Guest Lottie Posted January 17, 2008 #1 Share Posted January 17, 2008 (edited) LINK-BBC NEWS An international passenger plane has crash landed short of the runway at Heathrow Airport. Passengers escaped down the emergency chutes after British Airways flight BA38 from Beijing came down. Six ambulances were sent to the scene and three people were treated at the scene for minor injuries. The incident happened as Prime Minister Gordon Brown was due to leave Heathrow for China and India. His flight was delayed because of the incident. The south runway is closed while investigators examine the scene - the north runway remains open. On its approach it took the runway too low, just missing the roof of my cab John Rowland, eyewitness Eyewitness John Rowland said: "The plane's wheels collapsed, doors were flown open. "On its approach it took the runway too low, just missing the roof of my cab. "It crashed into the runway, debris was flying everywhere, there was an enormous bang and it skidded sideways." Huge amount of smoke Another eyewitness, Nick Gray, told BBC News: "We were taxiing along ready to take off and certainly out of the window I could see a plane coming in to land. "I'm not quite sure if the under carriage was missing or not, but certainly what we saw was the plane coming down. "There were some sparks as the undercarriage or the bottom of the plane actually touched the runway - certainly a huge amount of smoke coming up from that. "And then the plane did come to a halt reasonably quickly. "It was incredibly efficient the speed that people got off the aircraft. "I could see that the chutes were deployed very quickly and people were coming down on that. "Then people were sent off to the nearby buildings which are probably only about 200 yards away from the plane. "There about six fire engines there now. "There seems to have been regular dousing of foam on the port engine which obviously probably was the hottest one where the plane landed. "Certainly there is a lot of activity and lots of vehicles with flashing lights all around the plane." On BBC News 24 they are saying that the under carriage did come off and the wheels of the plane as it went over the grass. The pictures and video of the crash site are quite terrible really. Thank god there were only 3 minor injuries. Experts think it may be down to a technical fault at the moment. Edited January 17, 2008 by Lottie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1.618 Posted January 17, 2008 #2 Share Posted January 17, 2008 This is why pilots shouldn't drink and fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regency Posted January 17, 2008 #3 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I just watched this on the news, the pilot seems to have a done a good job in bringing the plane down and nobody getting hurt. It could have been very nasty indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chemical-licker Posted January 17, 2008 #4 Share Posted January 17, 2008 i cant wait for it to go on ebay, im gonna buy it and get myself a plane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted January 17, 2008 #5 Share Posted January 17, 2008 (edited) Aren't eyewitnesses useful? "I'm not quite sure if the under carriage was missing or not," ? I wonder how long till the first conspiracy theory comes rolling in.... Edited January 17, 2008 by 747400 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glorybebe Posted January 17, 2008 #6 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I just watched this on the news, the pilot seems to have a done a good job in bringing the plane down and nobody getting hurt. It could have been very nasty indeed. When I first read the tops news stories on CNN, I cringed, thinking there was going to be high fatalities. It is amazing to have such a huge plane come down like that and no one dead. Lucky, lucky people to have that pilot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifisurvive Posted January 17, 2008 #7 Share Posted January 17, 2008 (edited) When I first read the tops news stories on CNN, I cringed, thinking there was going to be high fatalities. It is amazing to have such a huge plane come down like that and no one dead. Lucky, lucky people to have that pilot. To be fair the problem only seems to have occurred a few seconds before landing so it's not a great surprise the plane came out so well. A few hundred more meters and it may have landed fine. It's going to be interesting to hear what caused this (anyone taking any bets - engine failure, bird strike, down draft?) Much as I have great respect for pilots and I know BA pilots are very well trained and tested, it could of course still have been pilot error too. I hope not, he'll have one hell of a bill coming out of his paycheck Edited January 17, 2008 by ifisurvive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
questionmark Posted January 17, 2008 #8 Share Posted January 17, 2008 It's going to be interesting to hear what caused this (anyone taking any bets - engine failure, bird strike, down draft?) Electric system failure... looks like something blew the master fuse or the main power lead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifisurvive Posted January 17, 2008 #9 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Electric system failure... looks like something blew the master fuse or the main power lead. Ah yes, just seen the update. Kudos to the (suddenly glider) pilot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted January 17, 2008 #10 Share Posted January 17, 2008 This is why pilots shouldn't drink and fly. Actually it sounds as if they did a remarkably good job, so I hope you'll have the courtesy to apologise for that ill-considered gag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glorybebe Posted January 17, 2008 #11 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Electric system failure... looks like something blew the master fuse or the main power lead. I couldn't imagine the stress put on them, knowing they have all those lives dependent on them, and then something like that happens, and they have things so far out of their control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Monkey Posted January 17, 2008 #12 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I wonder how long till the first conspiracy theory comes rolling in.... Well this plane was coming in from Beijing and as it crashed Gordan Browns plane was taxi-ing around Heathrow for take-off to...Beijing. Coincidence ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissMelsWell Posted January 17, 2008 #13 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I couldn't imagine the stress put on them, knowing they have all those lives dependent on them, and then something like that happens, and they have