Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:BA Flight Lands Short of Runaway at Heathrow | |
Posted by: | Richard Jennings | |
Date/Time: | 19/01/08 16:16:00 |
"Do you remember the crash of the fly by wire airbus 320 at the Paris air show?" Yes, I remember the TV coverage at the time. It was actually at an air show at Mulhouse in eastern France, in 1988. The A320 was supposed to do a very slow fly-past at 100 feet, but actually was only 30 feet above the runway. The pilot left it late to spool up his engines for the climb, and by the time the engines responded the plane was already brushing the tops of 35-ft trees beyond the runway. In fact, Airbus had issued warnings about slow acceleration near the ground and about altimeter errors, but Air France didn't pass these on to their pilots until after the crash. As far as I can see, the circumstances are not relevant to the 777 crash. The A320 was deliberately being demonstrated at the limits of its performance, and a 5-second delay in spooling up the engines made the difference between an exciting display and a tragic crash (3 people died). The 777 was making a routine approach, and the normal thrust adjustments suddenly stopped working a minute before landing. |