Even that incident deserves some deeper scrutiny. I took the time to look through the report and discovered some interesting points.
- Alcohol intoxication wasn't the only major factor at play. It appears that the aircraft stalled at some 21kts+ higher than its expected stall speed for its calculated AUW, in prevalent airframe icing conditions, with tanks full of very cold fuel. It would appear that airframe icing may well have caused the situation to develop in the first place - the subsequent mishandling of the developing stall could be seen as an aggravating, rather than a causal factor (although the report does have this the other way round). What seems obvious is that the crew were not expecting the ac to stall at that speed - note the complete lack of action by the (stone cold sober) co-pilot - it normally takes an alert person some 2-3 seconds to recognise, acknowledge, and act upon an unexpected emergency situation. The aircraft impacted the ground only 1.2 seconds after the stall warning sounded, and only 3-4 seconds after the first evidence of airframe buffet were recorded on the CVR. Even the sober Co-pilot did not have time to intervene. It was also reported that the aircraft attained a higher-than-usual nose attitude after rotate, such that approx 15deg nose up was recorded at around V2. It was suggested that this is higher than normal for a DC-8 at that weight and in that config, but it hardly seems like an extreme attitude to me, nor
gross mishandling - I have little knowledge of DC-8 ops so anybody who knows better, feel free to correct me.
- It also appears, both from (independent) witness statements and the toxicology analysis that this Captain wasn't merely 'over the limit' - he was utterly sh!tfaced. Quite why he was allowed, by either ground staff OR his crew, anywhere near his ac is beyond me. At the VERY VERY LEAST the words "Co-pilot - your leg!" should have been uttered. Use of the old 'hotel-induced food poisoning' excuse to cry off sick would have been better.
- This wasn't a passenger flight, it was cargo. So perhaps I shall modify my original comment to read:
I cannot recall a SINGLE RECORDED INCIDENT in the entire history of commercial passenger aviation where alcohol intoxication was cited as a factor.
...in order to address the 0.00000001% inaccuracy in that comment.
What is clear when all the facts are considered is that this was not a clear cut case of 'Pilot over the limit crashes 'plane' - it remains, to my and others knowledge, the SOLE incident of it's kind, and is a FAIRLY EXTREME one at that. When all this is considered, you may be able to understand how many experienced pilots make the comments they do on threads of this nature.
It is also worth noting that the UK drink-fly limits are almost
1 tenth of the drink-drive limits. So, driver over the limit, or pilot over the limit? I know which one I'd rather travel with.
16B
Edited to make clear: I do not condone flying whilst under the influence of alcohol - I'm sure virtually every proffesional pilot wouldn't. I CONDEMN the sensationalist press cover that such 'incidents' normally attract.