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Aviation History
1979
1979 - 0003.PDF
fFyfflHKnr The "hot airport" hazard INTERNATIONAL Week ending 6 January 1979 Number 3642 Volume 115 Published In association with Aeroplane Monthly and Airport* tnttrnatlonal by IPC Transport Press Ltd, Dorset House, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LU, England. World'i first and only complete aeronautical weekly © Copyright IPC Business Press 1978 Founded 1909 Second-class postage paid at New York, NY, and additional entries. Editor J. M. Ramsden Associate Editor* Hugh Field, Mark Lamberf Defence Editor Doug Richardson Defence Graham Warwick Production Editor Brendan Gallagher Technical Editor Mike Hirst BTech Technical David Velupillai Air Photography Tom Hamil! Air Transport Bill Sweetman, Bron Rek General Aviation Hugh Field, Cliff Barnet! News Ian Goold Technical Artists Frank Munger, John Marsden Keeper of records Dennis Baldry Pictures Stephen Piercey Publisher Bryan C. Cambray FIMI Deputy Publisher and Group Advertisement Manager David Holmes US Publishing Consultant Warren H, Goodman Advertisement Representatives Jack Bush dive Rigden Richard Chandless Advertisement Production Howard Mason Overseas advertisement representatives; at back of this Issue Telephone: 01-261 8081 (Advertisement Sales) 01-261 8392 (Advertisement Production) 01-261 8070 (Editorial) Telegram/Telex 25137 BISPRS G Subscriptions Manager B. F. J. Nason Telephone: England (0444) 59188 (UK and overseas subscrip tion rates at back of this issue) fel International Business Press Associates iAED Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation NEXT WEEK #From the 250lb-thrust Noel Penny Tur bines NPT 251 to the 50,000lb 4 big fans, from the ultra-reliable Dart to such exotica as ceramic components and variable cycles: you'll find all the significant power- plants in our 1979 International Turbine Engine Directory. AWe serve up a New Year surfeit for general-aviation enthusi asts. Cliff Barnett writes about "Plotting, planning and the private pilot," Hugh Field flies the Piper Seminole, and there are features on GA safety and Australian gliding. INSTEAD of touching 1,000ft down the 5,000ft Runway 09 at St Thomas, Virgin Islands, the 727-100 floated nearly ten feet above the surface and landed about 3,000ft deep, leaving only 2,000ft of runway and overrun in which to stop. The captain decided to go around. But when after five seconds he thought (mistakenly) that the JT8D- 1A engines were not spooling up, he changed his mind, cut the throttles and stood on the brakes. The aircraft —on a scheduled flight from Rhode Island, USA—overran the runway, struck the ILS antenna, tore off a wing on an embankment, crashed through a fence, crossed a road, came to rest in a filling station, and caught fire. The flight crew survived but 37 of the 88 occupants died in the fire and 39 others, including one on the ground, were injured. The accident has become a classic, not only because of the critical- moment windshear and other per verse factors, but because it empha sises the general safety question: is the tourist trade tempting jet operators—and not only highly ex perienced jet operators, as in this case —into unsuitable airports? The TAP Boeing 727 accident at Madeira, and the very different Tenerife disaster, both involved the safest airlines and raise the same question. In the St Thomas case the selection of 30° flap instead of 40° may have been the result of a mistake in the forecast wind, which was 120° at 12- 14kt (a 20kt headwind is required by the 727 for a 30°-flap landing). The lower flap setting may have increased landing distance by perhaps 300ft, and made the aircraft more vulner able to the upsetting windshear. As the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) exclamation suggests, the shear occurred when the aircraft was well beyond the 1,000ft mark, and called for full aileron. The aircraft was already lOkt above reference speed; the windshear in creased this by about 5kt, added to the lift and caused the prolonged float. Touchdown was not until almost 3,000ft. By this time it was already too late for a go-around, although the aircraft could just have been stopped. The captain decided to go around. Analysis suggests that from the moment the captain decided thus, some six seconds would have been needed to reach full take-off power. More than 1,900ft of runway would have been required to lift off, and another 800ft to reach 35ft. The captain decided to abandon the go-around, but by then it was too late to stop. Why did he fail to put the nosewheel down and to use spoilers and reverse thrust? Tyre marks starting about 800ft from the end of the runway suggested that the captain did nothing more than brake until just before impact. When danger is imminent even men as experienced as this captain (who knew St Thomas well) undergo behavioural changes which cancel reason. He reacted instinctively by applying full brakes, but did not lower the nose, employ the spoilers or apply maximum reverse thrust. Training is the most effective way to make reason more instinctive, and to prevent the occurrence of similar accidents. The report of the US National Transportation Safety Board finds that the pilot erred in deciding to go around with insufficient runway in hand after a long float. The extra-special care which the highly professional operator in this case had always taken, in its training and manuals, over "hot airports" makes the tragedy so much more significant as the holiday trade, booms and cheap old jets and hopeful new operators flood the market. The single most important lesson of St Thomas, even for the old pros, is training, training, training—especially for the hot airports. Even when you are in the slot, as this pilot was, ten degrees of flap or ten knots of excess speed can make a mortal difference. J.M.R. IN THIS ISSUE World News Air Transport Defence General Aviation Business Private Avionics Industry International Letters THE AIR-SUPERIORITY FIGHTER ITALY'S MULTI-ROLE MISSILE FLIGHT'S 70th BIRTHDAY: THE HEROES Spaceflight 2 4 6 8 9 10 11 12 15 25 29 45 Front cover: The McDonnell Douglas/Northrop F-18 is among the best of the coming generation of dogfighting air-superiority fighters. Starting on page 15, our defence team looks at what it takes to win and keep control of the skies over the battlefield
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