One Reverser Locked out - Both thrusting on landing Rollout?
So can a l.ocked out MEL'd Thrust Reverser produce forward thrust (if the pilot uses both for reverse - forgetting about the MEL)?
Pilots May Have Mishandled Airbus Brakes in Siberia Crash
WASHINGTON, July 19 — Investigators are looking into whether the crew of an Airbus jet that went off a runway in Siberia on July 9 may have improperly used a braking system that was partly disabled before takeoff, people with knowledge of the inquiry say.
The model involved in the crash, the Airbus A310, has a thrust reverser on each of its two engines, and normal procedure, as with other large jets, is that after touchdown the crew deploys the reversers, which direct jet blast toward the front of the plane, to assist the wheel brakes in slowing the plane down. After the thrust reversers are deployed, the crew applies the throttles on the engines.
But the plane in the accident, flown by a Russian airline called S7, began its overnight flight from Moscow with one of its thrust reversers disabled.
While the reason is not clear, there are a number of causes, including mechanical failure, that could disable a thrust reverser.
Planes can land safely without thrust reversers, but if only one is deployed and power is applied to both engines, the forces are applied in opposite directions, tending to spin the airplane. Normal procedure is to alert the crew to important items that are not working, including thrust reversers.
Planes are permitted to fly disabled thrust reversers for a limited time before they are repaired.
In Irkutsk, the plane ran off the runway and ripped through a six-foot concrete barrier, slammed into several small buildings, and burst into flames, killing 124 of the 203 passengers and crew aboard.
Survivors were quoted as saying that the plane’s engines appeared to be accelerating, then shut down. That would be normal in any landing in which both thrust reversers were used.
Investigators said that in some circumstances, a pilot could use a single thrust reverser, providing that power was applied only to that engine.
Several witnesses were reported to have seen the plane actually accelerate after landing before leaving the runway and slamming into the concrete wall at about 100 miles an hour, then hitting several unoccupied storage buildings and stopping in flames.
Investigators examining the flight data recorder have not reached any definitive conclusions about the cause of the crash. It appeared, according to one investigator, that while both engines gained power after touchdown, the one without the thrust reverser gained power more slowly.
The investigation is under the control of the Russian government, which has released only limited information. Non-Russians involved in the probe said that Russia’s Commission of the Interstate Aviation Committee had been upset by the initial statements that referred to problems with braking, and had issued an apparently thinly-veiled threat to take legal action against unauthorized leaks.
In an official statement, the commission said that "early and ungrounded" statements on the possible causes of the crash before the investigation was complete were "considered unethical in accordance with the international practice and may be regarded as an attempt to exercise pressure on the investigation and prevent the commission from finding the actual causes of the crash."
As a result, industry and government experts involved in the investigation declined to be publicly identified.
The authoritative journal, Flight International, reported Tuesday that the aircraft had landed at the proper point on the runway, then continued down the runway for some distance before yawing off to the right.
"This has led to speculation among Russian pilots that there might have been asymmetric thrust reverser deployment or braking, but no official sources will confirm or deny it at this stage," the publication said.
The two pilots, Sergei Shibanov, 45, and Vladimir Chernykh, 48, had no previous accidents, the airline said, and were highly experienced pilots qualified to fly international flights.
from NY Times