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Kalitta 747 crash crew battled dual-engine failure on take-off

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Dornier 335

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Joined
Aug 3, 2005
Posts
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Kalitta 747 crash crew battled dual-engine failure on take-off

article

Loss of power in two engines during initial climb, and a resulting near-stall, led to the fatal crash of a Kalitta Air Boeing 747-200F moments after departure from the Colombian capital Bogota.
Although the four Pratt & Whitney engines had functioned normally during the take-off roll from Runway 31R, the outboard right-hand powerplant suffered a persistent surge on rotation.
As the freighter became airborne it struggled to achieve a stable climb. The crew did not keep the airspeed above the threshold for an engine-out ascent and the stick-shaker activated, warning of a stall risk and prompting the pilot to reduce the angle of attack.
Although the airspeed rose, the 747 also lost height and was flying just 400ft above the ground. An attempt to increase pitch generated a second stick-shaker warning, and the pilot responded by pushing the throttles forward to maximise thrust in a bid to gain airspeed and altitude.
But about 20s later the other outboard engine, on the left wing, also lost power after a failure in the low-pressure turbine, which led the powerplant to shed parts.
The precise reason for the disintegration could not be determined, said Colombia's Grupo de Investigacion de Accidentes in its final report into the 7 July 2008 accident.
But it stated that the failure began in the third stage of the turbine, and probably involved the loss of guide vanes or section of air seal.
With two engines malfunctioning, the aircraft was unable to sustain flight in its configuration. It began to experience problems with a third engine, the inboard left-hand JT9D, which repeatedly surged. The remaining engine functioned normally.
The aircraft came down northwest of the airport, at Madrid, Cundinamarca, and was completely destroyed on impact. Two people on the ground were killed but, remarkably, the 747's eight occupants survived.
Investigators have battled to explain not only the double engine failure but also the subsequent poor flight performance of the aircraft. Simulation and analysis showed the 747-200F's expected climb capability with two engines inoperative should have been better than that demonstrated by the ill-fated jet. The simulated flights indicated a 200ft/min better climb rate over the space of 3min.
Even though analysts examined various weight, balance and operational scenarios, the inquiry report said: "The reasons for the performance degradation of the crashed aircraft could not be clearly determined from the available data."
Inspection of the outboard right-hand engine, the first to show signs of problems, revealed no abnormal pre-impact wear or damage. But the inquiry report said the engine, installed six months before the crash, was not operating efficiently because of such factors as "excessive" blade-tip clearance and Bogota airport's high altitude. It put the net loss at 5.8%.
Colombian investigators also found "discrepancies" between the aircraft's maintenance records and manufacturers' maintenance manuals which "may have affected the engine performance".
 
I love it...should have climbed at 200 fpm. Ok, yeah, it a perfect world....

Does NTSB comment on investigations it may be a party to?
 
Can we re-title this thought this was a new crash. Have alot of people over there I know and thought the worse.
 
ummm...your point?

Apparently this Dornier kid has had his head up something for the past 4 years and thought this would be fun to post as if it happened yesterday. Go back to Japan or at least report on something that occurred somewhat more recent than nearly half a decade ago! I've got some good friends at K4 and I'm sure they love your dedication to old news.
 
Guys relax! The NTSB reports were just released a short time ago. That is where most of this info came from. As aviators we should be interested and learn from others misfortunes. This is interesting, in that, B747 experts from all over looked at this and all the data and several simulator events and cannot come to a conclusion as to why this aircraft failed to fly on three engines, etc....

The crew did a superb job flying this aircraft to the field, which saved many lives! Several returned to work a short time later.

No need to turn this into the typicle "Jerry Springer" thread.
 
B747 experts from all over looked at this and all the data and several simulator events and cannot come to a conclusion as to why this aircraft failed to fly on three engines, etc....

Maybe this??

[/QUOTE]With two engines malfunctioning, the aircraft was unable to sustain flight in its configuration. It began to experience problems with a third engine, the inboard left-hand JT9D, which repeatedly surged. The remaining engine functioned normally.[/QUOTE]

Pretty safe to say #2 wasn't helping them out much.....

Who owned those engines?
 
Maybe this??
With two engines malfunctioning, the aircraft was unable to sustain flight in its configuration. It began to experience problems with a third engine, the inboard left-hand JT9D, which repeatedly surged. The remaining engine functioned normally.[/QUOTE]

Pretty safe to say #2 wasn't helping them out much.....

Who owned those engines?[/QUOTE]

What is your point? What is one of the most common causes for a TF to stall/surge....high angle of attack? It was a high altitude airport, the plane was struggling to stay in the air (high angle of attack/low KIAS), read the report, not the gossip! P&W said they never tested the engines in that kind of environment.
 
that's funny, I could've sworn you just said...

Strange response from someone who just preached something about being Jerry Springer...I thought Ultra's question was just that, a valid question. Sorry Dad.
 

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