Another look at the Ethiopean Airlines 737-800 crash at Beirut.
Many of us neither have the time or inclination to wade through aircraft accident reports. Especially the tedium of staring at a computer screen for page upon page. Yet we all know that in aviation we can often learn from another's experience.
In that context I strongly recommend a study of the Ethiopean Airlines Boeing 737-800 accident that occurred shortly after take off from Beirut on 25 January 2010. The subject has been discussed at length in Pprune.
Richard Aarons, the Safety Editor of the magazine Business & Commercial Aviation, is well known by those interested in reading his column Cause and Circumstance. In the March 2012 issue of B&CA he has written a first class description of this horrifying crash and the unbelievable absence of manual instrument flying ability displayed by the captain. If ever there was a case for airline managements to realise how vital it is for pilots to maintain hand flying skills in jet transports, then the story of Ethiopean Airlines Flight ET 409 written by Richard Aerons must surely convince them. All on board (90) were killed when the 737 hit the sea 63 degrees nose down at 407 knots just a few minutes after lift-off.
This is not an advertisement for B&CA and I hope the Mods reading this post understand that.
Last edited by Centaurus; 25th March 2012 at 01:48.