JAM747 From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 550 posts, RR: 1 Posted (6 years 6 months 1 day 4 hours ago) and read 4285 times:
What are the most famous feats or acts of skilled airmanship? I know sometimes there have even been awards given to pilots for displaying amazing acts or airmanship which saved lives during emergencies. Can anyone share any info on some of these circumstances ? Maybe someone on here actually experienced one of these.
N1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25852 posts, RR: 80 Reply 3, posted (6 years 6 months 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 4225 times:
Quoting ZBBYLW (Reply 2): While I am fimilar with the first two selections, does anyone know about this barrel roll? Also the Air Transat 332 that landed in the Azores.
I didn't count the Transat flight because it was easier to get the aircraft down than it was in Gimli, which relied on the pilot's experience with gliders to slow down and lose altitude.
The barrel roll is quite famous in that it was done by Boeing's chief test pilot and was what really got airline executives interested in switching to jets.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
KC135TopBoom From United States of America, joined Jan 2005, 11705 posts, RR: 52 Reply 4, posted (6 years 6 months 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 4205 times:
Quoting N1120A (Reply 3): The barrel roll is quite famous in that it was done by Boeing's chief test pilot and was what really got airline executives interested in switching to jets.
It was over a boating event near Seattle in 1955. Tex Johnson was the pilot of the, then experimential B-367-80, the prototype for the B-707, B-720, and KC-135. The barrel roll is on film, and it was very impressive to Gen. Curt LeMay, the former CINCSAC and (at the time) AFCOS. He ordered the first 17 KC-135s the next day. Both PA and AA officials also ordered the B-707, within a few weeks, but wanted a wider body then the B-367 had (it could only fit 5 across seating, and AA & PA wanted 6 across).
I might add the Concord EIS as a significant event in airline passenger service, along with the Comet I EIS (although because of the loss of some early BOAC Comets, the B-707 later overshadowed the Comet, which never really recovered).
N1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25852 posts, RR: 80 Reply 8, posted (6 years 6 months 1 day ago) and read 4147 times:
Quoting Sean1234 (Reply 7): Gimli Glider is one of the worst for pilot error too.
Actually, the main error was with maintainance and the aircraft itself, which had a malfunctioning fuel system. The pilots were new to the type and did not realize that it calculated in metric and not in imperial. The aircraft should have either been pulled from service or the mechanics on the ground should have known to double the amount of fuel they calculated to put on board.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
Curmudgeon From Australia, joined Oct 2006, 695 posts, RR: 22 Reply 10, posted (6 years 6 months 1 day ago) and read 4123 times:
The pilots knew it was in metric, but the charts for the dipsticks were in pounds. they had to convert to KG, then to litres uplift required using an all-in-one chart that was poorly designed. There were schedule pressures as well. This accident wasn't a pilot error lesson, it was a systems/organisation/human error cautionary tale. The energy management skills of the crew, and the great good luck in not running out of fuel five minutes earlier kept them out of the obituaries.
The Azores Air Transat dead stick was cut from the same cloth...but perhaps bad judgement saved by great stick 'n' rudder.
I wonder what the state of ETOPS would be today if either of those twins had crashed?
N1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25852 posts, RR: 80 Reply 12, posted (6 years 6 months 1 day ago) and read 4104 times:
Quoting Curmudgeon (Reply 10): The Azores Air Transat dead stick was cut from the same cloth...but perhaps bad judgement saved by great stick 'n' rudder.
I wonder what the state of ETOPS would be today if either of those twins had crashed?
The Azores A330 incident happened well after ETOPS had been developed. ETOPS 207 was already in existance at that point. Further, a quad would have faced the same problems.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
Brenintw From Taiwan, joined Jul 2006, 1446 posts, RR: 1 Reply 14, posted (6 years 6 months 1 day ago) and read 4095 times:
Quoting Curmudgeon (Reply 10): The Azores Air Transat dead stick was cut from the same cloth
Wasn't the problem with the Transat A330 a fuel leak -- not a miscalculated fuel load? I remember watching a Nat. Geo. program about this incident wherein it was stated that one of the fuel lines fractured and leaked. One of the results of this incident is that pilots are now warned by the computers if the fuel is being consumed at a rate greater than what the engines are capable of.
I'm tired of the A vs. B sniping. Neither make planes that shed wings randomly!
Curmudgeon From Australia, joined Oct 2006, 695 posts, RR: 22 Reply 15, posted (6 years 6 months 23 hours ago) and read 4081 times:
Quoting N1120A (Reply 12): The Azores A330 incident happened well after ETOPS had been developed. ETOPS 207 was already in existance at that point. Further, a quad would have faced the same problems.
