GOLDHOFER

[lpbrian]

So let me see if I understand this. AA at DFW is shipping their Goldhofers to Miami because of the near disaster at DFW. Does this mean that MIA and the FAA and AA have different procedures? Sounds to me like AA is admitting a problem at DFW but it will be OK in Miami. Is the FAA and AA Technicians being played for fools by AA management? Sounds to me all AA has to do is change their procedures on towing aircraft at night. Start the APU and flip on the Beacons. What is so hard about that? I remember a long time ago a pilot voiced concern about AA deactivating LOGO lights. He made a valid point. LOGO lights are very helpful in conditions with poor visibility on the ground. It helps other pilots identify aircraft on the ground as well as the FAA ATC guys up in the tower miles away. But AA decided to deactivate and remove the wiring all together to save weight. Again save money on a potential safety device that can be used to prevent an accident. The video is very interesting. AA refused an interview but released a comment to avoid questions that might lead to more questions about safety. Good luck MIA with the additional stock piles of goldhofers.....

One difference between DFW and MIA (or Europe, for that matter ) is that there are runways between the hangar and the terminal at DFW. Not to mention the towing distances at DFW are much greater. It's a long way to tow an airplane from C terminal to the hangar.

 

[Opie]

GOLDHOFERS ARE BEING SHIPPED TO MIA. I GUESS THE BOYS THERE HAVE A PLAN FOR THEM? WE TRIED TO TELL THE COMPANY THEY WERE UNSAFE! THEY NEVER LISTEN TO US? BIG WASTE OF MONEY JUST LIKE EXECTIVE COMP.! THEY SENT THEM OVER TO HRG5 TO LOAD THEM?? DOES THE COMPANY NOT WANT THE GOLDHOFER CREWS TO SEE THEM LEAVE??????

It was a program doomed from the start. No one in management was interested. It was shoved on them by higher ups. There was no research by the company as to what the limitations of the Goldhofer were. They were sent to DFW without any preplanning or cordination with the airport or the FAA. Management was told about the problems of towing 777's. They were told the Goldhofer was bouncing when trying to brake hard. They were told about the over heating problems. Their fix was to keep trying bandaids until they found something that worked. Maybe management will now listen to the mechanics when evaluating new programs. :down:

I'm doing as well as can be. I had surgery on my left ankle the 14th of may. Will have the right one operated on on the 16th of July. Doc says 6mo. to a year for recovery. I am off the maning so I wont have to bid until I come back to work. May not come back. If the money is in my favor, I may just retire. Tell everyone at work hello for me. I may try to come out sometimme soon.
"Opie"

 

[3DUB]

It was a program doomed from the start. No one in management was interested. It was shoved on them by higher ups. There was no research by the company as to what the limitations of the Goldhofer were. They were sent to DFW without any preplanning or cordination with the airport or the FAA. Management was told about the problems of towing 777's. They were told the Goldhofer was bouncing when trying to brake hard. They were told about the over heating problems. Their fix was to keep trying bandaids until they found something that worked. Maybe management will now listen to the mechanics when evaluating new programs. :down:

I'm doing as well as can be. I had surgery on my left ankle the 14th of may. Will have the right one operated on on the 16th of July. Doc says 6mo. to a year for recovery. I am off the maning so I wont have to bid until I come back to work. May not come back. If the money is in my favor, I may just retire. Tell everyone at work hello for me. I may try to come out sometimme soon.
"Opie"

I'VE BEEN ON V/C THE WHOLE MONTH...LOOKING FOR MORE CHEAT CODES! LOL!!! I WISH YA LUCK. IF IT WAS ME I WOULD TRY TO THROW THE TOWEL IN??? I'M STILL LOOKING FOR ANOTHER JOB! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!!

 

[eolesen]

Seems to me that the issue regarding braking is addressable -- don't go so damn fast and it will be easier to stop. Just because it can go faster doesn't mean you have to...

I'M STILL LOOKING FOR ANOTHER JOB! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!!

Good. I'm sure someone waiting for recall will appreciate the job more than you do.

 

[Bob Owens]

Seems to me that the issue regarding braking is addressable -- don't go so damn fast and it will be easier to stop. Just because it can go faster doesn't mean you have to...

The Goldhoffers have a governor that limits the speed it will go and the only reason the airports allowed their use is because they were told that the aircraft would be moving at regular taxi speeds, otherwise it screws up the flow of traffic. Normally when crossing active runways the direction from the Tower is "Without Delay" or "Expedite", in other words full throttle.

Its an easy fix-put in a brake rider.

