Passengers have NO CLUE!!!

[Jason_CFI]

Thousands of feet in the air, Anthony Powell hurriedly scribbled his final will.


The Spanish Fork man was on a commercial airliner two years ago when the landing gear failed to extend, forcing the pilot to crash land the plane on its belly in Illinois. None of the passengers was killed when the jumbo jet skidded for hundreds of yards, finally screeching to a halt on the concrete runway.

"They were all writing their wills, they thought they were going to die," said Powell's Provo attorney, Randy Spencer. "It was definitely a miracle that nobody was killed."

To read the article on this a$$-wipes sob story click here.



http://www.msnbc.com/local/SLT/M24326.asp

 

[N8157B]

Another sad example of people wanting to blame everybody else for their problems. Any bets this guy had "issues" before that flight???

 

[ShawnC]

I know that there is one or two gear up landings involving jet and turbro-prop aircraft each year, but this is the first time I have heard of a suit about one, even though no body was injured or killed.

 

[greg20]

I agree that this is a frivolous lawsuit, but the subject line is a little harsh. I'm not sticking up for this guy, but there are plenty of subjects that I have "no clue" about. Of course I don't go out and file lawsuits based on what I don't know, either.

That being said, I'm not going to waste my time picking apart all the inaccuracies in this article. It's MSNBC sensationalistic "journalism", what do you expect?

 

[Brett Hull]

I remember this.

I remember this. It was one of those "Jumbo" Boeing 717's. The NOSE GEAR wouldn't come down. The mains did. And that military base near Springfield is actually SPI.

What a tool!

 

[flywithastick]

They only know what the morons in mass media feed them...

You see this part?

"The lawsuit, which also names the pilot, co-pilots, flight attendants and ground crew, alleges negligence and intentional, reckless or negligent infliction of emotional distress."

Sounded to me like they all did a pretty good job.

Thank a lawyer!!

 

[JuJu]

Sounded to me like they all did a pretty good job.

Well, maybe not the FA. But I guess at least she didn't panic.

Reminds me of being a pax a few years back on an Air India 747. We took off and proceeded to circle Delhi at a pretty good altitude with more nose-up attitude than usual. I figured we were preparing to go back to Delhi and sure enough, the pilot started dumping fuel. I was expecting it and pointed it out to my wife. However, the rest of the pax were not expecting this and there was sudden alarm spreading through the cabin. After about 5 minutes of this, the pilot finally came on and announced we had a "technical defect" and were dumping fuel to lose weight and would be returning to Delhi. Oh, and by the way, FA's please prepare for a forced landing. He said this over the PA, I sh!t you not. Now the cabin is really alive, people are running all over the place (where you gonna go?). People running to the bathroom, people getting all their stuff out of the overhead bins. FA's trying to get everyone back in their seats and passing out blankets. About 30 minutes later, we start descending. The captain makes a couple more comments about "technical defect", assume the position, etc. We land and everyone has their head down. Except I'm of course looking out the window to see the crash trucks, only there aren't any that I can see. I figure this is either a good sign that we don't really need them, or else this being Delhi, there aren't any. Anyway, land uneventfully but use the entire runway. I notice there was very little braking action. Then we taxi to a far apron and sit for about 3 hours in the 110+ heat. They opened the doors, but that just let all the dust in. Eventually, we all got off the plane and they put us in a hotel. Around midnight, they came back to get us and put us another plane. Finally, we were told what the technical defect was: landing gear stuck in the down position. I asked but was never told what the position indicators were showing. Ultimately landed safely back in London. While I made a mental note not to fly Air India again (actually, more due to the flight THERE which consisted of drunken, vomiting passengers), I never considered suing for emotional distress.

 

[dmspilot00]

Just because of one uneducated person does not mean all passengers are clueless.

 

[Buffettpilot]

I bounced a few landings in a 172, better pray my pax don't sue me for PTSD or emotional stress!!!!

 

[bunnyfufu]

here's the ntsb report: http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20010816X01695&key=1

i dunno, taking off after the "loud grinding noise" probably wasn't a great idea

"It was definitely a miracle that nobody was killed."
does anyone EVER die in accidents in which the nose gear fails to extend? it doesn't seem like it would be that hard to land safely on the mains and lower the nose as gently and at as slow a speed as possible...