All true. How would any of that change the possibility that regulators would have had to bow to the vox populi and re-visit ETOPS if an airliner ended up in the water? If the laws didn't change, public perception would have and four engines would have become a sales tool.
The fact that the crew weren't in a quad is kind of a pivotal fact, and any post ditching claims that a 340 would have been at equal risk would have probably missed the point with the travelling public somewhat.
Pihero From France, joined Jan 2005, 3491 posts, RR: 72 Reply 16, posted (6 years 6 months 23 hours ago) and read 4082 times:
Quoting Curmudgeon (Reply 10): I wonder what the state of ETOPS would be today if either of those twins had crashed?
A remark that is worthy of a RU award !
The Air Transat would have gone down into some of the deepest seas in the Atlantic. Recovering the wreckage would have been at the very least a long process and long ETOPS could have been affected.
here is , from answers.com a summary of the incident which gets my vote : 22 November 2003: European Air Transport SA)">OO-DLL, operating on behalf of DHL, was hit by an SA-7 'Grail' missile after take-off from Baghdad International Airport. The aeroplane rapidly lost all hydraulic pressure and thus controls. The crew found that after extending the landing gear to create more drag, they could pilot the plane using differences in engine thrust and managed to land the plane with minimal further damage. The plane was later repaired and offered for sale
It gets my vote because knowing that they were too high for an immediate landing, the crew, very coolly, elected to fly a large orbit to come into final, knowing that the fire was raging in the wing and they ran the risk of losing it altogether.
As a last remark, journals of the 2nd WW are full of these stories.
Hardkor From Canada, joined Aug 2001, 236 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (6 years 6 months 23 hours ago) and read 4077 times:
How about the BAE 111 that depressurized mid-flight over England due to an improperly installed windshield? The most impressive part of that safe landing was that the co-pilot had to work while the pilot was half-sucked out of the cockpit, and survived!
Great example of Piloting skills,
Hardkor
Wasn't the problem with the Transat A330 a fuel leak -- not a miscalculated fuel load? I remember watching a Nat. Geo. program about this incident wherein it was stated that one of the fuel lines fractured and leaked.
Gimili was a miscalculated load, Transat was indeed a fuel leak
Quoting Curmudgeon (Reply 15): All true. How would any of that change the possibility that regulators would have had to bow to the vox populi and re-visit ETOPS if an airliner ended up in the water? If the laws didn't change, public perception would have and four engines would have become a sales tool.
The fact that the crew weren't in a quad is kind of a pivotal fact, and any post ditching claims that a 340 would have been at equal risk would have probably missed the point with the travelling public somewhat.
It was a fuel leak. The general public doesn't give a flying funk about flying a twin or a quad, despite what Virgin Atlantic and Airbus would like you to believe. If that aircraft ended up in the water, it would have been no different than if a leaking quad had ended up in the water.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
Curmudgeon From Australia, joined Oct 2006, 695 posts, RR: 22 Reply 20, posted (6 years 6 months 23 hours ago) and read 4055 times:
Also, Apollo 13. In fact, all the manned space missions, of any nationality.
I have a story about a crew that saved an Electra in Canada back in the 80's:
As I understand it, they were westbound near CYQT when the #1 prop shed a blade. The blade speared the #2 prop shaft, severing the #2 prop, which then spun down the side of the fuselage, puncturing it in several places, finally clipping the top six inches or so of the fin for good measure.
The crew were presented with end-of-the-world vibration, power loss of #1 and #2, decompression and a general feeling of discontent. After they got squared away they managed a diversion to YQT, where, somewhere on final approach, they struck a Canada goose in the captain's windscreen, shattering it. They landed without, as they say, further incident. I think that's a good tale of airmanship (or enlightened self-interest), and I sometimes wonder how often that story's been told in bars.
Pihero From France, joined Jan 2005, 3491 posts, RR: 72 Reply 21, posted (6 years 6 months 23 hours ago) and read 4052 times:
Quoting N1120A (Reply 19): If that aircraft ended up in the water, it would have been no different than if a leaking quad had ended up in the water.
Curmudgeon and I are not discussing the merits of ETOPS, but the fact that without the knowledge of what happened on that flight (as the wreckage would not have been available soon), it would have been listed as double engine failure, therefore posing a big question on twins over water.
