British Airways Flight 9 , sometimes called by callsign Speedbird 9 or as the Jakarta incident is a scheduled British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Auckland, with stops in Bombay, Madras, Kuala Lumpur, Perth and Melbourne.
On June 24, 1982, the route was flown by Edinburgh City , a 747-236B. The plane flew into a volcanic ash cloud thrown by the eruption of Mount Galunggung (about 110 miles (180 km) south-east of Jakarta, Indonesia), resulting in the failure of all four engines. The reason for the failure was not immediately apparent on the crew or air traffic control. The plane was diverted to Jakarta in the hope that enough machines could be restarted to allow it to land there. The aircraft slid out of the ash cloud, and all engines were revived (though one failed again soon after), allowing the plane to land safely at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta.
Crew members from the crash segment had boarded the plane in Kuala Lumpur, while many passengers had climbed since the flight started in London.
Video British Airways Flight 9
Accident
Shortly after 13:40 UTC (20:40 Jakarta time) over the Indian Ocean, south of Java, the crew (consisting of 32-year Senior Senior Officer Roger Greaves and 40-year Senior Engineer Barry Townley-Freeman while Captain Eric Moody's 41 years old was in the restroom) first noted the effect on the windshield that is similar to the St. Elmo. The phenomenon continued after Moody returned from the restroom. Although weather radar showed clear skies, the crew turned on anti-ice machines and signs of seatbelts as a precaution.
As the flight progresses, smoke begins to accumulate in the passenger cabin of the aircraft; first assumed as cigarette smoke. However, it soon begins to grow thicker and has an unpleasant odor of sulfur. Passengers who have an engine view of the plane through the windows note that they are very bright blue, with light shining forward through the fan blades and producing a stroboscopic effect.
At about 13:42 UTC (20:42 Jakarta time), Rolls-Royce RB211 four-digit engine began to jump and immediately turned on. The crew immediately undertook a shutdown exercise, quickly cutting off fuel supplies and arming fire extinguishers. Less than a minute later, at 13:43 UTC (20:43 Jakarta time), the two engines jumped and turned on. In a matter of seconds, and almost simultaneously, one and three engines light up, prompting the flight engineer to exclaim, "I can not believe it - the four engines have failed!"
With no engine boost, the 747-200 has a glide ratio of about 15: 1, which means it can glide forward 15 miles for every falling mile. The flight crew quickly determined that the plane was capable of gliding for 23 minutes and covering 91 nautical miles (169 km) from the flight level of 37,000 feet (11,000 m). At 13:44 UTC (20:44 Jakarta time), Greaves declared a state of emergency to the local air traffic control authority, stating that all four engines had failed. However, the Jakarta Area Control misunderstood the message, interpreting the call as meaning that only machine number four is closed. After the nearest Garuda Indonesia flight conveys a message to them, air traffic controls correctly understand the urgent message. Although the crew "clucked" the 7700 emergency transponder setting, air traffic controls could not find the 747 on their radar screen.
Many passengers, fearful of their lives, write notes for relatives. One such passenger is Charles Capewell, who writes "Ma. In trouble, the plane crashes, will do the best for boys, we love you, Pa XXX" on the cover of his ticket.
Because of Indonesia's high mountains on the southern coast of Java island, an altitude of at least 11,500 feet (3,500 m) is needed to cross the coast safely. The crew decided that if the aircraft could not maintain the altitude by the time they reached 12,000 feet (3,700 m), they would return to the sea and try to get into the Indian Ocean. The crew started to reenact the engine, although it was far beyond the recommended maximum engine limit on flights starting at 28,000 feet (8,500 m). Restart attempt failed.
Despite the lack of time, Moody makes an announcement to passengers who have been described as "masterpieces":
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain who speaks. We have a small problem. The four machines have stopped. We do our best to get them back. I believe you are not too depressed.
When the pressure inside the cabin falls, the oxygen mask descends from the ceiling - automatic emergency measures to cover the air shortage. But on the flight deck, Greaves mask is broken; the delivery tube has detached from the rest of the mask. Moody quickly decided to descend at 1,800m per minute to an altitude where there was sufficient pressure in the outer atmosphere to breathe almost normally.
At 13,500 feet (4,100 m), the crew approached the altitude at which they had to turn the ocean and try to ditch the risky ones. Although there are guidelines for water landing procedures, no one has ever tried it on a Boeing 747. When they perform a machine reactivation procedure, engine number four finally begins, and at 13:56 UTC (20:56 am Jakarta time), Moody uses his power to reduce rate of decline. Shortly thereafter, the three engines resumed, allowing him to ride slowly. Shortly after that, one and two engines were also successfully restarted. The crew then requested and accelerated the elevation to clear the high mountains of Indonesia.
As the aircraft approaches its target height, the fire effect of St. Elmo on the windshield came back. Moody strangled again; However, machine number two jumped again and closed. The crew immediately went down and held 12,000 feet (3,700 m).
