As a very frequent flyer with 752 take offs and 752 landings now, I am particularly keen to keep the number of my landings the same as the number of take offs. Any investigations, therefore, into plane crashes interest me.  Call me morbid or possessing an active self preservation interest?

You may remember Air France 447 that was en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on 31 May 2009 (exactly two years ago). It plunged into the ocean off the coast of Brazil. After an almost two year search,  the black boxes belonging to the A330 have been found and investigated by France’s Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses (BEA).   I was stunned to read the reports of the situation that led to the deaths of 228 people

http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2009/06/air_france_flight_447_-_google_eart.html

Flight Global has the blow by blow final six minutes of the flight. In summary what happened was this:

1. The aircraft pitot tubes (used to determine the airspeed of an aircraft) failed and began giving false/inconsistent readings (as has always been suspected and why airlines have been replacing this type of pitot tube). The false reading was for less than a minute.
2. the autopilot and autothrust disengaged. This is undoubtedly because of the false data. As one commentator described it, at this point the plane is now similar to a  Windows PC in “fail safe” mode.  Some key safety features are shut down at this point
3. The plane began to roll to the right and the Pilot “appears to have rolled the aircraft to the left, to counter the roll to the right, he also pulled the aircraft’s nose upwards – for reasons yet to be explained (flight global)  and the plane climbed to 38,000 ft. The normal safety systems would not allow this to happen but they had been automatically Shut down
4. the stall warning was triggered and the plane stalled (BEA) but„ the inputs made by the PF were mainly nose-up (BEA). In other words, the pilot kept trying to take the plane up but “The A330′s angle of attack is too high, and the aircraft is losing the battle to sustain lift, as demonstrated by the stall alarm, yet the pilot is still keeping the nose pointing upwards – in apparent contradiction to a basic principle of flight: escaping a stall requires the nose to be pushed down, in order to regain a smooth, fast airflow over the wings.”
5. The engines are taken to full power but the resulting thrust is not enough for the heavy aircraft to have enough lift in the thin air at that altitude
6. the plane then reached an angle of over 35 degrees (probably close to 40 degrees)
7. The plane then dropped 38 000 feet (11.6km, 7 miles) in 3 min 30 secs (can you imagine how terrifying that would be to be falling a mile every 15 seconds). During this time, the A330 remained stalled. It hit the water at 200km/h

On Air France 447, all  three pilots were all very experienced. Why did they commit such a mistake? And what would stop another experienced crew making the same mistake.

Three helpful links to help reflect on this crash:

1. Brett Snyder (Cranky Flier) has a very useful commentary on the situation in which he expresses concern about the pilot errors that caused the plane to crash
2. Clive Irving in a Daily Beast news article on Flight 447′s Terrifying Four and a Half Minute Crash  notes what I have been wondering: “ there must be critical attention paid to those faulty speed gauges.  Indeed, attention should return to a report on the crash by the BEA released in November 2009. Buried in the technical details was the revelation that there was a record of at least 53 instances in which flight crews had faced control problems directly caused by the speed gauges and “13 significant events involving five airlines operating A330/340 airplanes.” Airbus itself reported 32 incidents between 2003 and 2009 that were attributable “to the possible destruction of at least two gauges by ice.” 
3. Plane crash info which gives you information on what causes plane crashes and why you should avoid commuter airlines! Pilot error represents 50% of all accidents and commuter lines generally use way less experienced pilots. The accident rate for  fatalities per million hours is almost three times greater for commuter flights than for regular mainline airlines.   

Not sure what my conclusions are yet out of this. I imagine the scenario will be repeated a few times in simulators. The question is would other pilots in the same situation repeat the same mistake and stall the craft?

I flew two international sectors today from Brazil to Miami to Toronto My first flight left almost three hours late getting in 91 minutes before my second flight was due to leave. My long layover has vanished. 


Even though I was transiting from Brazil to Toronto, the US requires transit passengers to clear immigration and customs and then  come through security again.  I have blogged about not checking luggage in. Today’s experience vindicated my decision!


Arrivals

• 1859h: Plane touches down at Miami International airport (right)
• 1907h:  Plane reaches gate- I am off quickly with no shoving
• 1911h:  Four minutes run/walk from gate to people mover to immigration hall. I arrive at the stop as it pulls in. The MIA people mover runs at 3 to 15 minute intervals. The guy next to me told me that he waited for 20 minutes once
• 1916h:  Passport control hall is handling multiple arriving flights. I join shortest line
• 1921h:  People behind me are also on an 830pm fight and are also nervous
• 1923h:  Realise reason for my short line is that I have chosen slowest immigration agent.  Switch lines to one moving twice the speed
• 1927:  I ask the three people in front of me in this new line, who’re from Spain if they have  a connecting flight (which they don’t). They allow me to go in front of them so I’m  2nd in line. The woman in front of me makes it clear she won’t support queue jumping 
• 1928h: the agent in the line I was is really slow. He still  has 3 more people to process before the spot I was in
• The young woman in front of me goes forward. Oh no! She has a complicated immigration issue. Letters are produced from an envelope, visas are scrutinised and the clock keeps ticking
• 1933h: Agent finally deals with the woman after flirting with her too
• 1934:  As I am in transit, the agent immediately does my fingerprints and photograph but cannot tell me the fastest way to the new gate. He points to the exit.
• 1935: exit is blocked by an Italian group that are choosing this area to gather together.  Oblivious to the stressed looks of other passengers (including mine) they saunter chatting away down the narrow corridor to baggage collection and customs.
• 1938: the customs hall is bedlam. Indeed multiple flights have arrived simultaneously and there are lines everywhere cutting into and over each other to collect bags and get through customs. Bags are piling up. Its madness with no order in its chaos.  Tempers are becoming frayed and Happy vacation moods evaporating everywhere. I follow a determined couple who push through the crowds
• 1949h: I am thankful that I have no baggage to check as I cruise past a 120 strong person line waiting to check in bags for onward flights.

