Hey there, WOXOF. Iron Maiden's 747 Ed Force 1 got mangled up pretty badly in Chile. I'm curious how this happens. How do these pins "fall out?" Would it be a pin to actually connect the two bar or does it lock the steering in some way? Is there somebody in the cockpit manning the tiller in a maneuver like this?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...-force-7544765

When an aircraft is under tow, the ground personnel have complete control of the aircraft. There is always a person in the pilot seat during towing operations (a pilot or mechanic) who is responsible for releasing and setting the parking brake at the appropriate time.

When taxiing the airplane, the nosewheel can be turned hydraulically using either the rudder pedals (allowing up to 7° of turn) or the steering tiller (allowing up to 70° of turn). Note, these numbers might vary slightly among aircraft types, but these are pretty common values. Thus, I can turn the plane over to the First Officer when we're on a straight segment of taxiway, if I need divert my attention to something else. The rudder pedals provide plenty of steering authority to maintain centerline on a taxiway.

During towing operations, we remove hydraulic power from the nosewheel using either a bypass lever or a bypass pin (varies depending on aircraft type). With the hydraulics being bypassed, the tug operator can caster the nosewheel freely as he needs to, even beyond the 70° allowed by the tiller.

After towing operations are complete, the bypass pin is removed (or the bypass lever is placed back in the normal position). On the 757/767, it is customary for the ground personnel to show the removed pin to the Captain before waving him off. I witnessed one instance within the last year where this step was missed by the ground crew and flight crew. The crew had a very embarrassing moment when they contacted Ground Control to taxi out (this was at JFK). As they exited the ramp and attempted to make the 90° turn onto Taxiway Bravo, they found that they had no steering authority. There was no way around it: they had to admit to ground control what had happened and things were blocked up until ground personnel could drive out to the plane to remove the bypass pin.

Now, after all that preamble to answering your question...

I'm not sure that the 747 has a bypass pin. I just called my friend who was a check airman on the 747 and he said he doesn't recall one. So, my guess is that the pin they're talking about in this story is simply the retractable pin that engages the nosewheel itself, i.e. it connects the tow bar to the wheel. If this pin isn't securely seated, the entire tow bar could become disengaged from the nosewheel and, with the hydraulic bypass lever in the normal position for towing, the pilot or mechanic in the pilot's seat would have no steering authority. They would, however, have braking authority and could simply stop the plane.

I fear that my answer has done nothing to clear this up, and may have had the opposite effect (i.e. just making it all more confusing).

Actually your explanation is a refreshing break due to it's clarity and ability to be understood by many as compared to what can be the norm on technical subjects - needlessly complex and muddied. As an instructor I find myself consciously attempting to not get too far into the weeds when describing answers to questions, and I think you do it quite well.

How is your recovery coming along?

Yup, great answer. Thanks.

Thank you for that. It means a lot coming from an instructor. Where are you teaching?

Physically, I'm doing pretty well. Just trying to get back some semblance of a regular appetite. I seem to have good days and bad days in that regard, but I'm making a conscious effort to pack on the calories and reverse some of the weight loss I've experienced.

The doctor says no chemo or radiation treatment but they're going to want to do twice yearly CAT scans (first one probably this June) to be on the lookout for a recurrence, which I'm told is quite possible with liposarcoma.

The hardest part for me is not flying. My older brother is off on a trip right now (I think he just had an overnight in Green Bay, his favorite place on earth) and I'm jealous. I really miss the job and the possibility of never getting back to it haunts me. The FAA moves glacially where cancer is concerned and I'm told by those who know that I'm looking at a year or more out of the cockpit.

I've got to adapt to my new life of leisure, with more free time than I know what to do with, and I think I might start writing some more. A friend of mine who is a senior editor for Air & Space Magazine asked me a couple of nights ago if I could get back to writing articles for their website. I wrote a dozen or more short pieces a while back but I haven't contributed in a couple of years. (Here's a link if you're interested.)

Damn. Very sorry to hear that. Does that only effect your ATP, or does it prohibit you from flying anything? And does your status with Delta still allow you to fly non-rev?

To exercise the privileges of a pilot license, including an ATP, you must have a valid medical certificate. To fly as a Captain under FAR Part 121 (scheduled airlines), I need a First Class medical and I'm going to have to jump through some hoops to get mine renewed. I'm not sure if it would be as hard to get a Third Class medical, which is what is required for flying general aviation aircraft for pleasure. That's actually something I need to look into, as I would like to at least get in the air in a light airplane. I really feel the need to slip the surly bonds...

That's also a question I need to look into. Normally, when a pilot is out on sick leave he is not allowed to non-rev. But I will be transitioning to a form of disability and I think I will be allowed to non-rev while in this status.

Good luck on both. I'm sure it's not the same as sitting in the left seat, but I reckon they'd both a go a long ways to making the hiatus more palatable.

The short answer is I train pilots over here in Afghanistan that are contracted by the armed forces. I also train the occasional Lt. Col. or other green suitor who wants to know more about how we provide what we provide to them. It can be interesting to say the least.

So the teaching is a bit removed from the primary instruction days long past, putting about in a Cessna, Piper or Diamond; on the other hand, I find myself having to review basic airmanship with 5,000 hour pilots...


That's been my experience seeing friends and family go through treatment. It will get better.


I think that's a great idea.