 

[flywithastick]

i dunno, taking off after the "loud grinding noise" probably wasn't a great idea

I'd be willing to bet big $$ the greedy pax never heard any grinding noise and only contacted the slimebag lawyers *after* someone got read the NTSB report describing the suspected problem. The incident occurred 2 years ago. Now they're suing. Ticket prices will be going up accordingly.

 

[dmspilot00]

OK, I just read the news report. It seems the pilot was equally as uneducated (if not more) than the passengers. Taking off, despite a loud grinding noise, and then shaking the plane to make the nose wheel come out (why not just get the runway foamed)? And, after all that, he tells the passengers that they "MIGHT have a chance of surviving." That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard a pilot do. This guy should be flying freight (if at all)!

I don't agree with the lawsuit, but it seems a bad situation was only made worse...

On your comment about the "quotes" being biased. If the pilot's actual announcements were not comments that made the situation seem dire, then why were so many passengers and also the *flight attendants* so terrified?

 

[Jason_CFI]

You bet the ticket prices will increase. The post about the flight crew doing everything right to ensure that no one lost their lives is completely over looked.

The point of the article, I got, was that Aviation seems to be an easy target to reach into the deep pockets of the airlines. It is also easy to win such cases, when people fear what they do not know.

The airlines do not have deep pockets and these frivolous cases nip away at a very volatile transportation industry.

The passenger that freaks out when the sound of the gear extends ought to do themselves a favor and the rest of the traveling public and find another mode of transportation.

 

[Midnight Mike]

I am not saying that this lawsuit is right or wrong, but think about it from the view point of a passenger that has no aviation knowledge:

Powell said the pilot told passengers that he was going to take "evasive action" to try to shake the landing gear loose.
The passengers were instructed to put their heads down, and the plane suddenly nose-dived. When that failed to shake the gear lose, the plane was piloted swiftly from side to side.

{That certainly rocked the cabin and must have scared the hell out of passengers, what were flight attendants doing to calm the passengers}

The pilot could have explained in more detail, after the nose dive why he was shaking the airplane from side to side, from the limited information, there was no announcement.

Evasive action? Sheesh, the crew could have said something a little calmer than that

{The flight was then diverted to Mid- america Airport near Mascoutah, Ill., for an emergency landing. The pilot told the passengers to prepare for a "crash landing." }

Crash landing and evasive action, what is this "Top Gun", once again, think of this from a non aviation person.

Then, he said: "I feel we have a chance of surviving," Powell said. "I thought 'Why are you telling us this?' because that meant we might not make it."

A chance of surviving, sheesh, don't forget the people in the back are your customers....

 

[flywithastick]

I believe you're reading the quotes of the plaintiff and his lawyer. You don't think they'll be a little inflammatory and technically weak?

Pitching the nose up and down, yawing to try and get the nosegear to extend. Sounds good to me. I might mention the purpose for these actions though. But, refer to statement above.

So someone (FO?) on FLT 519 jumped out and pulled the chocks and they powered back, violating company procedures. That's a little hard to buy.

One thing that might be helpful on the newer equipment. how about a nice soothing little female voice that says "landing gear extending" when all the clanking and wind noise occurs? Same for turbulence... "mild turbulence has been encountered". Now when something really exciting like loosing an engine happens, in a nice sweet female voice, how about "oh, darn! - something really bad has happened to your plane! I hope your life insurance is paid up."

It would drive the experienced fliers nuts, but then you could have a silence button on your little systems monitor thing or just have it piped into the entertainment system. Kind of like listening to the com on United flights.

 

[GuppyPuppy]

Maybe the lawsuit should include suing major movie studios that led this passenger to believe he was going to die.

Cheers!

GP

 

[Colonel Cairo]

Just because of one uneducated person from Spain does not mean all passengers are clueless.

Uh, he was from Spanish Fork, UTAH. I know they do things a liitle differently in Utah but I think it's still part of the U.S.

 

[JuJu]

Oh, that explains it. I thought he was a man from Spain, who maybe like sold forks or something. A Spanish Fork man. (sarcasm intended)

 

[dmspilot00]

I apologize for my stupidity. I have edited my posts and also added an argument pertaining to the validity of the quotes of the pilot.

 

[N8157B]

Being from Utah I do have to admit, things are a little different there. Different is good though, right?