Emirates near disaster on takeoff

onemileatatime.com

Emirates' (Probably) Terrifying Boeing 777 Flight To Washington

A recent Emirates Boeing 777 flight from Dubai to Washington allegedly had a serious Incident after takeoff due to pilot error.
onemileatatime.com onemileatatime.com
The crew operating the previous flight with the aircraft had set the altitude to zero in the flight director system (which controls the autopilot); the crew on this flight was supposed to (but didn’t) set the altitude to 4,000 feet, which is a standard altitude to first climb to after departure

During the departure, the pilot flying the aircraft decided to “follow” what the flight director was showing, which was an altitude of zero feet
While the plane would typically rotate at a much lower speed, the plane was still on the ground at 216 knots, and even overran the standard runway area, and only took off in the runway safety area

The plane was already flying over houses at an altitude of 75 feet, going a minimum of 234 knots
The plane barely gained altitude, and was at an altitude of just 175 feet when it was flying at a speed of 262 knots

As a point of comparison, ordinarily the plane would be at well under 200 knots at that altitude, and would be climbing much faster

While it would be standard to return to the airport to assess damage when something like this happens (given the potential for overspeed with the flaps, plus the potential damage if the aircraft did unknowingly hit something), the pilots made the decision to continue to Washington

It’s my understanding that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now investigating this incident, and that at least the two pilots at the controls have been suspended, or possibly even fired
Click to expand...

While Emirates hasn’t yet officially commented on this incident, the airline did send out the following alert to pilots on Monday, essentially referencing the incident:

CREWS ARE REMINDED THAT THERE ARE NO FCOM NORMAL PROCEDURE REQUIREMENTS TO CHANGE THE MCP AFTER LANDING OR SHUTDOWN. THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES WHEN THE MCP “ALTITUDE WINDOW” HAS BEEN SET TO THE AIRPORT ELEVATION WHICH MAY CAUSE ISSUES ON THE SUBSEQUENT DEPARTURE. CREWS SHALL NOT SET AIRPORT ELEVATION ON THE MCP AFTER LANDING OR SHUT DOWN.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
WOW! So many wrong things were missed on in this one that it's just surreal . . . if I was a passenger on this airplane I would be thanking my lucky stars to still be alive . . . and to think this airplane then turned around and made a return trip to Dubai before the incident was reported seems to double down on the surreal . . . can any 777 drivers comment on speed limits for tires, landing gear, flaps, etc.?

It's like 2021 wanting to top 2020 as the top year of the bizarre :oops:
 
DXB-IAD

Details kinda fuzzy. But apparently, 0000 feet set in altitude window instead of 4000 ft. Pilots followed FD. All sorts of hilarity ensued.

And by that, I mean:

* Remained on the ground until 216 knots.
* 14,400 ft down the runway / into safety area
* 90 meters short of ILS localizer antenna
* Airborne at 75 AGL at 234 knots
* Flaps overspeed

4 pilots “may” have been dismissed at Emirates.
 
Was the PF, Michael Scott?

michael-scott-dwight-pond-832x447.png
 
mikecweb said:
Didn't y'all do that for landing or something?
Click to expand...

Yes, 737 for pretty much anything other than ILS.

For ILS, we set missed appch altitude at GS intercept. For non precisons flown in LNAV/VNAV, we set field elevation (so not always zeroes) so the plane can fly entire profile vertically to runway. If we go around, we set missed approach altitude in the go around profile.

I think (not sure) that SWA puts zeros in window for an ILS approach. @ZapBrannigan true?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top