KAL's next crash, just around the corner?
Firstly apologies for this posting as this is fact and neither KAL bashing nor rumours.. .A B747-400 taking off from Auckland to Fiji commenced it's take-off roll without setting the flaps. The take-off config warning alerted the crew, but they did not stop.(F/O was PF)The F/O was shouting at the Captain to stop but he wouldn't. Instead they selected flaps to 20 degrees during the roll. The flaps only reached 3 degrees by Vr. By 100 feet they had only reached 7 degrees. The only reason they didn't crash was probably because the aircraft was light. When the F/O was asked why he didn't initiate a reject, it was because the ops manual states only the Captain can initiate a rejected take-off. Unbelievably this is the second time this has happened this year.. .Also last week an airbus A300-600 registered 2.4g on landing obviously damaging the undercarriage.. .There have also been several GPWS incidents such as the B747-400 which was on the approach into Manila which descended so low it had a GPWS warning for 16 seconds, but it took the crew 10 seconds before initiating a recovery manoeuver.. .Or the Airbus which initiated a descent instead of a climb as it generated a GPWS warning. Then the crew climbed over the ridge prior to descending down the otherside.. .Or how about the 737 which had a tailstrike on landing. The crew didn't notice the damage on the transit walkround, and flew another sector. . .Or the B747-200 which had part of the trailing edge flap detatch and impact the fuselage, as the crew selected 10 degrees of flap at 1000ft, but at a speed way in excess of the flap limit speed.. .Last month 12 pilots failed their recurrent checks.. .But I read that KAL are codesharing again with Delta and Air France, because they are adequately addressing their safety record, what a joke!. .Next time you see a KAL 747 fly over the M25 on take-off, look to see where the flaps are, because one day.......