estorilm wrote:OccupiedLav wrote:Chrisba320 wrote:Well done to the pilots for putting this bird down safely with no casualties on board. I’m sure the A321’s advanced systems also played a major part in this not ending in disaster.
At this point the aircraft was pretty much a glider, so I doubt the safe outcome was a result of advanced systems. This was good piloting/luck.
True however, check out the vapes coming off the leading edge of the wing just prior to impact - I wouldn't be surprised if the pilot was full-aft on the sidestick at that point and the plane simply achieved peak AoA with alpha prot without stalling.
tu204 wrote:Efhkspotter wrote:
What would have been better? Everyone is alive.
Less damage to the aircraft? Remember the COPA 733 that landed (and then took off from) a levy in New Orleans?
True but that was a completely controlled descent with a "planned" target for a landing location.
I think everything was out of their hands with this one. I too asked myself "why gear up?" however given the incredibly close proximity to the end of the runway, it's clear that a) a gravity drop of the gear might not have even been possible in that timeframe, and b) a partial or full drop of the landing gear that close to the ground would have likely stalled or put the plane into the ground in a much worse fashion than we see here. I absolutely agree with the pilots decision with those factors in mind here.
I am eagerly waiting for the Prelim report and will shortly write a buddy that flies with U6 and ask him what mode the plane was in at impact. I am not sure it was still in Normal law with a double engine failure. I am leaning towards it being in Alternate Law or Direct Law.
I totally agree with the crew (and you) that they left the gear up. It led to the aircraft neatly sliding straigh down the field and decelerating quickly (but not too quickly to kill people).
In my opinion had the gear been down, they would have broken one at a time causing it to spin and a wing tank rupture. Thats just my opinion though. The reaon why I posted my question is that I wanted to get some sort of discussion going and hearing different opinions and scenarios.
P.S. I'd also love to hear the crew's decision making process they must have had as to "up or down" in the several seconds they had to make that decision.
Edit: Saw the Investigation Committee video, there are a few cockpit shots and the gear lever is clearly in the "Up" position.
Last edited by
64947 on Thu Aug 15, 2019 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.