Jul
18
Every time I read and watch the news about the Tam Airline crash in Brazil, I get depressed and chills. We ask ourself why these accidents happen? We blame it on the pilots, airport, weather, or airplane. The day after these horrific accidents is not a time to be pointing the finger at someone. We need to let the investigation progress and let the true facts of the accident be made public by the right authorities.
We do know a few facts a day after the accident. We know the weather was very poor, there was 186 people on board the Airbus 320, and there has been questions about the length of the runways at the airport.
After the airplane skidded off the runway into one of the buildings for Tam Airlines, the whole airplane was engulfed in the flames. They said at one point the fire reached about 1800 degrees Fahrenheit (1000 Celsius).
Most people survive the impact of major accidents. The factor that is deadly to everyone on the plane, and it looks like it happened in this crash, is the fire and smoke. The jet fuel and sparks ignited the fire and smoke which was the main factor in fatalities. If the fire did not ignite after this crash, we probably would have seen almost everyone survive.
Again, please keep all the families, friends, and everyone who is involved in this terrible accident in your thoughts and prayers.
Here is a few facts about the Airbus A320 Airplane
- 1,700 in operation as of June 2007
- Typical passenger seating 150
- Typical two-class cabin layout
- Range of 5,550km/3,500mi
- Overall length 123 feet, 3 inches
- Height 38 feet, 7 inches
- Cabin length 90 feet, 3 inches
- Wingspan 111 feet, 10 inches
- Fuel capacity 6,300 gallons
Photo is Courtesy of Renato Salzinger and the AP
Watch Reuters News Story on the Brazil Plane Crash
Looks very bad!
Could previous crashes of Airbus aircraft due to computer overrides of flight control systems have had an effect in this accident? Airbus pilots please comment…
I wish I knew more of the Airbus flight control system to answer this….
Any Airbus pilots out there have any thoughts??
Questions about runway length? You are a pilot and you do not understand runway length as relates to a specific airframe?
This is a response from John Murphy I got in my email:
Yeah sure, I am a pilot and I understand runway length. Do we know that TAM touched down long? Do we know that Airbus overrides on pilot inputs were not in effect on the go-around?
JM
TG - There is still a lot of questions up in the air. I really do think once we hear the cockpit voice recorder, we are going to know the whole story .
Now to answer your question to different runway lengths for different airframes. All aircraft need a different amount of runway depending on weather conditions, weight, and configuration of the airplane. All those factors I am sure are going to be taken into account in the investigation to determine the exact runway length needed.
gear or computer failure?!
“Only one reverser. Spoiler nothing,” 53-year-old pilot Henrique Stephanini Di Sacco says in the transcript, giving the first indication that something is wrong.
There area number of accidents similar to the Brazilian one involving A320′2. I remember a AmericaWest one and another in Phillipines, where spoiler didn’t extend because the throtle levers were still in thi first notch, and were attempting to reverse. IMHO there should be a revision from AIRBUS about the way this operates, more like a conventional thust levers airplane.
The aircraft was dispatched with the thrust reverser (a mechanical device to help slow the airplane down on landing) on the number 2 (right-side) engine deactivated as it had jammed. TAM said in a statement that a fault in a reverser “does not jeopardize landings. In the same statement TAM also said “no mechanical problem had been recorded on July 16″ (the day before the accident). It was reported that the plane had difficulty braking on the same runway one day prior to the fatal accident. The inactivated thrust reverser on the number 2 engine was confirmed by Airbus on July 25