UPS Plane Crash in Birmingham Alabama

[+Erik 1,812]

 

NTSB: No Engine Failure in Fatal UPS Plane Crash

 

Reported this afternoon by the examiners who recovered the flight recorders from the fatal crash of the Airbus A-300 Cargo Jet that landed short of the runway in Birmingham Alabama that no engine failures were reported at the time of the crash. Other indications reported that everything was reporting normally. With the recent crash of the Asiana flight into San Francisco it leaves one to wonder at what point does a pilot stop flying the aircraft. Is it possible the automated landing systems are being too heavily relied on to accomplish the most critical of flight conditions? The auto throttle and vertical glide slope might appear to be another culprit in this most recent fatal crash. Landing at the alternative runway due to closure of the primary runway leads to the obvious. Were they flying the correct instrument approach. Did they fly through the vertical glide slope or was it even active/available for the shorter runway at Birmingham? Only the facts will tell and right on the heels of the Asiana flight it appears not an hour too soon. I firmly believe Captain Sullivan was successful in conducting a water landing after the bird strikes in New York because he flew the aircraft to the ground. Never stop flying the aircraft, once you do it's already too late it's ahead of you. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the those families who are affected.

[busdriver 35]

FWIW, they were in VMC landing on Rwy 18 which does NOT have an ILS (precision approach with autoland capabilities), it does have a LOC (non-precision, no vertical guidance, no autoland). The takeaway being, at some point in the approach which ever pilot was flying would be hand flying, not using the autopilot...I have ZERO idea if he was indeed hand flying. Rwy 18 has a bit of a "dark hole" optical illusion at night (when it's dark out like before sunrise). My employer does not permit landing on Rwy 18 at night unless the PAPI is operational. I have no idea if the PAPI was OTS.

 

Your point about pilots hand flying rather than relying upon automation is a valid point. The FAA is on mission right now, even before the Asiana crash, to get pilots to hand fly more. Unless I'm IMC down to minimums or planning an autoland, I disengage the autopilot and autothrottles anywhere from 5nm to 25nm from landing. I encourage my FOs to do the same. I usually hand fly from takeoff all the way up to cruise altitude (first 25-30 minutes of the flight). But then again, I was a fighter pilot...

Edited August 16, 2013 by busdriver

[+Erik 1,812]

After I wrote that I started looking at the approach plates, etc. You are exactly correct that one eight does have ILS/DME but no precision approach equipment. So without knowing the condition of the AP or AT at the time it can only be concluded they were hand flying with the help of the ILS and PAPI systems until proven otherwise. I'll be curious to hear the final moments of the voice recorder to see if there was ever any indication from either the left or right seat that their flight path was too low as would be indicated and that with their weight they were too far behind the spool to successfully hit the GA button. Without the request being heard in the tower it makes me think they were flying into a black hole and short of the terrain avoidance warning they were caught looking for the PAPI in a condition where it was never visible to them. Speculation all but wise your operation department have restricted access to that approach. More may follow that lead. Stay safe out there.

[+Erik 1,812]

Reports today indicate that two audible alarms were heard in the cockpit prior to impact. One of which was most notably "sink rate" indicating the rate of decent was high. The second was a most likely the terrain warning "pull up".  The annunciations were heard 7 seconds before impact noise could be heard on the cockpit voice recorder and it is unclear if that is from striking the trees or ground impact. It was further noted that no distress call was ever made from the cockpit. Tower crew on duty indicated that they had no indication that the plane was too low on approach and they noted that landing lights could be seen. They were a bright white and suddenly a bright flash of orange followed by a red glow. Possible indication that the aircraft struck not only the trees but a nearby power line. Cpt. Cerea Beal the PIC had more than 23 years with UPS (3200 hours in the type A300) and 6 years in the US Marine Corps as a helo pilot, his FO 37 year old Shanda Flanning.