Disney

I firmly believe that the US customs department should hand over custom s control to Disney. They would make waiting fun and work to develop innovative queuing systems.  Cartoon characters could entertain the people whilst giving friendly and fun warnings and messages about smuggling and smoking!

Departure Gates

• 1954h: In the disaster that is Miami Airport,  clear signage for  the escalators up to departures was  invisible. I found a  lift (elevator) with only an elderly man waiting. When the lift arrived, however,  two families  and a nun also arrived and piled in! 
• I was at the back of the lift and had to wait for people to get off it and into another corridor full of slow people
• The line for security screening was very long so I asked the  guard if there was a priority line. She directed me to go on a 2 minut e walk which got me to a gate with almost no one there
• 1956h: Of the eight people in line, five were a group traveling together. Having ascertained their flight was at 2145h (945pm), they gave permission to go in front of them
• 1959h:The agent checking my passport in the way out sad”how did you like the USA Mr Cowling“ I saudí “I was only here for five minutes!”
• I zapped through security: belt off, shoes off, computer out, toiletries out. The woman  -in front of me said “you myst know what you are doing to go through security so quickly. - 90 flghts a year madam! 
• 2001H Another People mover ride. This involves a 33 second wait and a 45 second ride.  I am ten gates away. Of course it is at the far end of the concourse!
• 2004: As I pass the Shops, I wondered if i had time to buy a drink. Guess not, In retrospect I wish I had got a drink because I felt very thirsty on the pla
• 2006: I arrive at Gate 21 just as they announce boarding, l Am the fifth on the plane  and wheel my own luggage on board
• 1832h Doors close 
• 2039h we are delayed
• 2051h take off

I made the flight. If i had had to collect and then check in a bag, I would not have made it.

Vive travelling with hand luggage only!  

Leaving SYD airspace

The flaps on the mighty beast were fully extended. Moving onto the runway, the familiar roar of the four 747 General Electric engines came to life. Rolling down the runway, we accelerated slowly, leisurely using a huge amount of runway, before climbing smoothly and steadily out of Melbourne (Tullamarine) Airport. The climb was gentle and we turned almost casually over the farmlands north of the airport before executing a neat turn to head toward Sydney, the Australian coastline, the Pacific Ocean and Los angeles International airport (LAX)

I say “familiar” because this was my 93^rd take off in a 747. Collectively in 747s I have travelled about 19 times around the earth or the same distance almost to the moon and back. I bet the astronauts would have liked something that big to fly to the moon in but they may not have wanted to share it with 400 other people for that trip!


This flight was different though because it was my 747th flight of my life. I was very excited to organise my 747th on a 747 with Qantas!  I had managed to get my 737th flight on a 737 with the all 737 airline Southwest.
For me choosing Qantas for my 747^th flight was significant as they are the airline who for six years were the world’s only all 747 airline.

My 747 flights between 1971 and 2011

My first 747 flight was in 1971 when I flew from Hong Kong to Sydney with Pan American on my 7^th birthday.  Forty years later, on my 747^th flight on an actual 747.

I have travelled with Qantas 234 times (41 of them in jumbos) to five continents.  Today’s flight was back to the USA but marked the beginning of a journey which would end in Brasilia, Brazil, South America thus adding a sixth continent to my travel collection.

Check in, customs clearance and security at Melbourne airport took less than 20 minutes. There was a queue of older people in wheelchairs being pushed through the express immigration line which slowed things a little.

The Qantas First lounge staff welcomed me with interest and congratulated me on this goal. They asked me how I came to know all of my flights and I explained about my Flightmemory (watch for future blog).

Boarding was relatively calm with quite a light load- I would say the plane was less than 2/3 full. Seeing the flight the day before was full, that was a surprise.  I was in the bulkhead in the very front row of Economy (row 52) in a window seat with an empty middle seat. The arm rests in this aisle cannot be raised (a fact that the check in staff did not know until I told them and they checked). This limits any ability to stretch out into that empty seat -still its good for storage and the leg room in that row is always appreciated.

Our plane was VH-OEH (named Hervey Bay but not displayed on the plane).

Marika on board (pictured right) extended the congratulations with a welcome aboard champagne. Thank you! The service was the good old style Qantas service with a very experienced crew efficiently discharging their duties in a friendly fashion. Lunch was served as we flew over Sydney’s Botany Bay.  I chose Portuguese chicken for the main course.