N1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25852 posts, RR: 80 Reply 24, posted (6 years 6 months 23 hours ago) and read 4048 times:
Quoting Pihero (Reply 21): Curmudgeon and I are not discussing the merits of ETOPS, but the fact that without the knowledge of what happened on that flight (as the wreckage would not have been available soon), it would have been listed as double engine failure, therefore posing a big question on twins over water.
As opposed to a quadruple engine failure had an A340 or 747 been involved? Again, the general public wouldn't have cared one way or another how many engines the aircraft had, rather they would have wondered why it ran out of fuel and would have likely blamed the airline more than the manufacturer or the number of engines.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
25 Pihero: N1120A, I agree that the public would not have cared. Probably. The newspapers might. And surely the certifying authorities, hence those remarks. Once
26 N1120A: I wasn't the one to take this off topic. The assertion that a crash due to fuel leak would have caused problems with certifying authorities is absolu
27 Pihero: And without the wreckage, how would you have known it was fuel starvation ? I could hear the A bashers claiming yet another cover-up. Do you ever lis
28 Jonathan-l: DHL A300B4 landing in Baghdad after being hit by a missile http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20031122-0&lang=en
29 Keego: What about the hijacked Ghana Air 767 (I think it was Ghana) The pilot landed it in the drink just by a beach. It was his 3rd hijacking and despite ma
30 Curmudgeon: Well, I stand corrected then. Because it's been years since I dealt with a certificating authority or worked in flight test I'll have to take your wo
31 EWRandMDW: Back in the mid 1960s a TWA B707 from California to New York City collided mid-air over Westchester County, NY with an Eastern L1049 Constellation fly
32 NAV20: I reckon that the achievement of Alcock and Brown (first nonstop crossing of the Atlantic, in a Vickers Vimy bomber in 1919) takes some beating. It's
33 Sprout5199: Wright Bros. first powered flight Charles Lindberg's flight across the Atlantic Chuck Yeager's supersonic flight Apollo 13's return to earth(spacemans
34 TPAnx: Surprised that no one's mentioned the DC-10 crash out in the midwest. Plane lost all hydraulics..crew made it to the airport using only the engines to
35 SailorOrion: That WAS UA232, mentioned a couple of times already... SailorOrion
36 Yhz78: That was actually an Egypt Air flight. Also, in reference to the ETOPS the Gimli Glider happened over the middle of the continent, how should that af
37 CM767: What about the TA pilots with a double flame out on a 737, they had to land plane on a levy. It was on New Orleans, no major damage to the plane nor i
38 JAM747: Thanks for this info . I did not hear of this before and always though that charles Linbergh was to first to cross the Atlantic non stop. I wonder wh
39 LTBEWR: I think we should stick to airline operations of the post WWII era here as to the point of these posts. There should be some record of their acts. Som
40 CM767: Actually it was Ethiopian http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19961123-0&lang=en Flight ET961 had taken off from Addis Ababa for a flig
41 Mptpa: In either case, how they managed to the aircraft down safely is pure airmanship. Otherwise, a lot of people would have died.
42 1stfl94: Also in the Concorde crash in 2000, even though the aircraft was doomed, the pilot managed to save lives on the ground, as the last manouvres he made
43 ZKSUJ: Thats what I thought too. there was a breakage in a pipe or something. Can't remember what exactly went on, haven't seen the documentary in ages but
44 ZBBYLW: Yea thanks for that, i did not know that the 707 was previously revered to as a Dash-80 or that it still is... As for that you are correct. The pilot
45 Bushpilot: Chuck Yeager in the X-1, to be the first one to do it takes balls. Also an incredible feat, I have heard that is the only time a jetliner has managed
46 Lucky42: Really what makes you think so? My understanding was that the air transat landing was at night with no power...Seems to me it was as difficult as the
47 Riyadhnurse: #1 choice United 232 DC-10 crashed @SUX 1989,A true miracle of survival and unshakable confidence and pilot's skills saved many lives,despite cart whe
48 GAIsweetGAI: A video of this can be found here (quality isn't the best though): http://www.aeroclubandernos.com/videos.html Scroll down almost to the bottom and l
Sponsor Message: 
From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 550 posts, 
From Canada, joined Nov 2006, 1922 posts, 
From New Zealand, joined May 2004, 6933 posts, 
From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2002, 2065 posts, 
From Australia, joined Oct 2006, 695 posts, 
From Taiwan, joined Jul 2006, 1446 posts, 
From France, joined Jan 2005, 3491 posts, 
Printer friendly format 
