It is correct that there is a design flaw, which may cause deep cold fuel to create ice at the root of the MD-80 wing after flights at high levels, with high fuel loads. The phenomen is observable on ground even at quite high OAT's. It
may fit the WCW708 scenario; previous flight Bogota-Panama City about 1:30 hr, relatively full tanks, night time, humid and dewy conditions. Do we know how much (warmer) fuel they took on board in PTY ?
It doesn't seem that likely to to people commenting this in a professional MD-80 pilots forum, though, that any FOD ingestion would have occurred up at cruise levels. I'm not an expert myself, rather a webmaster for those who are. So I refer to the MD-80 forum where more hands-on people may comment on these scenarios
here and
here. Any relevant findings will be summarized and crossfed back to this thread.
As for your questions, this is what has come up from experienced MD-80 drivers' comments:
a. I imagine there's a RAT or ADG for to cover "no eng-driven generators left" scenarios?
No, there is not.
c. Does the standby peanut gyro have integral battery power or does it run off the main battery?
It runs off the main battery for 30 mins. The gyro spins 7 mins after final power loss.
d. Is it SOP to start the APU after losing an engine? Assuming that it's airstartable...
Yes its SOP to start the APU. It can be windmilled below FL240, higher up is unlikely to be successful because the oil is cold, as stated in the previous post. IIRC, there may also be different models of APU's with varying specs installed on MD-80's.
e. If you lost both engines, can you still then crank up the APU? Or will that seriously drain/deplete the main battery power?
Starting the APU is considered heavy on batteries and is prevented by relays if no AC power left. Windmilling is recommended.
f. Is there a separate emergency battery?
No, there is not.
Jan-Erik
www.md80.net