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I can't find it now, but there was an amazing story of the some (I think BA) pilots who lost all 4 engines about 60 miles out from the airport.
They managed to glide it in and no one died - I remember at the time they were saying it was one of the greatest aviation feats in the history of commercial airlines.
One thing my Grandad used to tell me was that all crashes are never a single problem; it's always a series of malfunction and/or mechanical and/or human errors that cause them.
He used to tell me some fascinating shit (was chief engineer for BA (globally), designed the fuel systems for concord etc). Some of the stories about flying in prototypes while they crumbled to pieces and they had to get to ground before falling out of the sky were just unreal.
My faviourite gliding story is this one:
| quote: | | British Airways Flight 9, sometimes referred to as the Speedbird 9 or Jakarta incident,[1] was a scheduled British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Auckland, with stops in Bombay, Madras, Kuala Lumpur, Perth, and Melbourne. On 24 June 1982, the route was flown by the City of Edinburgh, a 747-236B. The aircraft flew into a cloud of volcanic ash thrown up by the eruption of Mount Galunggung (approximately 180 kilometres (110 mi) south-east of Jakarta, Indonesia), resulting in the failure of all four engines. The reason for the failure was not immediately apparent to the crew or ground control. The aircraft was diverted to Jakarta in the hope that enough engines could be restarted to allow it to land there. The aircraft was able to glide far enough to exit the ash cloud, and all engines were restarted (although one failed again soon after), allowing the aircraft to land safely at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, Jakarta's airport. The crew members of the incident segment had boarded the aircraft in Kuala Lumpur, while many of the passengers had been aboard since the flight began in London.[2] |
Best line ever:
| quote: | | .....He then called out how high they should be at each DME step along the final approach to the runway, creating a virtual glide slope for them to follow. It was, in Moody's words, "a bit like negotiating one's way up a badger's arse."[1] |
Gotta love pilots lol.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9
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60 miles out -- and probably well below 10,000ft is difficult enough. i cannot imagine attempting to glide a plane with inop engines down from altitude (in the middle of the atlantic, no less), let alone with any additional problems!
