Wrong airplane?

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I agree with you completely . . . so sad.

Anytime a plane goes down, I am reminded of this excellent poem:

High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941

 

[wings396]

The A/C could have also been on the wrong gate. Many of us are used to a certain flight being on a specific gate, and overlook the A/C number at times. If this crew flew this trip out of LEX frequently, they could have been used to having it on a particular gate, and this time an A/C swap took place overnight....Just a thought, as I have seen it happen many times before.

 

[Cobrakev]

The pilots should have double checked the aircraft number on the release with the aircraft number of the plane they were getting on, then they wouldn't be rushed.

Of course sometimes dispatch will change the tail number after the crew has picked up their release - very common on originating flights where multiple aircraft of the same type are. We don't know if that happened, but if the ramper told them they were on the wrong a/c, then the crew probably wandered out and just hopped on the first a/c they saw. I doubt dispatch changed it between the time they got their release then walked out to the a/c for the ramper to know definitively which a/c was going where. Who knows?

Just how long do you really think it takes a crew to preflight an Airplane?? Not long

 

[732guy]

Just how long do you really think it takes a crew to preflight an Airplane?? Not long

Not long, usually, but originators can take longer, depending on whether a mtc item was written up the day prior. Strangely, things pop up when an a/c overnights.

 

[QA4Jet-A]

Focals, I got this in an Email today and thought it interesting to share here.

Interesting read, but you need to filter out some of his opinions (versus facts) towards the end…
Aviation disaster --a pilot's view

I live in Lexington and have thirty years of airline experience flying in and out of LEX. I was also the station liason for Lexington for ten years.

Here is what I think happened:

The two runways in question share the same common run-up area. The extented taxiway to the correct runway, runway 28 was closed due to construction. It has always been difficult to tell between the two runways when you are
taxiing out. The natural thing to do is to take the wrong one. It is just there and you are always tempted to take it. When I flew out of LEX we always checked each other at least three times to make sure we were taking the correct runway. We checked the chart, we checked to make sure the correct runway number was at the end and we always double checked the FMS generated moving map.
Most FMS systems will have a warning called "runway dissimularity" pop up in magenta when your position at takeoff doesn't match the runway you programmed into the computer. This would not happen at LEX since you are
virtually in the same spot when you take either runway.
It was also raining at the time of takeoff and dark. The control tower opens at 6am (because we are, after all, all about saving money) and only has one controller on duty at that time. He or she has to: run ground control, clearance delivery, approach control and departure control. The one
controller also has to program the ATIS and make the coffee. He or she probably cleared comair to take off and then put their head back down to do a chore or work another airplane.
Taking the runway, the comair guy would put the power up and wouldn't realize they were on the wrone runway until they were about 70% down the pike. Too late to safely abort so he probaby decided to try and continue the takeoff. This is when the eye witnesses heard a series of explosions and though the plane blew up in the air. Didn't happen -- what they heard and saw were compressor stalls of probably both engines. The pilot no doubt pushed the throttles all the way up and that demand to the engines combined with the steep pitch attitude cut off enough air to the intakes to cause the compressor stalls -- which, by the way, made them even more doomed. Less power.
They stalled or simply hit one of the large hills to the west of the airport and came to a stop. Everybody on board was probably injured but alive. Then,a second or two later the post-crash fire began. With the darkness and the fact that most of them had broken legs, pelvises and backs they literally burned alive. Not smoke inhalation. They really actually burned to death.
In my role as station liason I wrote most of the post crash safety procedure for Delta at that field. Too bad there weren't enough survivors to use them.
BTW, comair and the press will tell you what a great plane the RJ is. This is a total lie. The Canadair RJ was designed to be an executive barge, not an airliner. They were designed to fly about ten times a month, not ten times a day. They have a long history of mechanical design shortfalls. I've flown on it and have piloted it. It is a steaming, underpowered piece of s***. It never had enough power to get out of its own way and this situation is exactly what everybody who flies it was afraid of.
The senior member of the crew had about five and a half years of total jet experience. The copilot less. They had minimum training and were flying a minimally equipped pos on very short rest. The layover gets in about 10pm the night before. They report for pick-up at 4:30am.
I'm sorry if I sound bitter but this is exactly the direction the entire airline industry is going. Expect to see bigger more colorful crashes in the future.

