Mike Teacher
10-28-2003, 05:40 AM
This is 100% true, from my aviation books. Imagine being on this flight [actually two occurred that were this similar]:
You're on a Boeing 747; one of the largest passenger aircraft made. Fantastic aircraft. Four fantastic engines, and it can fly on only two, and maintain altitude with only one.
And you're flying with 300+ other souls, and everything is just fine...
But the cabin has a bit of a funny smell while you're crusuing at 35,000 feet, almost seven miles above earth. Smells like rotten eggs. A little tinge of fear as other notice the smell...
And now people start freaking as the cabin slowly fills with a mist. Smoke? Fog?
And then they hear funny noises, the engines, they are revving. The nose of the plane starts to climb. Why climbing this high?
By this time, in the cockpit. Chaos:
Pilot: We have lost repeat lost inboard number 2 engine repeat lost inboard number 2 engine, all three others are hot as hell. theyre gonna have to come down [shut off].
Engineer: We're about to lose 1 and 4, better shut down.
Pilot: This is Jakarta Flight 362 declaring an emergency repeat declaring emergency we are losing all four engines repeat we have lost two engines and the remaining two are about to fail
[announces to crew to being emergency procedures for engine failure, emergency landing, ditching procedure. attendants begin prepping the freaked out passengers who now are in a yellowish haze, for a water landing, or as Carlin says: Crashing into the Ocean.
Control: Roger understand your squawk [emergency procedures given, heading to nearest airport that can land a 747 given].
Co-Pilot: 2 and 4 are redlining. Shutting down. We're going to lose the whole shebang.
Pilot: Why the hell can't I see a damned thing through the glass?
Engineer: We have shutdown on all four. [starts trying to figure how to fly a plane with no power]
[the flight, now powerless, a glider, no engines, all gone. starts to descend, from 36,000 feet, towards the pacific. They are nowhere near anywhere resembling land, much less an airport. They are over the Pacific.]
The plane is now filled with panic as the now utterly silent dust-filled 747 falls gently to earth and the passengers prepare for whatever awaits. The quiet is horrifying, no engines, no sound.
The plane falls 4 miles; to 10,000 feet.
For some reason, the haze begins to clear, the yellowish dust clearing. The windshield? Unusable. Cant see a thing. The engine temperature gauges start to fall from the red they were pinned at.
They go for it, and get two engines restarted, why they work now they have no idea, and they make an emergency landing.
Damage to the airplane: $80,000,000.00
What happened?
It was Mt. Pinatubos ash. The plane [and several others] flew through the unseen ash cloud. At 600 mph, volcanic ash becomes in effect, a sandblaster times 10. All four engines had severe damage to the rotors, some just melted. The windshield and the exerior had been etched with ash.
I was reminded yesterday with the cali fires and the aircraft disruption. The above is from memory, I dont remember the sequence and i'm pretty bad at aircraft speak.
But imagine being on those flights!!!!!
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You're on a Boeing 747; one of the largest passenger aircraft made. Fantastic aircraft. Four fantastic engines, and it can fly on only two, and maintain altitude with only one.
And you're flying with 300+ other souls, and everything is just fine...
But the cabin has a bit of a funny smell while you're crusuing at 35,000 feet, almost seven miles above earth. Smells like rotten eggs. A little tinge of fear as other notice the smell...
And now people start freaking as the cabin slowly fills with a mist. Smoke? Fog?
And then they hear funny noises, the engines, they are revving. The nose of the plane starts to climb. Why climbing this high?
By this time, in the cockpit. Chaos:
Pilot: We have lost repeat lost inboard number 2 engine repeat lost inboard number 2 engine, all three others are hot as hell. theyre gonna have to come down [shut off].
Engineer: We're about to lose 1 and 4, better shut down.
Pilot: This is Jakarta Flight 362 declaring an emergency repeat declaring emergency we are losing all four engines repeat we have lost two engines and the remaining two are about to fail
[announces to crew to being emergency procedures for engine failure, emergency landing, ditching procedure. attendants begin prepping the freaked out passengers who now are in a yellowish haze, for a water landing, or as Carlin says: Crashing into the Ocean.
Control: Roger understand your squawk [emergency procedures given, heading to nearest airport that can land a 747 given].
Co-Pilot: 2 and 4 are redlining. Shutting down. We're going to lose the whole shebang.
Pilot: Why the hell can't I see a damned thing through the glass?
Engineer: We have shutdown on all four. [starts trying to figure how to fly a plane with no power]
[the flight, now powerless, a glider, no engines, all gone. starts to descend, from 36,000 feet, towards the pacific. They are nowhere near anywhere resembling land, much less an airport. They are over the Pacific.]
The plane is now filled with panic as the now utterly silent dust-filled 747 falls gently to earth and the passengers prepare for whatever awaits. The quiet is horrifying, no engines, no sound.
The plane falls 4 miles; to 10,000 feet.
For some reason, the haze begins to clear, the yellowish dust clearing. The windshield? Unusable. Cant see a thing. The engine temperature gauges start to fall from the red they were pinned at.
They go for it, and get two engines restarted, why they work now they have no idea, and they make an emergency landing.
Damage to the airplane: $80,000,000.00
What happened?
It was Mt. Pinatubos ash. The plane [and several others] flew through the unseen ash cloud. At 600 mph, volcanic ash becomes in effect, a sandblaster times 10. All four engines had severe damage to the rotors, some just melted. The windshield and the exerior had been etched with ash.
I was reminded yesterday with the cali fires and the aircraft disruption. The above is from memory, I dont remember the sequence and i'm pretty bad at aircraft speak.
But imagine being on those flights!!!!!
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