Passengers in plane plunge

[Queenslander]

Not sure if this has been reported yet, but was on www.news.com.au

PASSENGERS panicked and a flight attendant prayed after a plane plunged 200m forcing the pilots to fly back to Perth for an emergency landing.

About 200 passengers were on board the Malaysian Airlines flight to Kuala Lumpur which was forced to return to Perth International Airport after the plane experienced problems about 40 minutes into the journey.
Passengers panicked after one flight attendant dropped a tray of drinks and another began praying.

Kim Holst, who had never flown before, said the plane began shuddering violently and dropping more than a hundred metres at a time over a period of about 90 seconds.

Staff appealed for passengers to ensure all electrical equipment was turned off because they were experiencing interference with the systems, Mr Holst said.

"When the flight attendant dropped an entire tray of drinks and was crawling on his hands and knees back to his seat and the other flight attendant was praying, that's when most of us began to take it a bit more seriously," he said on ABC radio today.


Advertisement:
Other people on board the flight were screaming and upset, he said.
"It was my first flight and I actually didn't realise it was that big a deal, but when I started looking around at the people who had travelled a bit and they were all clutching their seats ... they were like 'oh my God, this is not right," Mr Holst said.

A West Australian police spokesman said the pilots reported instrumentation problems and a full emergency response was waiting for the Boeing 747 when it returned to Perth yesterday.

"Officers from Westralia Airports confirmed the aircraft landed safely," a police spokesman said.

Mr Holst said the passengers all cheered when the plane touched down about 5.30pm (WST) without further incident.

Mr Holst said he would fly to Malaysia this afternoon, but other passengers had missed connections to destinations including China and France.

Queenslander

[OzExpat]

and the other flight attendant was praying
Is this part of the training for FAs now? Is it some sort of new ICAO standard? :eek: :}

[Hunter58]

I just wanted to ask the same. Praying may be nice for an individual in a seat, but somehow I think that FA's are not there for that and something tells me the SOPs also do mention something else...

[HotDog]

Kim Holst, who had never flown before, said the plane began shuddering violently and dropping more than a hundred metres at a time over a period of about 90 seconds.

That's pretty good, must have had a VSI, Altimeter and a stop watch in his kit.:rolleyes:

[Globaliser]

Kim Holst, who had never flown before ...In case of emergency, please immediately approach the most qualified person on the aircraft for comment ...

[Airbubba]

I heard the plane went from a tailspin to a nosedive...

[The African Dude]

Were there any schools, filled to the brim with innocent children, nearby? (Ms. Holst may have had a GPS too!)

[RAT 5]

Normally, when the trolly dolly drops the drinks it is the pax who start praying; that the bar was fully stocked befoe departure.

[airborne_artist]

No mention of the hero pilot, grimly struggling with the controls as he stared at near certain death while his entire life flashed before him, or was it just a bit of turbulence, perhaps?

[angelorange]

at least he missed the school

[EDDNHopper]

Ok., we´ve had the usual (anti-)press comments.

Now, anybody here who has some facts? For "just a bit of turbulence" they wouldn´t have gone back to Perth, would they? Injuries? Technical prob?

[strake]

Yes, come on, we need details!

Was it a Hail Mary or an Our Father? We should be told 'coz it obviously worked.

[egbt]

Stake

Don’t forget all of the other religions or the thought police will be on the thread :}

Also how would they know which way was east?



Thankfully no casualties, twill be interesting to see an authenticated story

[surely not]

They know which way is east because the moving map has a symbol on it which tells them which way it is...................... or was that when I flew with Emirates??

[Rolling-Thunderbird]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16126345-29277,00.html

[H.Finn]

"The airplane dropped more than 100m in 90 seconds". No wonder the stewrdesses were praying and people screaming. That's about 200 fpm plunge. Thank God they made it.

[egbt]

surely not

The flight attendants have GPS on their trolleys! I know there are two isles on a 747 but that seems over the top:E

[CaptHairDryer]

Well the lovely Sandra Sully on the Ten late news reported it was a 772 and she had pictures to prove it. Dunno where this 747 crapola came from, probably the same place the 100 metre nose dive came from.

[Bigmouth]

This reminds me of my all time favorite pprune thread: "How many PPrune Forums members does it take to change a lightbulb?"

Keep 'em coming!

[egbt]

Bigmouth

come come sir, this is a serious thread :E

Obviously the flight had to return after the drinks were lost. :{

[Farmer 1]

When the Air Traffic Controller in charge of the flight asked the senior pilot if he wanted to declare a Mayday, the radio signaller replied over the intercom, "Roger, wilco, over and out."