After lunch, came an ice cream and then the little snack bag that tides passengers through the night. Quelle Horror! Qantas has reduced the contents of the bag! I could not work out which item has been removed but there was a lot more empty bag!

I really appreciated the extra service and attention I got because of this being flight 747. I ended up getting three Boarding passes for my souvenir collection including one with a highlighted Happy 747th!  One of the Boarding passes was signed by the Captain who I met upon our Los Angeles arrival.

Takeoff was delayed by paperwork issues but we had a fast crossing because of strong tail winds which means we touched down into LAX ahead of schedule. I was moved to business for the very smooth landing where I sat next to new Australian Dancing with the Stars Judge Josh.

On Q, the on board entertainment system worked well although after V Australia’s system, it feels a little more clunky. Still it is way better than the non existent system, United has on this sector.

I am glad I did this flight. For a plane geek and a traveller who flies about 100 times a year (about 8 times a month), to celebrate my 747^th on a 747 was indeed an early birthday present. Thanks to Captain Thoroughgood, and his pilots, John, Marika and the on board cabin crew and First Class lounge staff for making it such a memorable flight.

Getting onto the 747 for my 747^th proved to be more problematic than  I had expected. I originally booked QF 25 Auckland to Los Angeles, not realising that Qantas had changed the plane on that sector from a 747 to an A330, a timetable change that I had missed. That was not going to work! I contacted Qantas Customer Service to see if they could shift my flight onto a SYD or MEL-LAX 747. “No can do“- Qantas Customer Service didn’t share my “enthusiasm for my aircrafts” and told me to call the usual call centre. My bad but I thought the flying Kangaroo might have tried to accomodate my unusual request. The staff at the Qantas call centre who were very friendly and determinedly helpful,  found that making that change would cost more than a new flight. So I moved QF 25 to another date and made a completely new booking for this auspicious 747 occasion. Thank goodness I fly a lot.

I then had to change that new booking to a different date so incurred some change fees. The booking agent who made the change assured me that I was on a 747. Imagine my horror to learn that the actual equipment was an A380. Don’t get me wrong, I love the A380 but that defeated the point of 747 on a 747. More change fees! Slightly annoyed because I felt these change fees were unjustified due to being given wrong advice. My final trip date was shifted because of a family emergency but we got there!

Our Pilot Capt Robert Thoroughgood

Rating for this flight? 94%- slightly higher than my average Qantas rating! Even customs at LAX was good!

In ten flights time, will be flight 757 – and you guessed it, I am booked on a Boeing 757. The trip is a domestic USA one. Four US domestic airlines have 757s: American, Delta, United and USAir. Guess which airline I am flying with?

On Sunday, I will fly my 747th flight in my life. After my 737th flight on a Boeing 737, I managed to to score this flight on a Qantas Boeing 747!

Looking forward to Sunday in terms of the flight!

United is reinstating a United 93 as a flight starting 21 May 2011.

The flight used to be  operated by United from Newark to San Francisco using a Boeing 757 until September 11, 2001. On that date, approximately 46 minutes into the flight, hijackers diverted the plane towards Washington, D.C. The asumption is the target was the US Capitol or White House.

The passengers attempted to regain control of the plane from the hijackers  causing the plane to crash into fields in Pennsylvania, about 240 km  from  D.C. killing everybody.

 A movie was made about the hijacking.

United removed Flight 93 after the September 11 hijackings.

The new flight number is a codeshare flight from Houston to San Jose CA and is actually Continental flight CO489. However UA 93 will appear in terminals. It is a 737.

I am not sure I feel okay about using this flight number.

Auckland to Wellington on Jetstar yesterday was my 745th flight…2 to go and I have my 747th! On a Qantas 747!

According to Airways Magazine for June 2011, one out of every 350 barrels of oil produced in the world is used by the combined United-Continental airlines to fuel their 1262 planes!

Every increase in oil has gotta hurt.
Whats their long term plan for oil one wonders?
If peak oil theory is correct then they face a very expensive future as oil becomes even pricier.

I just want to plug in my computer and charge it! Why is that so difficult? So many hotel rooms have no outlets. Others have a couple but the radio and lamps fill them. I have had to move furniture,  work in the bathroom, squat on the bedroom floor all to get electricity!

Anyone else have this issue?

Tonight I fly from Los Angeles to Sydney. I desperately hope this flight departs on time. 


Last flight from Australia to Los Angeles, left 11 hours late.


I had flown in from Auckland to connect onto the LA flight and was met at the gate by a V Australia rep. As a result of an engine explosion on a flight out of LA 
all of the V Australia services had been delayed in a roll on effect.


I was very impressed with the way V looked after its transit passengers. They bussed us to a hotel, gave us a $50 spend at the hotel (which I didn’t spend). 


I got a gym workout , a run, some shopping and a lunch with a friend before I flew out.


All in all a nice delay! Thank goodness I made it to my destination in time though.

A huge contrail from an Airbus A380 filmed from cockpit of a KLM Boeing B747 above the South China Sea. You may need to watch it twice.