things so far out of their control. I have a ton of friends who are airline pilots... they're about the most "zen" people I know. It's amazing, even when not in a plane how relaxed they are most of the time. In a crisis, it's like they've got a built in 'keep calm' autopilot in their personality. I have no idea if it's all training or it's something natural in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glorybebe Posted January 17, 2008 #14 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I have a ton of friends who are airline pilots... they're about the most "zen" people I know. It's amazing, even when not in a plane how relaxed they are most of the time. In a crisis, it's like they've got a built in 'keep calm' autopilot in their personality. I have no idea if it's all training or it's something natural in them. I only know one pilot, and until you said that, I never really thought about him being that placid kind of laid back guy. I am one of the most spastic and overly anxious people you will meet, I guess I wouldn't make a good pilot! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifisurvive Posted January 17, 2008 #15 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I have a ton of friends who are airline pilots... they're about the most "zen" people I know. It's amazing, even when not in a plane how relaxed they are most of the time. In a crisis, it's like they've got a built in 'keep calm' autopilot in their personality. I have no idea if it's all training or it's something natural in them. I know quite a few pilots (BA in fact), none of them I would describe as zen out of the cockpit After hearing many of their horror stories I'd go for very well trained! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyWeather Posted January 17, 2008 #16 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Well this plane was coming in from Beijing and as it crashed Gordan Browns plane was taxi-ing around Heathrow for take-off to...Beijing. Coincidence ? Damn.... They did the wrong plane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chemical-licker Posted January 18, 2008 #17 Share Posted January 18, 2008 another conspiracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted January 18, 2008 #18 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Maybe you could be right. The Daily Mirror is today reporting, possibly just slightly over-exciteably, "PM BROWN JUST FEET FROM DEATH!!!! The Jet HURTLED just 25 feet over Gordon Brown's Car as he was Driven to the VIP Parking Lot, we can exclusively reveal." And it has a computer-generated representation of aa chauffeur driven Jag, with a plane hurtling over it JUST FEET AWAY FROM DEATH. So yup, i reckon it was a conspiracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ships-cat Posted January 19, 2008 #19 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Meanwhile, back in the real world... It now appears that the refferences to a "loss of power" actually refer to the engines, not the planes electrical systems. According to interviews with the pilots, the plane was an an automated approach when the engines stopped responding to demands for more power (intially from the autopilot, but ulitmately from the pilot pushing the throttle levers). The engines didn't QUIT, they just refused to increase power. (which begs the question.. how did the pilots turn them OFF on landing ? ). Presumably this means they couldn't use the thrust reversers to brake once on the runway. Nasty. BBC Website Meow Purr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithisco Posted January 19, 2008 #20 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Hi everyone, it's been a long time.... I would suggest as a possibility a software glitch (similar to the cause of the Airbus crash at the Paris Air Show). Because both engines were affected it seems highly unlikely to have been caused by anything else. There is a lot of redundancy built into fuel feeds and into each of the engines so they effectively operate as individual power - plants, They are synchronisable through the auto function during an ILS approach but as soon as the manual controls are operated the auto function is meant to drop out of the loop immediately (current settings are maintained however until the engines receive the manual command). Just my two cents worth, and based on my knowledge from working at Airbus for more years than I care to mention! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ships-cat Posted January 19, 2008 #21 Share Posted January 19, 2008 That was my first reaction as well Keithisco. Indeed, the accident inspectors stated that they where "looking at the 'systems' aspects of the aircraft very closely". Interestingly, it appears that the engines also ignored the Autopilot (or 'autothrottle'), as well as the manual controls. Meow Purr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Monkey Posted January 19, 2008 #22 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Another coincidence ? Remember Glorybebe's thread a few days ago: http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum...howtopic=116072 Is there anyway the systems could have been compromised wirelessly either by a passenger or from the ground at the point 500 ft up where they knew pilots are not alerted automatically to the problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlimited Posted January 19, 2008 #23 Share Posted January 19, 2008 this is turning into quite the conspiracy?....wasnt it a planeload of communists?...hmmmmmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ships-cat Posted January 19, 2008 #24 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Another coincidence ? Remember Glorybebe's thread a few days ago: http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum...howtopic=116072 Is there anyway the systems could have been compromised wirelessly either by a passenger or from the ground at the point 500 ft up where they knew pilots are not alerted automatically to the problem? Hypotheticlly ? Well... a large electro-magnetic burst MIGHT induce eddy currents into the planes cabling (including the tracks on the printed circuit boards) which could crash the computers. I have no idea wether a machine has been built to produce such a burst. However, something as crude as this would show up on the planes black boxes. As for hacking into the planes computer.... I find that very hard to believe, but again it should show up on the black boxes. Time will tell.... Meow Purr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Monkey Posted January 19, 2008 #25 Share Posted January 19, 2008 I just thought that if remote access is a worry for new planes then it could certainly be a worry for old planes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now