Details about the near-crash in Germany

[freightdogfred]

I dunno, I saw the video and to me things looked pretty good til he/she/whomever caught one helluva gust right before the mains touched. Compound that with the fact it was one of them Frenchie airplanes what don't got proper controls in it, like a control yoke and such. I'm pretty sure both panties and britches got changed afterwards however.

 

[Lear70]

Looks to me like they pulled the crab out too early. The airplane hadn't even settled into ground effect and she pulled the crab out and tried to point it down the runway.

She then started drifting, put the crab back in, right main touches down bounces up, left main touches down, right wing goes up, gust comes along, aircraft rolls left, no aileron input until after the aileron hits.

Taking the crab out too early, then not keeping the right wing down, classic FNG mistake. Not an easy landing, but CA should have made the approach and the F/O botched it.

 

[waveflyer]

******************** you tailhookah- little tough-guy on anonymous internet board... nice- You're no doubt 5'7" w/ aviation as the only way to express your "manhood".

Tell me where I've diluted captain's authority on any level.
i've taught more FO's than i can count-and always as just a line captain. the difference is that i don't need to show my balls on every leg-

News flash to the young pilot hater- Since the major airline pilots have continued to SELL OUT young pilots over and over by releasing their scope over and over- It's not in Europe-= you have FO's all over THIS country flying 73/AB replacement JETS w/ 70-90 seats, where the captain has 2500tt and the Fo <1000tt. I don't have to deal with that anymore, but you fly in that environment long and you don't wait to start teaching your FO- they'll be a captain too soon-

 

[regionaltard]

I'd have needed a ton of history with someone before letting them try something like that, the Fabulous German Babe factor notwithstanding.

Here's an interesting study that touches on how a desire for social acceptance influences decision-making in mixed-gender groups. Avalanche accidents in the backcountry are very similar to aviaition accidents with regard to causal chains, so it's not as far off-topic as it might appear to be. A bit geeky, but worth reading IMO.

 

[GuppyPuppy]

The "Chick F/O" commend didn't have anything to do with gender bias per se, simply that I can't imagine the same thing happening with two guys in the cockpit. Re-read my post, the "chick f/o" is only in the title; the point of my post is having low-time people in airliners is a really stupid idea and leads to events such as these.

I've been around long enough to see some VERY attractive female F/O's come through with VERY low time (PCL had several of these, one of which is at DAL now and was a formal model).

I watched many times as CA's would fall all over themselves for these girls, giving them all the flying legs, not getting onto them for being off on their procedures, etc.

Not saying that's the case here but, as a guy who doesn't give a rat's if you're a guy, girl, hermaphrodite, white, black, red, purple, or plaid, in that kind of weather, the CA had an obligation to make the landing in the interest of safety and didn't.

Personally, I can't think of another reason he didn't. At 24, she can't have had a reasonable amount of flight experience to be allowed to take on that kind of landing. IMHO, it's not her fault she pooch-screwed it; she probably didn't understand she was biting off more than she could chew for her experience level.

Cali, Columbia - AA
Little Rock, AR - AA
Pinnacle CRJ ferry flight
Eastern Airlines in south Florida
United DC-8, Portland, OR
Comair CRJ - Lexington, KY
Southwest 737 - Burbank, CA
Air France A340 - Toronto
Southwest 737 - Chicago, IL


All preventable. All had an all male crew.

Please educate yourself to avoid looking like an idiot.

GP

 

[PCL_128]

Unless the CA had the presence of mind to press the sidestick takeover command button, there may not have been alot he could have done in the heat of battle.

"Sidestick takeover command button?" What the hell is that? Is this an airplane or a PS3 console? Plastic French crap.

 

[DairyAir]

I have to agree with Freightdogfred on this one. The approach looked fairly decent until the gust. The pilot kicked out the crab just before touchdown and everything would have been hunkydory had it not been for that huge gust.

If I had a dollar every time a captain scared the sheiss outta me I could quit this gig. Sitting holding short of 31 at LGA during a gusty day I have seen many an expressway visual approach that looked not unlike the one in the video only these aircraft were piloted by those experienced professionals at AA, USAIR, United, Delta, Airtran and others. I think this was more bad luck and poor judgement by the captain to land on that runway than anything the FO did. Had it not been for the gust the landing probably would have been pretty good considering the conditions.

 

[chimichanga]

I learned, between that incident and a couple of others, that this particular individual wasn't up to the task. That's it. No gender bias here; just relaying a story.

Yeah, it isn't as though you havn't flown with any male pilots who $uck, right?

My only issue is when a lower-time [insert minority here] gets put in a position that his or her experience doesn't warrant, simply to make numbers look good.

I believe "Guyanan" is the word you are looking for...

 

[CA1900]

I believe "Guyanan" is the word you are looking for...

Hahahahahaha.....

Only time I've ever had to take the airplane from someone doing a visual approach on a clear blue day!

 

[On Your Six]

First, the Captain is ultimately responsbile. He did a terrible job assuming that a newbie could handle such a terrible cross-wind. He should be fired for that. This should be an eye-opener for an ab-initio airlines in Europe - experience counts.

The article/blurb is a bit unclear (with a terrible German translation). Are they blaming the girl or praising her????? I'd love to hear the cockpit voice recorder on that flight....

 

[BLing]

This must be the same chick FO that flew an A321 from FRA to HAM my second to last trip to HAM. She was HOT! I was traveling in uniform and talked to the crew before the flight and it came up that it was her leg and she was still in "training"... After a nice smooth flight and stabilized approach... BAM... she sideloaded the hell out of that thing, lost directional control and about ran us off the left side of the runway... There must have been about 20 Lufthansa commuters on that flight, mostly pilots and every single one of them was giving her a hard time as they got off the plane. She was a good sport though...

 

[WabiSabi]

I'd have needed a ton of history with someone before letting them try something like that, the Fabulous German Babe factor notwithstanding.

Those two are hot enough but, the fact that they're drinking beer makes them smokin'! Chicks that drink beer rock!

 

[Stifler's Mom]

Hmmm.....I never saw any beers in that photo. :nuts:

 

[F/O]

She's now at a certain Atlanta-based low-cost carrier. Good luck with her, guys!

They've hired more than one appalling female pilot.

So on this Lufthansa thing do I understand the crew are being called heroes? I thought I detected some of that on MSNBC. All I can say is that was a fukcing horrific x-wind technique...

 

[Caveman]

I have to agree with Freightdogfred on this one. The approach looked fairly decent until the gust. The pilot kicked out the crab just before touchdown and everything would have been hunkydory had it not been for that huge gust.

If I had a dollar every time a captain scared the sheiss outta me I could quit this gig. Sitting holding short of 31 at LGA during a gusty day I have seen many an expressway visual approach that looked not unlike the one in the video only these aircraft were piloted by those experienced professionals at AA, USAIR, United, Delta, Airtran and others. I think this was more bad luck and poor judgement by the captain to land on that runway than anything the FO did. Had it not been for the gust the landing probably would have been pretty good considering the conditions.

Whoever was flying didn't 'kick out' anything. Watch the video again. Whoever was flying was flying flatfooted. The rudder didn't move one inch as far as I could tell. It looked to me that whoever was flying tried to bring the nose inline with the centerline using only aileron. It wasn't a sudden huge gust, they rolled the damn a/c to the left and it went left. Up until then it was a fairly stable approach all things considered.