I have 20,000 of heavy jet flying time and am type rated in the 727, 757, 767, 777, DC-8, DC-9 and L-1011.

(I removed his Email comments as I did not get them completely) I also apologize for the structure as I had to C&P and try my best to close up his statement so it wouldn't take a half page. QA

 

[732guy]

I wish people would stop saying the crew arrived at 10pm the night before. The f/o arrived FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY MORNING at 2am and the captain arrived SATURDAY at 3:30pm, the captain had a good 12 hours rest, the f/o had 26 hours.

 

[formeraa]

I wish people would stop saying the crew arrived at 10pm the night before. The f/o arrived FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY MORNING at 2am and the captain arrived SATURDAY at 3:30pm, the captain had a good 12 hours rest, the f/o had 26 hours.

In addition, the tower DOESN'T open at 6am. The controller was ON-DUTY all night!!! I doubt the veracity of this email commentary.

 

[QA4Jet-A]

In addition, the tower DOESN'T open at 6am. The controller was ON-DUTY all night!!! I doubt the veracity of this email commentary.

with 2 hours sleep.....

 

[FM2436]

§ 121.97 Airports: Required data.
top
(a) Each certificate holder conducting domestic or flag operations must show that each route it submits for approval has enough airports that are properly equipped and adequate for the proposed operation, considering such items as size, surface, obstructions, facilities, public protection, lighting, navigational and communications aids, and ATC.

(B) Each certificate holder conducting domestic or flag operations must show that it has an approved system for obtaining, maintaining, and distributing to appropriate personnel current aeronautical data for each airport it uses to ensure a safe operation at that airport. The aeronautical data must include the following:

(1) Airports.

(i) Facilities.

(ii) Public protection.

(iii) Navigational and communications aids.

(iv) Construction affecting takeoff, landing, or ground operations.

(v) Air traffic facilities.

(2) Runways, clearways and stopways.

(i) Dimensions.

(ii) Surface.

(iii) Marking and lighting systems.

(iv) Elevation and gradient.

(3) Displaced thresholds.

(i) Location.

(ii) Dimensions.

(iii) Takeoff or landing or both.

(4) Obstacles.

(i) Those affecting takeoff and landing performance computations in accordance with Subpart I of this part.

(ii) Controlling obstacles.

(5) Instrument flight procedures.

(i) Departure procedure.

(ii) Approach procedure.

(iii) Missed approach procedure.

(6) Special information.

(i) Runway visual range measurement equipment.

(ii) Prevailing winds under low visibility conditions.

© If the certificate-holding district office charged with the overall inspection of the certificate holder's operations finds that revisions are necessary for the continued adequacy of the certificate holder's system for collection, dissemination, and usage of aeronautical data that has been granted approval, the certificate holder shall, after notification by the certificate-holding district office, make those revisions in the system. Within 30 days after the certificate holder receives such notice, the certificate holder may file a petition to reconsider the notice with the Director, Flight Standards Service. This filing of a petition to reconsider stays the notice pending a decision by the Director, Flight Standards Service. However, if the certificate-holding district office finds that there is an emergency that requires immediate action in the interest of safety in air transportation, the Director, Flight Standards Service may, upon statement of the reasons, require a change effective without stay.

[Doc. No. 6258, 29 FR 19194, Dec. 31, 1964, as amended by Amdt. 121–162, 45 FR 46738, July 10, 1980; Amdt. 121–207, 54 FR 39293, Sept. 25, 1989; Amdt. 121–253, 61 FR 2610, Jan. 26, 1996]