Comments on: United Airlines Boeing 767 Passengers Safe after Emergency landing in Iceland

By: Visit.is » Boeing Dreamliner in Iceland for testing

Visit.is » Boeing Dreamliner in Iceland for testing — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:36:38 +0000

[...] United Airlines Boeing 767 Passengers Safe after Emergency landing in Iceland [...]

By: lotuskcs

lotuskcs — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:08:07 +0000

They are safe because of master lushenyen =)

By: carrental-in.com

carrental-in.com — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 19:42:51 +0000

Great job by the pilots, I didn’t see this one in the papers but must have been very stresful to say the least, well don guys. If you are on an atlantis crossing how difficult is it to co-ordinate the change of plan with ATC? Great job.

By: rangermv

rangermv — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:04:24 +0000

kina 123…Your fears are understandable, I am not going to call you stupid. I am a former aircraft mechanic with United, and my family has been in aviation for 60 years. I’ll try and help you with some perspective. The Air France tragedy may have had a lot more to do with inop weather radar, therefore the pilot unable to “see” through thunderstorms in what is called a “squall line” higher than his altitude. Pilots use the radar to pick out the cells, or actual thunderstorms, that you can’t see imbedded in a wall of clouds, day or night. Thunderstorms over the continental US and tropical regions can reach 70,000 ft. 50,000 being more common. Flying an airliner above 50,000 is a tricky proposition due to aerodynamics and engine performance. 50,000 is typically the ceiling for such aircraft, so pilots go through the sqaull line using the radar. As said in other comments, instruments are very reliable, but you could lose your orientation very quickly if your horizon (actual or artificial) is lost. This can happen over open ocean during the day as well as night, depending on atmospheric conditions. (JFK Jr.’s death is a classic example) What must be remembered is that numerous conditions have to exist at the same time for accidents such as this to occur, this is why it’s considered rare for aircraft incidents like this, the stars just don’t align that often in relation to how many aircraft are in operation. Make no mistake though, a thunderstorm of any size, in the right circumstances, can shred any size or type of aircraft, day or night. This United crew on the 767 was fortunate to still be able to see well enough through the smoke to fly and not lose their horizon. This exact same type of incident occurred in the Valujet(Florida swamp)and SAS (Airborne fire) crashes. In fact we need to push our congress folks to push the FAA to adopt a recommendation from the NTSB after the Valuejet crash to install “Clear View” inflateable tubes that work like an airbag and allow the pilots to see their instrument panel in dense smoke. I hope this helps. I hope your future journeys are safe ones.

By: Dean

Dean — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:12:28 +0000

Anyway… the flight from Iceland to Chicago was uneventful after taking off. Thanks for being there Iceland!

By: Jonny

Jonny — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:51:26 +0000

wrong kina123… even during the day disorintation can lead to mixing sea/sky up.. so in theory, your no safer… instrument failure is rare… flying is still safer than jumping into your car…

you must be an armchair pilot ;-).

By: Henry

Henry — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:51:16 +0000

Kina123. Your comments show your fundamental lack of understanding of modern aircraft. Instruments do not go “haywire regularly” and aircraft have a huge level of redundancy built into their systems. More often than not aircraft will fly through dense layers of cloud during their approach to land, in which case it makes absolutely no difference whether daylight is present. Regards, Henry P (B744/FO).

By: Dean

Dean — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:09:47 +0000

I spoke with the pilot when I was getting on the flight to retrieve my carry on bag… there was an electrical fire under the cockpit floor. The pilots were having a hard time breathing and could not see the controls. They used their masks to help them guide the plane. The worry was that the fire would cut the wires that control the hydrolics. Under the cockpit are all the electrical circuits for everything on the airliner. We notice that the video/ audio system went out with a pop — very quickly. The pilots were then checking the flaps on the wings, which was strange. No one on the flight was worried until the PA system was left on (the pilots could not see the switch to turn it off), and we heard, “we need to get down now.” This was 25 mins from Iceland. Thank God we were where we were. Had we beed further out into the Alantic the fire would have probably killed the controls and we would not have made it to land. Great job by the pilots and crew… they remainded calm in what turns out to have been a very serious situation.

By: Dan Dematteis

Dan Dematteis — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:47:52 +0000

Well done crew of UA949! i used to work as a flight attendant for United and I can say… their stricked training pays off in situations like this!

BRAVO flight and cabin crew!

By: kina123

kina123 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:14:04 +0000

Listen to me……..Air pilot relies on altitude, speed and plane orientation to horizon to maintain a stable flight. In normal times, pilot obtain these crucial information from flight instrument. Unfortunately, as you can see, these instruments go haywire regularly. If it was during the day, pilots may still get some clue on their altitude, speed and orientation from looking outside the cockpit. If it was at night, then it will be game over. Look at the Peru Boeing 757 tragedy a decade ago, the pilot knew they were at sea level only when the plane hit the ocean (it was a night flight). I bet they would do a better job if it was during the day.