Originally Posted by
kitchen bench
Mach E. A. and Machtuk - interesting. I'll see how I go on my next sim when I abort after V1 for a fire warning or engine failure.
I seriously doubt, a few seconds after V1, that you have the slightest idea that a fire is uncontrollable/uncontained. That usually comes after you've completed the drills - and that doesn't happen soon after V1. In a B737, the second shot (if needed) isn't fired until 30 seconds after the first and after that is when you discover if the fire is controlled or not. Bit late to abort then!!!!!
No one has suggested that a take-off should be aborted above V1 for a simple failure or fire warning! Doing so on a simulator detail could be career limiting, and rightly so.
But, consider the Concorde crash. ATC told the pilots that fire was visible while the aircraft was still on the ground, though beyond V1. The pilots did what they thought was right in continuing the take-off. But with 20:20 hindsight that accident may have been survivable if they had attempted to stop.
Here's another one. A HS 748 at Sumburgh in the Shetlands (I was there flying DC3s at the time). Due to a failure in the system the control gust lock engaged and the aircraft went off the end into the sea. Had they realised the controls were jammed and aborted while still on the ground, though above V1, they may well have stopped on the hard surface, but even so, the over run into the sea was a better outcome than if they had tried to fly away.
A colleague had a major electrical fire in the cockpit of a Convair. They were in the cruise at the time and eventually dealt with it, but it must have been frightening. There was another cockpit fire in a Beech Baron many years ago in W.A.. After the cabin extinguisher only did part of the job they finished it off with beer!
Something like that happening at or slightly beyond V1 would, in my opinion justify an abort. Not all fires are accompanied by a bell or red light. Also when an aircraft is relatively light, or the runway well in excess of requirements, V1 may not be a stop-limited speed,
Back to the King Air, Even though Vr was 94 knots, and even though actual rotate was some 15 knots above that speed (for whatever reason we will never know) the aircraft probably could have been stopped from the greater Vr within the confines of the airfield. Again, I emphasise that I am not criticizing the pilot for continuing, as he clearly did not know that his aircraft was unflyable.