When Flight 9 approached Jakarta, the crew found it difficult to see anything through the windshield, and almost came close to the instrument, despite reports of good visibility. The crew decided to fly the instrument landing system (ILS); however, the vertical guidance system does not work, so they are forced to fly only with lateral guidance as the first officer to monitor the airport distance gauge (DME). He then calls how high they should be at each step of the DME along the final approach to the runway, creating a glide of virtual glide for them to follow. That is, in Moody's words, "a bit like negotiating someone into a ferret's ass." Although the runway lights can be made through a small strip of windshield, the landing lights on the aircraft do not seem to be operating. Upon landing, the flight crew found it impossible for a taxi, due to the glare from apron floodlights that made the blurred glass glass of sandblasted.
Maps British Airways Flight 9
Investigation
Post-flight investigations reveal that the Edinburgh City problem has been caused by flying through volcanic ash clouds from the eruption of Mount Galunggung. Due to dry ash clouds, it does not appear on weather radar, designed to detect moisture in the clouds. The cloud struck the windshield and installed the lampshades and clogged the machine. As the ashes enter the engine, the machine melts in the combustion chamber and attaches to the inside of the power plant. When the engine cools off the inactivity, and when the plane descends from the ash cloud, the liquid ash compacts and enough of it breaks for air again to flow smoothly through the engine, allowing a successful restart. The engine has enough power to restart because one generator and the on-board battery are still operating; electric power required to start the engine.
Aftermath
One, two and three engines are replaced in Jakarta, as well as windshields, and the fuel tanks are cleaned of ash that enters them through the air pressure duct, contaminates the fuel and requires it to be disposed of. After the plane was transported back to London, machine number four was replaced and the main work was done to return 747 to the service.
Although the airspace around Mount Galunggung was temporarily closed after the accident, it reopened a few days later. Only after Singapore Airlines 747 was forced to shut down its three engines while flying through the same area nineteen days later (13 July) that the Indonesian authorities permanently closed airspace and diverted air ducts to avoid the area; a clock is installed to monitor the ash cloud. Flight 9 is not the first meeting with this eruption - a Garuda DC-9 has been dusted on 5 April 1982.
The crew received numerous awards, including the Queen's Award for Valuable Services in the Air and medals from the British Airline Pilots' Association. After the accident, the crew and passengers formed Gliding Galunggung Club as a means to keep in touch. the flight without the G-BDXH engine entered the Guinness Book of Records as the longest glide on a non-purpose-built aircraft (the record was later broken by Air Canada Flight 143 in 1983 and Air Transat Flight 236 in 2001 ).
One of the passengers, Betty Tootell, wrote a book about the accident, All Four Machines Failed , after successfully tracking about 200 of 247 passengers on the flight. In 1993 Tootell married fellow passenger James Ferguson, who sat in the front row in front of him. He later noted: "December 28, 2006 marked the start of our 14th honeymoon, and on June 24th 2007 many passengers and crew will no doubt be gathering to celebrate the 25th anniversary of our air adventure."
British Airways continues to operate Flight 9 route from London Heathrow to Sydney (though in March 2012 the route was limited to Bangkok). Edinburgh City , later renamed Elgin City , continued flying to British Airways after the accident, before being sold to the European Air Flight Charter. The aircraft was not operated in February 2004 and in July 2009, the 30-year-old plane broke up at a damaged facility at Bournemouth International Airport (BOH). It has been reported that in September 2009 the environmental group 10:10 bought the airframe Edinburgh City to be labeled. Despite this BBC report, the remains of the airframe were removed from the facility at the time. Tags, with campaign logos, are reportedly used as necklaces or bracelets to raise awareness of 10: 10 works: the organization aims to persuade individuals, organizations and businesses to reduce their carbon emissions by 10% by 2010.
Captain Eric Moody gave an interview to the July 2010 edition of Flaps Podcast, where he shared his experiences.
In popular culture
Discovery Channel Canada/National Geographic TV series Mayday featured Flight 9 in the 2007 episode titled Falling From the Sky featuring interviews with flight crew and passengers, and flight dramatization.
Similar events
An almost identical incident occurred on December 15, 1989, when KLM Flight 867, a Boeing 747-400 from Amsterdam to Anchorage, Alaska, flew into a clump of erupting Mountain Redoubt, causing the four engines to fail because of the compressor's position. After the flight cleared the ash cloud, the crew resumed each machine and made a secure landing in Anchorage.
Other flying planes
See also
- Flight KLM 867
- Air travel disruption after the eruption of EyjafjallajÃÆ'¶kull 2010
- Ring of Fire
- Volcanic ash and flight security
References
Bibliography
- Faith, Nicholas (1998). Black Box . Boxtree. ISBN 0-7522-2118-3.
- Jobs, Macarthur (1994). Volume 2 Disaster Water . Aerospace Publications. pp. 96-107. ISBN: 1-875671-19-6.
- Tootell, Betty (1985). All Four Machines Have Failed . AndrÃÆ'Â © Deutsch. ISBN: 0-233-97758-9.
External links
- Incident above Java in 1982: Captain Eric Moody's website
- FlightPodcast.com: Audio Interview with Captain Eric Moody
- Flight 009 online
- Description of the crash in the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on January 31, 2007.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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