAA and other such organizations had many manuals and other interesting publications right from the start but it is rare indeed to find one these days that you can also obtain for your own collection.
It is for this reason that I was so happy when Virginia Volk kindly agreed to share with Roger-Wilco and the readers of our Bookshelf section a real and unique gem, the 1941 edition of the Federal Airways Manual of Operations. You can download the Manual here.
If you are familiar with the ICAO provisions applicable to-day and in particular ICAO DOC 4444, PANS-ATM you will no doubt find this Airways Manual of Operations familiar. This book dates from 1941 and the first edition of ICAO DOC 4444 (at the time called PANS-ATC) saw the light of day in 1946. One of the main inputs had been the material already used extensively in the USA and which you can now add to your treasured relics and ATC mementos.
Click here to read the full article
Women in ATC – Echoes from the past
On 20/02/2011, in Women in ATC, by steve
The subject of women in air traffic control is dear to my heart for several reasons one of which is that I did play a small role in setting the scene for girls to be eventually accepted as ATC cadets in Hungary. The real achievement belongs to the ladies themselves who completed the fight but I do have fond memories of the first steps we took and which were anything but easy.
Anyway, with this background it was only natural that my blog should also take up the subject and it is with real pleasure that I noted just how much interest there is for it amongst you.
This time I would like to share with you some material kindly provided by one of our readers, Evon Russell, who is distinguished by being the daughter of one of the first women air traffic controllers while her dad was also a controller!
Her mom, Marian McKenna flew west several years ago and she was recently followed by another woman controller, Mary Elizabeth Chance VanScyoc who passed away on 9 February. These two ladies are special because they were the first and second female controllers in the US. It is commonly thought that Mary was the first but Marian often said to her daughter that she was in fact the first, even if the difference had only been a few days or weeks. I have no means to ascertain the facts and in a way this is probably not too important anyway. Or is it?
Click here to read the full article
AIXM 5.1 arrives in operational service
On 25/10/2010, in SWIM, by steve
You can be excused if the abbreviation AIXM does not ring any bells… I mean, to fly or control aircraft, you do not need to know what AIXM is… just enjoy its benefits.
Of course if you are a regular reader of Roger-Wilco, you will have seen our articles on System Wide Information Management and in them, several references to the exchange models that are essential for standardizing the way information is shuttled back and force between producers and consumers of information. AIXM is the exchange model for aeronautical information and as such, it revolutionizes one of the oldest but still most important areas of air traffic management.
That the traditional Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) is able to make the transition to Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) is due in no small part to the development and implementation of this particular information exchange model. AIXM 5.1 is significant because it is the version that has matured to the point where it can cater even for the most exotic requirements the world of AIS… oops, sorry, AIM can throw at it.
It is now on the threshold of being in operational service with the Estonian Air Navigation Services (EANS), following their site acceptance of an eAIP solution using COMSOFT’s aeronautical data base and Synclude’s AIP production system.
This is the first system in the world running an eAIP production tool based on AIXM 5.1. It also meets the ADQ regulations specified in EC 73/2010 and it features an EAD System Interface (ESI) supporting automatic upload of AIXM data and eAIS packages to the European AIS Database (EAD).
EANS will take the system into full operational service at the end of the year by which time all approvals from the Estonian CAA are expected to have been received. Full operational service will set the scene for the introduction of Electronic Input Forms (eIF) which enable data originators to digitally encode information for publication by the NOTAM Office.
Clearly, EANS is taking the transition from AIS to AIM seriously and they are setting an example for others to follow. It is important to note also that COMSOFT is offering an AIM product line that supports this kind of transition in a seamless and secure manner.
CAA Radiotelephony Manual – free download
On 21/12/2009, in Bookshelf, by steve
There are certain books that should not be missing from any pilot’s or controller’s kits. Among these is the UK CAA’s Radiotelephony Manual (CAP 413). Now in its 19th edition, it has numerous additions and clarifications (including the call sign suffix “Super” for the Airbus A380) that we all must be aware of.
If you think this is nothing for you, think again. A leading cause of runway incursions the world over is improper radiotelephony usage… It is easy to slip into “slang” when we repeat the same limited set of expressions over and over again, especially when our friends on the other end of the radio tend to do the same. The result? Incident reports aplenty in which radiotelephony figures in a prominent place.
Browsing a volume like CAP 413 is an easy way to remind us of the many things we thought we knew as well as to learn about the new things in town.
You can get your free copy of the Radiotelephony Manual here.
U.K. airspace “developments”?
On 26/11/2009, in Viewpoint, by cleo
A short article in Aviation Week and Space Technology caught my eye the other day. “Restructuring U.K. Skies” was the title and it announced that the U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was beginning the process of defining airspace out to 2030, with industry-wide dialogue to begin in 2010. I counted the number of times the word “airspace” appeared in the item: six. I also counted the number of times the words trajectory based operations appeared. ZERO.
I think it is fair to assume that the editors of Aviation Week would have used the term “trajectory based operation” if they had seen it in the CAA’s press release or the “Airspace for Tomorrow” guidance document. So, its complete lack can be safely taken for an indication of its absence in the CAA’s material.
The United Kingdom is part of SESAR and experts from NATS have been involved in the writing of the SESAR Concept of Operations. So what gives?
Click here to read the full article
Near-miss on demand
On 20/11/2009, in Life around runways, by steve
In the late 70’s our authority decided to commission a series of training movies for air traffic controllers and engineers. The purpose was to show some of the most commonly occurring errors, give an analysis of the causes and provide some guidance on how to avoid them. I was selected to write the script for the ATC episodes.
By the time the movie was to be made, we were limited to just four events, probably due to cost considerations. Like in any other profession, also in air traffic control, errors, human and otherwise, do occur but most of the time nothing serious happens. The safety system makes sure of that. So there is a wide range from which to select but which four should be included in the movie? I was sure however that one particular incident would get included. Not only would it highlight a real problem, it would also have tremendous visual impact. Something that was begging to be immortalized on film.
I will not go into the details of the error that led to two mid-sized aircraft loaded with passengers finding themselves at a few feet from each other, one just lifting off, the other aborting its landing, desperately climbing to avoid a collision. It did happen… The question was now: how do we recreate this near miss for the camera?
Click here to read the full article
Interesting people, unusual flight plans…
On 04/10/2009, in Interesting people, by steve
Rob Mead – Long-way turn from Yellowstone to Seattle
I put passion into
everything I did...
What were you dreaming of becoming when you were a kid?
Actually… I did not dream of anything in particular. I put passion into everything I did, wanted to be good in what I did… I always felt that life was going in a good direction and I just went with it.
What made you become part of the aviation family?
The blame for that goes to the US Air Force. By pure chance I ended up flying in the back of RC135s and never looked back since. I knew right from the start that flying was the pladce to be for me. Still feel the same way.
Click here to read the full article
Fly on the right – A mid air mitigation
On 03/08/2009, in View from the left seat, by Alex1
On 29 September 2006, A GOL B737-800 and a private Embraer Legacy business jet collided at FL360 some 200 miles north of Brasilia, over the Amazon Jungle. The Embraer’s left winglet hit the 737’s left wing, and the 737 crashed killing all on board. The Embraer was luckier, and made a successful emergency landing at the Cachimbo air base.
Both aircraft were equipped with transponders and TCAS, so how could it have happened? But the technicalities divert attention from a vastly more important point: Was it simply bad luck that the aircraft were so close together horizontally that they collided?
Click here to read the full article
