monarch alicante and back

[martin1969]

Hi , ive just returned from a short break in spain , there were 2 things that happened that i was curious about ,
On landing in alicante from manchester on tuesday at about 11 am as the plane was decelerating down the runway there was like a bang and every one was thrown forward , it was though the pilots stamped on the brakes , we were sat opposite one o the air crew and she looked puzzled , i was just wondering what it was
The return trip on thursday (yesterday) was delayed byabout 2 & 1/2 hours (not a real problem )but on boarding the plane on push back the captain was kind enough to explain the reason behind the delay : the day before the aircraft had been involved in an incident with a split fuel hose on a filling tanker that resulted in the craft getting doused in aviation fuel , the reason for delay being the clean up and replacing all the parts that got contaminated eg brakes etc , although this information was informative it resulted in my girlfriend spending the rest of the flight on pins as she is already a nervous flyer she couldnt believe the captain was so honest she said she d have rather he said nothing or at least changed the story a bit so not to alarm the more nervous of the passengers , personally i was more gratefull for the complimentary drink we recieved for the delay , what is the general opinion on this , should captains give so much information when there are very likely to be some passengers who will be scared by it

[Blighty Pilot]

Hmmm I am surprised that the Captain went into this kind of detail specially as it is something which occured the day before. I have to say I don't know what goes through certain peoples minds when they start giving out all this extra information. I am sure as the delayed pax you would be glad to be on your way home or on your way to your holiday with your complimentary drink and a quick appology to say "we appologise for the delay, it was out of this crews contol as it stemmed from a slight technical delay yesterday and has had a subsequent knock on effect to todays flying programme - as a way of an appology please accept a complimentory drink from us on Monarch's behalf".

[martin1969]

any one any ideas about the sudden braking on landing , i doubt it was auto brake etc as we were already on the ground although still travelling pretty quick

[bracebrace!]

I suspect that all that has happened is that they have decided to take an earlier high-speed exit than planned and someone's stomped on the brakes a wee bit too hard in their enthusiasm. From what I remember there's almost always a light tail-wind on the ILS approach for RWY 10 and the first high-speed exit for the terminal requires a determined effort to make!


The 'bang' was probably something shifting with the braking, most likely the toilet seat! You'd be surprised the number of times you hear it fall closed from the flight deck when the brakes are applied after landing... :eek:

[superjet777-300]

Martin1969,

As for the outbound flight, it does very much soud like the autobrake kicking in.... if you had been on the ground for a few seconds and it happened, it would have been MED autobrake which can be cause quite a sudden jolt as it starts to take effect.

However, when LO autobrake is used, it doesn't kick in until around 100kts as the aircraft is slowing down but is usually a lot smoother than MED autobrake. The decision whether to use MED or LO is upto the pilots and will be affected by a number of factors such aircraft weight, headwind and which taxiway they plan to use to exit the runway.

Sometimes, as it sems in your case, if the pilots touch down a little further down the runway than expected (e.g. due to a slight tailwind) and using LO autobrake, the pilots need to brake manually in order to make the required runway turn off point. This is done by manually presing the brake pedals with their feet. Like in cars, some aircraft are more sensitive to pressure on the brakes than others so it can sometimes result in a bit of a jolt. As mentioned before, the bang most probably was a toilet seat coming down!

As for the inbound flight, that throws up an interesting topic. The Captain's prime responsibility is for the safety and peace of mind of all passengers and crew on board the aircraft, including their own. In situations like this, it can be very difficult to find the right thing to say to please everyone.

I agree that sometimes it is better just to say "There was a minor technical problem but it's now fixed" but sometimes one passenger can get a whiff of what the problem is e.g. burst fuel pipe on the ground sprayed the aircraft, they tell the person next to them, who in the queue for McDonalds tells another passenger that the plane burst a fuel pipe. That person gets on the aeroplane and tells the passenger next to them that the aircraft has a fuel leak and before you know it, there are all kinds of versions of what the actual problem is.

So in this scenario, should the Captain tell the passengers "There was a minor technical problem but it's now fixed" and have the passengers believe the story they have heard or should the Captain dispell any rumours going around and explain the situation exactly as it is.... you chose!

Hope this helps!

SJ777

[martin1969]

Many thanks for your replies all of which make perfect sense , in hinde sight i think the captains decision to give the details that he did the correct one even though it meant the circulation being cut off to my left arm on take off and landing and during the slight turbulence whilst flying (the girlfriend was sat that side :) ) a cabin full of chinese whispers could be even more off putting ,
Just to add the landing at manchester was one of the smoothest i have experienced , hardly noticed the touch down so :D:D

[Mr @ Spotty M]

Just a point for those who are interested, the fuel spraying happened two days before and involved all wheels and brakes to be replaced and many more inspections and operational checks.
You can imagine the bill that is going to be submitted for all the work that was carried out over those two days.:uhoh:

[Musket90]

I think the fuel spraying originated from a hydrant pressure leak on an empty stand adjacent to where this aircraft was parked and not from any hose connected to the aircraft.

[Mr @ Spotty M]

You are correct Musket90.

[mesh]

Monarch have a new sop to use lo autobreak where vailable, result it kicks in around 8 sec after landing....some pilots a bit heavy footed at higher speed etc