Brazil Crash

[Nickodell]

Rick: Looks like you could be right about both pilot error and mechanical failure in the Brazil disaster. According to the Brazil aviation authorities, the plane touched down four times faster than normal, and the thrust reversers didn't work.

My only comment is that 4X faster (around 500 kts.) is ludicrous unless he was on a suicide mission, and even if true and possible (not; tires would have exploded) should have made a go-around a piece of cake. I think they might have meant 40 kts faster which was mistranslated and even so, on a rain-slicked, short runway without drainage grooves would make it hazardous even with functioning TRs. Without them, disaster was inevitable.

Brings to mind the Four Most Useless Things:

The runway behind you,
The altitude above you,
The fuel in the tanks on the ground,
Ten seconds ago.

 

[skywords]

There is a short video clip of it going past the camera on the runway. In the clip you see the flight that landed before it and then you see the TAM flight going by much much faster.

I was on a flight aboard a DC-9 many years ago that landed in Oak City during a T storm. The pilot landed hot (normal for wind shear conditions) and then applied brakes and TR's then he proceeded to add power to the TR's until a series of compressor stalls started, we came to a stop right at the end of the runway. I was worried when the engines started stalling. They sound like large bombs going off in the cabin.

 

[PaulK]

BBC is reporting that the TR's had been deactivated doe to an earlier problem. They are also reporting that the previous aircraft took 11 seconds from touch down to turn off of the runway and the Airbus covered the distance in half the time. In the runway video you can see the difference except the Airbus never turns and there is a large glow of the fire ball at just after the Airbus disappears from camera view.

They also stated that 1 day earlier a ATR skidded off the runway in the rain but stopped in the grass at the end. This runway was recently re surfaced but due to the asphalt cure time had not been grooved yet.

Paul

 

[skywords]

BBC is reporting that the TR's had been deactivated doe to an earlier problem. They are also reporting that the previous aircraft took 11 seconds from touch down to turn off of the runway and the Airbus covered the distance in half the time. In the runway video you can see the difference except the Airbus never turns and there is a large glow of the fire ball at just after the Airbus disappears from camera view.

They also stated that 1 day earlier a ATR skidded off the runway in the rain but stopped in the grass at the end. This runway was recently re surfaced but due to the asphalt cure time had not been grooved yet.

Paul

If the TR's were really inop then the pilot never should have taken the flight with such bad weather on to a short wet runway.

 

[Nickodell]

I can almost hear his airline Operations Manager: "You taka da flight or you no hava da job, OK?"