Aug
5
Reports have come out over the past week on the TAM A320 Flight 3054 crash at São Paulo’s Congonhas. A lot of news agencies are being quick to blame the crash on pilot error. This doesn’t surprise me one bit as anything that happens during a flight is immediately blamed on the pilot without the full investigation by the authorities.
These news reports are after one of the power levers was not retarded after landing. It showed the number one engine was retarded after touchdown, but the number two engine was left in the forward position.
Some aviation experts are being skeptical on those reports. They are saying the pilots could have shifted both power levers back, but the flight computer could have failed to respond due to a mechanical error.
From FlightGlobal.com:
As the aircraft began to slow after touchdown the thrust being produced by the right-hand engine remained at the level it was at when the auto-thrust had disconnected. With the thrust lever forward the spoilers would not have deployed, and the auto-brake would have similarly been inhibited.
In the cockpit transcript the co-pilot appears to state that the A320’s spoilers did not activate on touchdown and, as the situation develops, the pilots are heard to say that they cannot slow the aircraft. Flight-data recorder information indicates that the pilots repeatedly pressed on the brakes in a bid to stop the jet but did not retard the right-hand thrust lever.
The Brazilian’s accident agency is continuing to look at all aspect of the investigation from airport infrastructure, airplane malfunctions, and pilot error. Until we have the full report which will take some time, we will continue to have these speculations from all the news agencies.
You can also read the full cockpit voice recorder translated into English at FlightGlobal.com
The media are always quick to point the finger - they need to learn the facts.
Sounds like they were trying to do everything the could. Wouldn’t be the first time someone had a blonde moment in the cockpit (I mean besides having a trist with the stewardess).
Sounds like this may be another case of the A320’s computer taking over and piling the airplane up, as one of the first ones did while being flown by Airbus’s chief test pilot.
Any aircraft that allows a computer to override the pilot’s actions is not an airplane that I would want to fly or ride on, although I have very nervously climbed aboard a few of them.
Airbus aircraft are over-engineered crap.
an aeroplane that is controlled by computers is called a Eurogfighter in my books - a plane that if you turned them off is near impossible to fly.
Hey Jet -
You are not the only person to say that. That really worries me that in a time of need when you need to over control the computer, it won’t let you. It is not a good thing!
They had no time to CTRL+ALT+DEL — haha!
I was looking for my tickets to Brazil and it went $500 up after the crash!
It looks like today it started going down again… I’ll hold the purchase a lil bit.
Thanks for the inside perspective…you don’t always get information like that…
Yep its good to have a pilots view of such things… you never really get it.
Your welcome Boyd and Ross!