 

[1AA]

I heard sooooo many rumors and unconfirmed details about this incident.
Brakes failed, Tractors were modified locally to allow the towing of the 777, The model goldhofers that AA purchased were not designed to tow a 777. Does anyone really know what happened? Are these Goldhofers designed for AA's intended use? Did AA buy these units not knowing what they were getting?
So many questions and rumors. Sounds like a cover up on someones part who screwed up big time when purchasing these tow vehicles. Now they got shipped out of DFW to other stations.
Make it go away. Maybe Miami will not realize what they will be getting. Next accident in Miami and then they will ship them out to another unsuspecting station. :blink:

 

[TIME FOR CHANGE]

Fact is they should have purchased the AST1X instead of the AST1

http://www.goldhofer.de/deutsch/produkte/a...epper-ast1x.php

But they went the cheaper way out. the AST1 is probably not designed to tow a 777

:blink:

 

[lpbrian]

I heard sooooo many rumors and unconfirmed details about this incident.
Brakes failed, Tractors were modified locally to allow the towing of the 777, The model goldhofers that AA purchased were not designed to tow a 777. Does anyone really know what happened? Are these Goldhofers designed for AA's intended use? Did AA buy these units not knowing what they were getting?
So many questions and rumors. Sounds like a cover up on someones part who screwed up big time when purchasing these tow vehicles. Now they got shipped out of DFW to other stations.
Make it go away. Maybe Miami will not realize what they will be getting. Next accident in Miami and then they will ship them out to another unsuspecting station. :blink:

probably won't happen. There is no runway between the MIA terminal and the AA hangar. Wise up people, crossing an active runway makes all the difference in the world.

 

[3DUB]

The Goldhoffers have a governor that limits the speed it will go and the only reason the airports allowed their use is because they were told that the aircraft would be moving at regular taxi speeds, otherwise it screws up the flow of traffic. Normally when crossing active runways the direction from the Tower is "Without Delay" or "Expedite", in other words full throttle.

Its an easy fix-put in a brake rider.

BOB IS RIGHT! HE SEEMS TO HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS,HUH BOB? DOES THIS GUY PREFER WEARING BLUE SHIRTS???

Edited by Moderator

 

[The Foreigner]

The Goldhoffers have a governor that limits the speed it will go and the only reason the airports allowed their use is because they were told that the aircraft would be moving at regular taxi speeds, otherwise it screws up the flow of traffic. Normally when crossing active runways the direction from the Tower is "Without Delay" or "Expedite", in other words full throttle.

Its an easy fix-put in a brake rider.

What do you think would happen if the "brake rider" hit the brakes before the Tuggy did! Ouch

 

[Bob Owens]

What do you think would happen if the "brake rider" hit the brakes before the Tuggy did! Ouch

The brake rider would hit the brakes upon command from the tug.

 

[MCI transplant]

🙄 -------The only experience I've had with towing a 777, was when Carty showed up at our big "merger" BBQ! When the plane showed up here at MCI, the nAAtives didn't have anything big enough to tow it to the hanger. Burned up one tractor trying. Ends up we had to resurrect one of our old unit rigs we used to tow 747's with to do the job! A little put down for the nAAtives to have the pride of their fleet, towed in by TWA!! But I've got to say that 777 is a pretty Aircraft! At the time the best we could come up with was the Connie, and a 757! Maybe a little symbolism here?

 

[Boomer]

What do you think would happen if the "brake rider" hit the brakes before the Tuggy did! Ouch

The brake rider would hit the brakes upon command from the tug.

_________________________

As asked and answered, AMTs' are trained to apply brakes when:
1) commanded from a call from the tractor driver;
2) upon recognition of a communincation failure between local ground control directives and action of the tractor driver;
3) upon recognition of a disconnect between aircraft and tractor.

In any event, the least expensive option that can be delivered to every station is a qualified AMT riding left seat.

We need to make this happen.

 

[Opie]

_________________________

As asked and answered, AMTs' are trained to apply brakes when:
1) commanded from a call from the tractor driver;
2) upon recognition of a communincation failure between local ground control directives and action of the tractor driver;
3) upon recognition of a disconnect between aircraft and tractor.

In any event, the least expensive option that can be delivered to every station is a qualified AMT riding left seat.

We need to make this happen.

Got a email form Paul Harless yesterday. He is still out, its only been 51 days. He is one of the mechanics involved in the Runway Incursion. He and Steve Richards had a meeting with the airport people and the FAA last week. No decision was made. He and Steve talked to Slakey. Slakey said only one Hofer was being shipped to MIA. The other three will stay here and be used to tow aircraft to and from the terminals using the orginal method of escort vehicles. So now we have to follow someone who most of the time do not have a clue as to how the airport is set up or the taxi pattern. How long will it be before a Hofer plows into the a## of one of those little yellow trucks because he didn't understand the instructions at first and waited until he/she is in the middle of a runway and decides to stop for clairification. Believe me its happened.

P.S. Hofer operators, don't talk to the tower while being escorted. Let the escort do his job and ask for instruction and let him/her execute those instructions. But be alert and don't let them get you into a bad situation.

 

[AMFAMAN]

The other three will stay here and be used to tow aircraft to and from the terminals using the orginal method of escort vehicles. So now we have to follow someone who most of the time do not have a clue as to how the airport is set up or the taxi pattern. .

So now they took a bad situation and made it worse. Now we get to cross runways with a clueless airport worker in a pace car in front of us with a airplane on a 3 mile final. Half the reasons the escorts went away was that they nearly got us killed a couple of times. They simply cannot admit the true problems with the program, and the rather easy solutions that are available; instead they insist on doing it their way as always. But wait, aren't we "working together," or is the true defintion of "working together" is agreeing to do whatever they ask?

And the unions response is...."They can do that brother" :mf_boff: