SAA mid-air scare
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SAA mid-air scare
Pilot lauded after mid-air scare
By Graeme Hosken A quick-thinking SAA pilot and his crew have been hailed as heroes after avoiding an accident when a Boeing 737-800's door-seal burst after take-off.
SAA Flight 575 had just left O R Tambo International Airport for Durban International Airport when a seal on one of the doors burst on Wednesday night.
The pilot of the aircraft, which had been flying at 2 743 metres, asked to make an emergency landing at O R Tambo International Airport and was given the go-ahead.
Once the door was repaired, the aircraft took off about three hours later and landed safely in Durban.
Passengers on the plane described the experience as one of their most terrifying.
"I really thought this was it. I thought that there was no way that we were going to survive," said one.
"People were scared. We heard the noise and then noticed the plane going round and round in circles over a large shopping mall with blue lights.
"The plane then levelled off and carried on going around. I think this was to burn off fuel."
The passenger said it was obvious the pilot wanted to land quickly "because there was no etiquette in the landing".
"We went down hard and fast and then the brakes were applied immediately. We landed with a big bump," he said.
"Everyone, including the crew, were extremely relieved when the plane came to a stop.
"You could see it on (the passengers') faces."
The man said the pilots had handled the situation well.
An SAA crew member, who was on the flight and who asked not to be named, said the aircraft had been ascending when there was a "hell of a bang".
"There was the bang and then a huge noise as the plane depressurised and air came rushing in.
"It was terrifying. No one knew what was happening."
The crew member said the pilot and co-pilot had done excellent work in bringing the aircraft safely back to the airport.
"They were true heroes and saved a lot of people from what could have been a catastrophic accident."
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Pretoria News on May 29, 2009
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At this rate, pretty soon pilots will be heroes just becasue they can rotate?
Is this what computer cockpits have brought us to? A situation that is really so ordinary but now becomes a salvation from catastrophic accident on the part of quick witted pilots?
Sounds like a pressure seal went on a door below 10,000ft? In the old days the FO would have gobne back and either shoved a newpaper over the leak or slapped some Bostick on it!
Is this what computer cockpits have brought us to? A situation that is really so ordinary but now becomes a salvation from catastrophic accident on the part of quick witted pilots?
Sounds like a pressure seal went on a door below 10,000ft? In the old days the FO would have gobne back and either shoved a newpaper over the leak or slapped some Bostick on it!
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The door seal blew? Wow that could have been catastrophic. Glad to hear that our SAA SkyGod's safely landed their crippled jet, although they didn't use the standard landing etiquette. That door seal must have been produced during the apartheid era..... Bad door seal, bad door seal!
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The Air Came Rushing ......in!
According to the SAA crewmember, the cabin DEpressurized and the air came rushing IN! So much for getting sucked out when there is a depressurization.
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Isn't this a little cloase to the wind?
In these days of a different kind of apartheid we must remember that the door seal was made of non white material which non white material often acts in a way that is confusingly illogical when viewed from the point of view of the way in which a door seal were to behave if it were of a white material.
Landing without etiquette sounds a little like gobbling your food, which is what one does when in a hurry or in a panic? So could we stir the stew by determining the composition of the flight crew?
And if you have done a long haul overnight with SAA recently, it comes as no surprise that one of their cabin attendants cannot tell the difference between which way the wind blows-even with their backsides to it.
In these days of a different kind of apartheid we must remember that the door seal was made of non white material which non white material often acts in a way that is confusingly illogical when viewed from the point of view of the way in which a door seal were to behave if it were of a white material.
Landing without etiquette sounds a little like gobbling your food, which is what one does when in a hurry or in a panic? So could we stir the stew by determining the composition of the flight crew?
And if you have done a long haul overnight with SAA recently, it comes as no surprise that one of their cabin attendants cannot tell the difference between which way the wind blows-even with their backsides to it.
