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(Jalopnik) Scary Airline pilot discusses how he saved a 747 with a stuck rudder from plunging into the Pacific, fondness for gladiator movies   (jalopnik.com) divider line 126
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11891 clicks; posted to Main » on 07 Sep 2010 at 9:36 PM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»   |    Get this fabulous T-Shirt and impress the methane out of your friends! shirt it!



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2010-09-07 08:33:24 PM
"Mister Petroni: White Courtesy Phone, Please..... NOW."
 
ZAZ [TotalFark]
2010-09-07 08:40:46 PM
What was the court hearing mentioned in the article about?

Bonus quote: And she said, oh, I could just kiss you. And I said, well, you can kiss me.
 
2010-09-07 09:18:12 PM
Wow
 
2010-09-07 09:40:24 PM
And then all the passengers got hit with baggage fees again when they boarded a new plane.

The End.
 
2010-09-07 09:40:49 PM
Was it a stuck "dutch rudder?"
 
2010-09-07 09:41:08 PM
I was just settling down with my book and I felt the airplane do a very odd maneuver. We could feel the airplane doing something very significant and abnormal.

Uninterestingly written article is uninterestingly written.
 
2010-09-07 09:42:29 PM
Surely, you can't be serious!
 
2010-09-07 09:42:42 PM
2.bp.blogspot.com

Everything is coming up roses
 
2010-09-07 09:43:00 PM
3.bp.blogspot.com

I just want to tell both of you good luck. We're all counting on you.
 
2010-09-07 09:43:27 PM
Trying to land with a stuck rudder is an entirely different kind of flying.

Altogether.
 
2010-09-07 09:43:32 PM
Impressive.
 
2010-09-07 09:44:41 PM
Uninteresting? I thought it was gripping.

Any of you aeronautical farkers like to point us at the report on this incident? I'd be interested in knowing the root cause.
 
2010-09-07 09:46:31 PM
A penguin! And he's been drinking! ...wait a minute...
The Critic (new window)
 
2010-09-07 09:47:10 PM
BunkoSquad: Trying to land with a stuck rudder is an entirely different kind of flying.

Altogether.


Trying to land with a stuck rudder is an entirely different kind of flying.
 
2010-09-07 09:48:00 PM
HF is primitive?
 
2010-09-07 09:48:26 PM
We at this point had declared an emergency and we were proceeding back to Anchorage. We had done a left turn because that was the only direction the airplane would turn.

So it's just like driving in NASCAR then.

And I told Frank that he did a fabulous job with the initial recovery, was doing a fine job flying it, but that I was going to exercise my right to get back in the seat. Frank's reaction was, I have no problems with that.

Frank is going to go running down the main isle screaming.

And we talked about how much we should tell the passengers. And we decided that this is not the time for warm, fuzzy announcements that we're going to be late in Tokyo. We decided to tell them this is exactly the problem we're having, it's a problem with the controls on the airplane, please give the flight attendants your full and undivided attention, the case being your life may depend on it. We didn't say those exact words, but we wanted them to give the flight attendants their complete attention.

I hope you people paid attention to the seatbelt bit before we took off cause we're not going over it again.

We also had a conference call with the company and we had to do this with a primitive radio called HF, which is like you saw Clark Gable doing in the movies in the 1940s. It's a very primitive radio. But it was the only thing that would work out over the Bering Sea.

Cause we sure as hell weren't going to pay the long distance fees.

And our main questions were does anyone know what could be wrong with this rudder? And the second question was, we see nothing in the book about how to get this airplane back on the ground.

In once piece preferably.

Anchorage is kind of an odd airport in that every runway has something wrong with it

Sounds like it was built by GM.

I got it as stabilized as I possibly could, flew it down. We came across the fence at about 200 mph. And I put the airplane right on the touchdown spot, lowered the nose to the runway, and it tried to swerve.

Flight now arriving at Gate 23.....24.....25.....26....
 
2010-09-07 09:48:46 PM
I hear the Dutch have sturdy rudders...
 
2010-09-07 09:50:19 PM
Very incredible story.
 
2010-09-07 09:50:20 PM
Tillmaster: Uninteresting? I thought it was gripping.

Any of you aeronautical farkers like to point us at the report on this incident? I'd be interested in knowing the root cause.


I thought it was interesting too. But interesting narrative =/= well or compellingly written.
 
2010-09-07 09:50:21 PM
The interesting thing to me was that I actually read the whole article.
 
2010-09-07 09:50:39 PM
JalopFark FTW!!!


Great story though....

And I rudder - I mean shudder - to think how many times we've all been on board a plane and the Captain and staff decide NOT to tell us what's going on (although diverting to a different runway should give you some clues).

I've watched the "Air Emergency" shows on the Discovery (or History, or Travel, or Science...can't recall) channel that showed how close tens of thousands of people have come to their fiery deaths without even knowing.

Scary stuff. Glad this incident was a "one off freak mechanical failure" instead of being a plane that has had numerous reports of failure and they spend 24 months trying to figure it out while they let the planes keep flying.
 
2010-09-07 09:51:41 PM
As much as I love Airplane! threads, I have to say that was a fascinating article. I knew rudder hardover was an issue on the 737 (see United 585, USAir 427, possibly SilkAir 185), but not on the 747. Of Boeing's planes, the 747 is the one I'm most unsure about flying in; the 777 is what I prefer, followed by 767 and 737.

/even this Francophile is unsure about flying in an Airbus...
//Oh stewardess, I speak jive...
 
2010-09-07 09:51:42 PM
Tillmaster: Uninteresting? I thought it was gripping.

