Reverser deploying in flight.
I'm now retired. I've flown both the DC-9 and MD-80, but it's been many years. I do not have any manuals at hand. Does the MD-80 have clam shell reversers or cascade vanes? I can't remember.
Around 1983 an Eastern Air Lines DC-9 had a reverser deploy in flight shortly / immediately after take off. The Captain observed a reverser light illuminated after his airplane was trying to roll upside down. There was no proceedure for this occurance, but he reached down and closed the fuel control lever for that engine. 999 times out of 1,000 fast hands in the cockpit are a very bad thing. In this isolated occurance, it was the correct course of action. Retarding the throttle may have accomplished the same result. The aircraft returned to the airport, all on board lived. After 5 years on the engineer panel, I was having a hard time coping with heavy weight V1 cuts on the DC-9-30. This model did not have much excess performance to spare. When they demonstrated the reverser deploying after take off to me unannounced in the simulator, I crashed. I did not have the excess mental capacity to notice the reverser light illuminated.
As I recall, maintence had done some work on the engine that went into reverse, and some components of the reverse system were not correctly installed.
It's amazing how accidents involving pilot error are etched in stone and remembered forever. Yet the many times pilots prevent accidents go unreported and are forgotten. I'm happily retired.
It seems to me, after looking at the tire tracks adjacent to the runway used for this accident, that this may have been an instance where a reverser had deployed after V1. The aircraft diverges off runway heading rapidly with both sets of landing gear in the dirt. If the aircraft had stalled, I would expect a wingtip to impact the ground. Power on stalls tend to be rather violent.
All that is learned about flying is not done in the classroom, in the simulator, or by reading the manuals. Much is learned by simply discussing incidents, accidents, and events with other flyers. You never should quit learning. Part of me feels that it is unprofessional to speculate, part of me wants to know what happened, and can't wait for the official report.
Has Been