The Machine CAN Fail!

[rake60]

I have seen many machine failures in my years.
Most of them resulted in scrapped parts and occasionally in personal injury.

Fast Forward to our most trusted machines.
This morning a Continental Airlines puddle jumper went wrong taking off from a little
airport about 20 miles north of my front door.

The machine failed, but the people in charge of operating it beat the failure.
We heard about it on the radio 2 hours before the plane landed safely.

Here's a link to the story:

http://www.wjactv.com/news/18228356/detail.html

I'd rather not tell you how a war hardened man reacted to that news........
It would be quite undignified...

Rick

 

[BobWarfield]

Pilots succeed by knowing what the right thing to do is for every emergency so well that when the emergency happens, the response is automatic.

That's not a bad strategy for most safety related things.

This type of landing is one they would've practiced in the simulator many times before having to do it in an actual emergency. Nevertheless, looks like they executed beautifully.

Best,

BW

 

[1Kenny]

Hey Rick,

Here is the FAA preliminary report. The "N" number isn't on the report yet.

http://www.faa.gov/data_statistics/accident_incident/preliminary_data/events02/index.cfm

Kenny