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Mechanics, crew faulted in MD-82 engine fire

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The plane landed and noone was hurt.!!!!!!! That in itself deserves 1000 thanks and a job well done phone call for THE FLIGHT CREW!!!! The monday morning quaterbacks, second guessing needs to stop when analyzing what the pilots did!!! The fact that they took thier time and landed that aircraft with no injuries is what the overall goal is when your dealt with a emergency like that!!!

I think you missed the point. If nothing is done, maybe the next time a flightdeck crewmember decides to do a pa at the wrong time....

One of the few things I disagreed with in training.

1. Use CRM and established procedures to try to land aircraft safely.
2. Let PAX know that number 1 was accomplished. I don't get where making a PA to x number of pax without controls will ever help you.
 
I am not sure I agree with multiple emergency training, as listed in the recommendations. First, there are so many possible combinations of multiple emergencies that any scenario really loses relevance. Second, we all receive multiple emergencies during training, but not during the actual pass/fail portion of a checkride. Leave the grading criteria as is. There is enough decision making to be done during a single emergency that a pilot's skills can be properly evaluated.

It is difficult to even come up with a list of priorities during a multiple emergency situation that would be useful a majority of the time. Aviate-Navigate-Communicate is about as thorough as one can teach it. You have a loss of thrust on one engine and a loss of a hydraulic system. Which do you deal with first? I would say it depends on which engine, which hydraulic system, and phase of flight. Training will never cover all the possible combinations of the above for just those two simultaneous emergencies, let alone every other likely combination of emergencies.

This crew got the job done. Talking on the PA during a checklist is a bad idea on the surface, but as others pointed it may have occurred during a checklist-mandated pause. Would the NTSB fault Sully for telling everyone to brace for impact in the middle of his checklists? His PA probably prevented dozens of injuries or even deaths. But, the American flight ended less dramatically, so I guess we can blame the crew. To me this is like blaming Sully and Co for not properly dividing their attention between looking inside and outside the cockpit. Maybe if they were utilizing see and avoid...blah blah blah.

Good job, American pilots. Sorry that again you have to shoulder the blame for a situation caused by poor maintenance.
 
with an engine fire at V1, following procedure, it might be 2-3 minutes before you do anything at all with the burning engine while climbing to 1000ft....TL still up and everything. Not that anyone make a PA during this phase, but on a hot day in a full 737 you'd certainly have the time to and it wouldn't change the speed at which you handled the fire.

Lame NTSB. Still, Rez is probably right, it's the APA's fault for ceasing CASS :)
 
Just finished recurrent. They emphasized making limited PA's during QRH procedures.

AA's culture is changing--slowly. In the past, the cockpit was one big briefing session and PA-fest from pushback to takeoff.

At least the moved the brief to the "Before Starting Engines" checklist.

The CA STILL makes the announcements to FA's while taxiing.

It's a process...

In this case, the NTSB could have made the same point without listing the pilots as a major fault in the incident. I guess AMR didn't want the mechs to take ALL the heat. :rolleyes:

TC
 
J

The CA STILL makes the announcements to FA's while taxiing.

He is referring to the mandated PA announcement, "Flight attendants, prepare for takeoff".... a PA that is made by the F/O at EVERY other airline in the world.

I've tried and tried to have this PA changed to the F/O by submitting it to the Flight Dept but it continuously gets shot down. Their reasoning is that the F/O already has too much to do on the Taxi and Before TO checklists while the CA is just sitting there taxiing (hello, that's his job and should be his ONLY job - not talking on the PA!).

Now, contrast that to the ridiculous PA F/Os have to make while arriving at the gate - a time when we should be outside making sure we are not hitting anything. "L&G please remain seated until the CA turns off the seat belt sign, FAs prepare for arrival and crosscheck." A PA that is made by the FAs at every other airline in the world when the seat belt sign turns off.

I don't understand AA's PA philosophy??

That said, outstanding job to the AA1400 crew. They dealt with multiple emergencies and brought it back safely. The NTSB can nitpick and Monday morning QB all they want... nobody is going to do it perfectly. If you have a minute or to during a checklist, WHY NOT inform the pax real quick. Kudos.
 
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The CA STILL makes the announcements to FA's while taxiing.



TC

Is that because the FO is buring 6 feet deep in that mechanical checklist (if y'all still have them)?

One thing I gotta say about CAL, we don't do sh*t while taxiing except for a 4 item before takeoff check; and the FO sits the FAs down.
 
Is that because the FO is buring 6 feet deep in that mechanical checklist (if y'all still have them)?

One thing I gotta say about CAL, we don't do sh*t while taxiing except for a 4 item before takeoff check; and the FO sits the FAs down.

Yes, we still have the mechanical list. Actually the mechanical is a great idea that's being incorporated today in "glass checklists" like on the 777. The problem with ours is that it's too dang long! 10 items on the before T/O at last count on the 75/76.
 
Is that because the FO is buring 6 feet deep in that mechanical checklist (if y'all still have them)?

One thing I gotta say about CAL, we don't do sh*t while taxiing except for a 4 item before takeoff check; and the FO sits the FAs down.

AA73 is right, it could be shorter. But the ability to skip down the list and get the easy stuff out of the way is good.

It's close to being a heads up checklist.

All in all, it's a plus, IMO.

TC
 
He probably delayed the checklist by 20 seconds max. Maybe him telling the passengers was a way of mentally collecting himself... so be it. Engines are made to withstand burning for a brief period... I love how they did not mention how many seconds he delayed the checklist by. Had they done that it would have been pointless to mention the delay!

Someone likes demonizing pilots. Maybe the investigator's wife left him one.
 
Yes, we still have the mechanical list. Actually the mechanical is a great idea that's being incorporated today in "glass checklists" like on the 777. The problem with ours is that it's too dang long! 10 items on the before T/O at last count on the 75/76.


What on earth is on it (that can't be done before taxiing?)
 

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