Looks like ATC was a bit slow to accept a request to divert around a storm cell and a flight took a damaging lighting hit. Wouldn't the pilot have the authority to do a safety diversion anyway?

http://abc7ny.com/travel/american-ai...rport/1250893/

The pilot absolutely has the authority to deviate as he deems necessary for the safety of the aircraft. Weather avoidance, particularly in the congested airspace of NY TRACON (Terminal Radar Control, the Approach and Departure controllers for LGA, JFK, EWR and several GA airports in the area) can be a nail-biter sometimes. The airspace is tightly segmented and deviations can cause the controllers some real headaches as they have to quickly coordinate via landline with the controller whose space is being encroached on.

Several times over the years, I've heard pilots exercise emergency authority to avoid weather and in all cases the controller simply dealt with it. I can't recall a time that I've done it myself, but I certainly would if I needed to.

I've had a few lightning strikes over the years and they weren't all that big a deal, leaving pinhole entry and exit burns in the airframe. The most disturbing thing about getting struck by lightning is the thunderclap that coincides with the bright flash. I was wondering about the decision to land at JFK rather than LGA, since they're within 10 miles of each other and I can only assume that the weather was over LGA when they made this decision.

Drone/A380 near miss on LAX approach.

A380 was 14 miles from landing, and 5,000 feet up, when drone was seen 200 feet above plane.

Why anybody would want to fly a drone that high and risk taking a commercial plane down is beyond me.

Where do you think this drone stuff goes from here, and what is the actual risk to the airplane?

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...318-story.html

At the airport where my parents live, there is a kid who flys his drone literally at pattern altitude. This thing hauls ass too. Just a matter of time.

737-800 Crashes. Loads of speculation on CNN



CCTV caught it

Jesus christ. At least my next flight is some weeks away.

While I haven't had time to look into that crash (we use FlyDubai in and out of Afghanistan) I'm curious as to why the crew went into a 2 hour holding pattern instead of diverting. Should be informative when the facts come out and the blackbox recordings are released.

Sad though.

Just had a miserable flight that I wanted to get your opinion on. Flight was from Las Vegas to Detroit. We were a few minutes away from taking off when it was determined the AC was not working inside the cabin. It was blowing pure hot air. The passengers were freaking out and the flight attendants were aware of the issue but there was very little communication between the pilots, flight attendants and passengers. Right before we took off, the pilot announced that he was aware of the issue and that he thought once we got in the air the cabin would cool down.

It literally felt like a sauna inside the cabin and no one on the flight crew had a clue if it was going to be fixed. Pilot decided to take off anyway and as we were ascending it got warmer and warmer. Passengers were livid, sweating profusely, and some got extremely sick. I, including all the others were in pure panic mode. Pilot kept announcing they were trying to fix it and the flight attendants were running water bottles around the cabin as fast as they could to do all they could to help. Finally an announcement wade made that we would have to make an emergency landing in Salt Lake City. We were in air for probably an hour and I'm not sure how much longer we could have lasted in that recycled hot air.

When we landed and the ambulance and fire department arrived, it was 102 degrees inside the cabin at the time and passengers had to receive immediate medical attention. I have flown only a handful of times and this was my first flight alone so it was clearly a scarring experience.

What is your take on the pilots decision to take off when it was not known if the air would work mid flight? Does the airline make the final decision or is it up to the pilot to decide? Do these situations ever occur?

I'm no expert but that sounds like a huge unprofessional ****-up. Let the lawsuits commence.

What were you offered thus far?

I was rewarded with a one night stay in lovely Detroit MI because I missed my connecting flight due to the issue. No vouchers or credits or anything else...

I can't imagine why you wouldn't post the name of the airline, given that it was "clearly a scarring experience."

Delta

I have not yet had an encounter with a drone while flying, but I've heard it's been happening. The damage that could be done will depend on the mass of the drone and the relative speed of the plane and drone. This is similar to the threat of a bird strike, although there is the added consideration of the composition of a drone (i.e. metal) vs. a bird (soft organic tissue).

In my estimation, the chance of a drone impact causing the plane to crash is low but dependent on the impact point. Even going into an engine would probably not cause a crash, but would certainly take out the engine.

If you are actually aware of someone doing this, you should drop a dime on him. Call the FAA and report it. I would say the same thing if you know of someone using a laser to try to light up an airplane.

This sounds like a nightmare. For a flight of that length, I'm assuming it was a mainline aircraft (737, 757 or Airbus)? If the pilots were fully aware of the problem, I can't imagine they would takeoff. From your narrative, the system was blowing pure hot air and the passengers were freaking out. But you also say that there was very little communication going on, which I think is a very crucial bit of information.

Air conditioning systems on planes can be temperamental and the quality and efficiency of the air conditioning packs can vary greatly from one particular airplane to the next. I might fly an MD-88 that has a flawless system, providing comfortable temps and never a word of complaint. I then get a different 88 for my next flight and the FO is constantly battling with the temperature controls trying to find the sweet spot, all the while fielding calls from the back to warm it up or cool it down.

In your case, I'm imagining a scenario in which the pilots were probably aware that the plane was hot, but they also know that the packs are not at their best efficiency when we're on the ground. While taxiing, we have low power settings which provide a low airflow through the packs. Once we advance the throttles to takeoff power we're normally going to get much cooler air. I've seen this myself many, many times.

I'm going to assume that the pilots didn't know the actual severity of the problem while on the ground (again, due to lack of communication). If I have flight attendants call me during our taxi out and tell me that "the system is blowing pure hot air and the passengers are freaking out," I'm heading back to the gate to have maintenance come take a look. That's not a move that we make lightly, because we know how it's going to inconvenience passengers with connections.

I hope the company did something to try to apologize.

It's probably not as dangerous to airlines, but when your enroute altitude is usually 1000 feet or less you'll encounter near misses with drones all the time.