[apaddyinuk]

Overheard by passenger sitting near the praying crewmember!


"Our Captain, who art in Flightdeck,
Hollowed be thy Jumbo Jet!,
Our airport come, thy will be done,
in art as it is in Seattle.
Give us this day our daily bar round
and deliver us from airplane food"

[egbt]

Passengers prepare for second take-off

ABC News on-line:

Passengers involved in yesterday's plane drama in Perth are preparing to board a replacement flight.

Almost 200 people were aboard a Malaysian Airlines flight when it was forced to turn back to Perth for an emergency landing, after the pilot reported trouble with the plane's instruments.

Emergency service vehicles rushed to the airport, but the pilot managed to land safely after dumping thousands of litres of fuel.

Alex Snowden, who was preparing to fly home to England, says she thought she was going to die.

"At first it just felt like really bad turbulence, we just kind of dropped, and you just kind of lose your stomach like when you're on a rollercoaster, that kind of feeling," she said.

The plane involved in the drama has been grounded in Perth as investigations continue.

Mondays report:

Malaysia passenger plane lands safely in Perth

Officials at Perth airport say no passengers were injured after an international airliner was forced to make an emergency landing.

The Malaysian Airlines flight, with 192 passengers on board, had just taken off from Perth when the pilot radioed for help.

It is understood the pilot reported problems with his instruments.

Police vehicles, fire trucks and ambulances rushed to the airport.

The plane landed safely.

Transport safety officers are investigating the incident,

The plane's passengers will be placed on alternative flights.


Passengers & SLF? What a strange place to end up in:confused: :p

[Farmer 1]

Quote: "Malaysia passenger plane lands safely in Perth"

Wow!


Many years ago, in the U.K. there was a competition for the most boring newspaper headline. The winner was, "Small earthquake in Chile. Not many dead." If the above quote is an actual headline, I think we might have a new contender.

Mind you, I've never been to Perth. Not that one, anyway. Are the maids there equally fair?

[Anti Skid On]

So who forgot to remove the pitot cover? (or omitted Pitot heat, though you probably don't need that in Perth very often).

Any word on which 772 it was (interested, as I am booked on one of their's in 3 weeks time AKL- KUL!).

[McGinty]

Just an aside on the topic of UK headlines.

As an illustration of the arrogance of Britain during the period when Britannia ruled the waves, there was the famous newspaper headline from a few decades back "Fog in Channel: Continent Cut Off."

[Farmer 1]

McGinty

You're obviously not a Brit. You spelt "Britannia" correctly.

[RevMan2]

Now it gets back to being serious:

This from ATI this morning

Australian authorities are investigating a 1 August incident in which a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Boeing 777-200ER had to make an emergency landing at Perth after cockpit crew reported a flight management system (FMS) malfunction that caused the aircraft to suddenly lose altitude and roll from side to side.

If a Mod happens to read this, perhaps a relocation back to "R&N" would be appropriate....

[DeeCee]

It always amuses me when the newspapers print something along the lines of 'Heroically and using great skill, the Pilot avoided the School and crashed in to a field'. They obviously don't know that we are taught not to land on buildings and that a nice field is much better.

[TightSlot]

A more technical discussion on this is available here (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=184260) if you prefer, RevMan2

[philip2004uk]

Were there any schools, filled to the brim with innocent children, nearby? (Ms. Holst may have had a GPS too!)

whats a school got to do with it?

[allan907]

Like many commentators on this thread when I first heard the news I thought that it was one of those media beat-up type of stories. However, as the facts have unfolded over the past 24 hours or so it seems that this was a very serious incident.

Latest thinking is that it may have been a mobile phone or some such. Whatever. In any event the flight crew need congratulations on a job well done.

[spiney]

Back on the praying sub-thread... A few years ago an Avianca 767 LHR-BOG. Long, non-stop flight with an extra pilot ensconsed in First. Seemed like a pretty senior chap too with lots of grovelling and scraping required from the cabin crew... And while we were getting wired into the pre-flight champagne and canapes he was studying his manuals, books, charts and whatever else necessary to give the impression that he was... prepared... Anyway, the aircraft pulls onto the runway for take off, thottles up ... and out of the side of my eye I notice the spare pilot in full-prayer mode - loads of genuflection and clasping or whatever is required... hmm.. I guess he WAS prepared...

[Milt]

If anyone mentions pockets I'll scream so loud that I'll generate some more up and down draughts

[piton]

So the extra pilot was going down on one knee during take off??? No wonder you were worried - what did the crew say about him being out of his seat belt? Seems a bit OTT even for a practising Catholic....