Any of you aeronautical farkers like to point us at the report on this incident? I'd be interested in knowing the root cause.


I read it earlier today. It was a broken hydraulic pump on the lower tail rudder (the rudder has an upper and lower). It forced the lower rudder into a 17 degree angle that caused the plane to start to bank. Only by forcing the top rudder in the opposite direction were they able to 'straighten' the plane.

The captain was actually in his bunk getting ready to read when the whole event started. It was the 2nd in command that actually saved the plane from its initial death roll. They worked together as a team to get that thing back on the ground.
 
2010-09-07 09:52:45 PM
This thread might go on for awhile. Johnny, how about some more coffee?
 
2010-09-07 09:53:08 PM
I'm sorry, I don't speak jive.
 
2010-09-07 09:54:00 PM
Nuno311: I've watched the "Air Emergency" shows on the Discovery (or History, or Travel, or Science...can't recall) channel that showed how close tens of thousands of people have come to their fiery deaths without even knowing.

That show's fascinating; it's on NatGeo in the States and Discovery in Canada. There might be new episodes soon, in its eighth season.
 
2010-09-07 09:54:11 PM
xuanzhiyouxuan: HF is primitive?

I've heard various adjectives used to describe it, a few of which would be filtered on Fark. Primitive seems fair.
 
2010-09-07 09:54:17 PM
xsarien: This thread might go on for awhile. Johnny, how about some more coffee?

No thanks!
 
2010-09-07 09:55:17 PM
Since he wanted to know what the condition of the rudder was, I am suprised they didn't have another plane intercept them and look. Aren't there military aircraft based at Anchorage that could have been sent up. You would think after 911 they would have had their response time down a bit.
 
2010-09-07 09:55:17 PM
The aeronautical jargon in this thread is getting thicker!
 
2010-09-07 09:56:42 PM
BunkoSquad: Trying to land with a stuck rudder is an entirely different kind of flying.

Altogether.


Trying to land with a stuck rudder is an entirely different kind of flying.
 
2010-09-07 09:57:20 PM
rustytees.com
 
2010-09-07 09:57:57 PM
 
2010-09-07 10:01:07 PM
When reached for comment, Joe Namath released a small statement commending the pilots for their bravery and courage.

"I want to kiss you"
 
2010-09-07 10:01:15 PM
NTSB Report (new window)
 
2010-09-07 10:01:51 PM
BunkoSquad
The aeronautical jargon in this thread is getting thicker!

And Leon's getting larrrrrrrrger!
 
2010-09-07 10:02:08 PM
arrgh. Didn't notice wonderfish.
 
2010-09-07 10:02:25 PM
tuckeg: Since he wanted to know what the condition of the rudder was, I am suprised they didn't have another plane intercept them and look. Aren't there military aircraft based at Anchorage that could have been sent up. You would think after 911 they would have had their response time down a bit.

What could they have said? "Yup, it's hard left."
 
2010-09-07 10:03:49 PM
FTFA: Former Northwest Airlines Capt. John Hansen flew the airline's Boeing 747 route from Detroit to Toyko for years. In 2002, the plane tried to kill him and 400 passengers. This is the never-before published story of how he saved them.

Who the everliving fark wrote this shiat? Honestly.
 
2010-09-07 10:03:53 PM
I'm a little surprised they didn't send this guy back into the rudder to shut the valve:

t1.gstatic.com
 
2010-09-07 10:10:53 PM
enad58: When reached for comment, Joe Namath released a small statement commending the pilots for their bravery and courage.

"I want to kiss you"


I would have thought his only comment would be "I'm Joe Namath. Your plane broke down. I'm Joe Namath."
 
2010-09-07 10:13:04 PM
a great initial save, a really great landing, and cool and competent heads in between. these guys beat some odds.
 
2010-09-07 10:13:19 PM
Bondith: BunkoSquad
The aeronautical jargon in this thread is getting thicker!

And Leon's getting larrrrrrrrger!


This post made me audibly laugh
 
2010-09-07 10:13:53 PM
Would you like the chicken or the fish?
 
2010-09-07 10:14:58 PM
Barricaded Gunman: Who the everliving fark wrote this shiat? Honestly.

I know right?! I'm sayin'.

But actually, this one's quite accurate. It's going to be adapted soon into a Syfy miniseries about the killer plane.
 
2010-09-07 10:16:34 PM
which goes to show the best definition of flying-------

hours upon hours of sheer boredom interspersed with moments of panic.
 
2010-09-07 10:18:19 PM
Tillmaster: Uninteresting? I thought it was gripping.

Any of you aeronautical farkers like to point us at the report on this incident? I'd be interested in knowing the root cause.


Here's the NTSB report:

Link (new window)
Upshot: "The fatigue fracture of the lower rudder power control module manifold, which resulted in a lower rudder hardover."

I got it from the comments in the article, not a aero-farker.
 
2010-09-07 10:20:57 PM
BunkoSquad: Trying to land with a stuck rudder is an entirely different kind of flying.

Altogether.


Trying to land with a stuck rudder is an entirely different kind of flying.
 
2010-09-07 10:23:13 PM
farquette: I was just settling down with my book and I felt the airplane do a very odd maneuver. We could feel the airplane doing something very significant and abnormal.

Uninterestingly written article is uninterestingly written.


We'll see if we can't get him to bump up his next 400 lives hang in the balance story.

Maybe get Diablo Cody to ghost write the next one.

Sheeeesh.
 
2010-09-07 10:23:20 PM
Media reports leftward leaning.
 
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