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USA Today on CAL 737 crash in Denver

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rtmcfi

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Mar 13, 2004
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-01-07-denvercrash_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip


The captain of a Continental Airlines jet that skidded off a Denver runway and burst into flames last month attempted to steer the jet using a method linked to runway accidents in the past, federal accident investigators reported Wednesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board has not said what caused Flight 1404, a Boeing 737-500 headed for Houston, to skid off the runway on Dec. 20 while attempting to take off in a brisk crosswind. But a preliminary report released by investigators offers the first glimpse of what might have triggered the crash.
All 115 people aboard escaped as jet fuel burned through the right side of the jet. The crash injured 38 people, five of whom were hospitalized, the NTSB said.
As the jet accelerated toward takeoff, the captain attempted to keep it rolling straight by turning the small pair of wheels under the jet's nose, the NTSB said the pilot told investigators. The nose gear is turned with a device called a tiller. The captain is not named in the report.
Two former accident investigators, Kevin Darcy and John Cox, who are not connected to the government's probe, said that using the tiller could cause the front tires to lose traction and start to skid. Pilots typically use the tiller to turn while taxiing at slow speeds, but once a jet accelerates, they steer with rudder pedals, they said.

Nose-wheel steering is something investigators will likely focus on, said Darcy, a former Boeing accident investigator who now works as a safety consultant. Darcy said he investigated a 737 accident in Mumbai in the 1990s which was partly blamed on the pilots' attempt to steer with the tiller during takeoff.
The NTSB cited "excessive nose-wheel steering" as part of the reason for a 1995 accident at John F. Kennedy International Airport involving a 747.
"It is unusual to need a tiller in a 737 on a runway, regardless of wind," said Cox, a former US Airways pilot who is also a safety consultant. "In all my years, I never needed the tiller. The rudder steering was always sufficient."
The winds at Denver were gusting up to 37 mph from the west as the jet attempted to take off to the north. Jets naturally tend to turn into the wind, just as a weather vane does. The Continental jet turned into the wind.
 
Once again, USA Today cuts through the chaff and gets to the heart of the story.

What would we do for hard news without USA Today?

:rolleyes:

TC
 
Cox's comments regarding his use of the 73 tiller, or lack thereof are meaningless.

The comments by the NTSB that the accident CO capt. used a steering method "linked to accidents" is also essentially meaningless.

What DOES matter is:

Was the proper procedure followed as outlined in CO's FOM.

I do find it interesting the NTSB stopped short in it's comment with respect to the 'proper procedure' issue.
 
USA Today - We all read it, but would never buy it.
 
I give no credence to the multi-colored fish wrapper, know nothing of CO's FOM or any facts in this case - other than the airplane departed the runway.

But, there have been at least a couple of previous accidents where the Capt. was "helping" the F/O with the tiller while the F/O thought he was using sufficient rudder - until the nose gear lost traction.
 
It is funny how we will bash the ppl that goes on CNN and gives his opinion, but some will come here and give their "professional" opinion and think that they are helping the investigation.
 
I'm not trying to "help" the investigation. I'll just say that when I push the thrust levers up my left hand is resting on the yoke or on my thigh. Period. Using the tiller at high speeds is a VERY BAD idea.

Gup
 

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