Bent landing gear and scared passengers

[bladegrabber]

I have been on BMI's Norwich to Abdn service twice this week and mondays outbound was the worst approach and landing i have ever experienced. Who teaches these numty's to fly and who the hell passes them fit to fly the line? The approach into Abdn's 16 was all over the place with wings hardly ever level and by the time he reached the threshhold he'd given up trying to fly and threw it on the deck. Now i know what a carrier landing is like.

Wednesdays return was 2.5 hrs late taking off and the landing at Norwich made the trolley dolly gasp and cringe.

Does anyone else think its about time these guys are taken off for a serious talking to and some training? And no i'm not a would be ATPL just a poor PPL-H.

[TightSlot]

One of the more cheerfully moronic posts that I've come across recently - not only ill-informed but also gratuitously offensive to Pilots - even managed to alienate the Cabin Crew at the same time.

My initial thought was to delete, but no... A more fitting punishment is to keep it here in the hope that some of our more feral pilots catch the scent and maul it a bit - over to you

[Standard Noise]

Perhaps it was a tad windy and the pilots were fighting against the crosswinds. Used to be a frequent flyer with BMI twixt LHR & BFS and then BFS & EMA and always found them to be the best of our domestic carriers in all respects. Still, there's no pleasing some people, especially when they display the classic symptoms.:ugh:

You know a famous man once said 'It is better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and have the fact confirmed.'

[redsnail]

G'Day Bladegrabber,

Since I wasn't in the UK on Monday, could you tell me what the weather was like? I was in the south of France enjoying nice sunshine and watching the convective clouds build up.

Since the wings were hardly level I'd say they were battling a reasonably entertaining cross wind. Since aeroplanes need longish bits of tarmac to land on as we cannot make them hover successfully I'd say he didn't have the luxury of just pointing it into the prevailing wind.

Aberdeen's known for it's interesting weather, your helo mates in the off shore oil world know all about it. I have landed at Aberdeen a few times and obviously taken off from there exactly the same number of times too and it's not exactly the flattest and most benign airport I've been to. There's a bit of terrain around to kick the wind around and generally make things fun.

To get the brakes to work efficiently they need to spin up quickly. A nice soft greaser just won't do it. If the crew got the aeroplane on the tarmac on speed AND at the markers then it's a good landing. You mightn't like it but it beats floating down the runway trying to kiss it on. Many times that's resulted in the aeroplane overshooting the runway and skidding off. If you think 2 1/2 hours is a late departure, try departing after an aeroplane's gone off the end.

Wednesday. Yes, I was back in the UK then. Once again there was a spot of weather around. Who knows why the departure was late? Perhaps there was another helo pilot telling the inbound crew how to fly and they couldn't complete the turn around checks. Maybe there was a problem with the baggage belt? Perhaps a passenger was wandering around the terminal trying to find the departure gate but found the bar.

Are all of your landings 100% perfect 100% of the time?

Mine aren't, but they're 100% safe 100% of the time. That's what I am paid for.

[Avman]

Such an incredibly stupid post from someone who (allegedly) holds a PPL-H that this just has to be a wind-up and doesn't merit the courtesy of an answer.

[TopBunk]

Bent landing gear? Care to back up your allegation? I doubt it, pl0nker:mad:

[forget]

bladegrabber, Solution here http://www.gner.co.uk/GNER/Traintimes/TimetableAlterations.htm

[G-BPED]

Bladegrabber:

Hmmm only your 6th posting on PPRuNe and you are casting doubts as to the flying skills of a BMI pilot.

Ever heard of crosswinds ??? They can make for an interesting but safe landing.

As for the bent landing gear, you examined it yourself when you got off at ABZ?

Before you ask, NO, I am not related to any pilots from BMI or any other carrier.

I just find your choice of words rather insulting to Flight and Cabin crews.

[PAXboy]

It's a funny old world but I always believe that pilots are trying to do their best. I have a sneaking suspicion that they LIKE a smooth landing. I don't know why I have this crazy idea that they want to land in way that is as comfortable for them as it is for us. Strange isn't it?

Of course, one day, I will find the flight crew that are looking to bash the machine onto the ground so that the landing gear is 'bent', because that will mean they have the great fun of filling in lots of forms and explaining to the engineers why they chose to 'bend' the gear. After that, the flight crew will enjoy waiting around until another aircraft is available for them to take it home and explain their actions to the chief pilot. Not to mention that this could directly affect their careers, their income and their whole lives.

I have not been through ABZ very often but the weather is known to be cranky and can recall a diversion into EDI because the weather at ABZ had worsened in the time that it took us to get overhead there from LHR. Of course, LHR itself is well known to have strange eddies of wind, due to all the large hangers and buildings in what is, otherwise, fairly flat space.

Come to think of it bladegrabber, you wouldn't be a strange eddie in the, otherwise, fairly flat space of Norfolk by any chance...? :p

(Signed)
an appreciative guest of the Professional Pilots etc.

[hotmetal]

Well I've been to Aberdeen in a limiting crosswind blowing all over the hills. The wings were never level, the nose was up and down, the speed was all over the place and it's the shortest runway we operate onto. To top it all I had a new first officer and a CAA Flight Ops inspector sitting on the jumpseat watching me. I don't think it was my smoothest touchdown but it was safe on the touchdown markings in the middle of the runway. The comment from the Man from the Ministry who checks numpties like me who can't keep the wings level? 'Nice job!'

[lexxity]

Well on behalf of all of my collegues, on the ground and in the air, may I suggest that your tale is utter rubbish. Ever flown into ABZ before? It has some seriously mental weather, there are these things called crosswinds and also windshear that are often encountered when flying, especially into an airport on the East Coast of Scotland. Thanks so much for your fine assesment of my company, next time I suggest you fly the approach yourself.:mad:

[Richard Taylor]

Maybe the original poster actually works for the opposition on the NWIABZ route?? :E

Kidding of course!

All the guys & girls that fly & control the skies around ABZ have my continual admiration.

Busy airport, mix of traffic, short main runway, weird weather - rather you than me!

I always understood the best landing was one where you KNEW you had touched down, especially when there's not a lot of runway to spare.

[Final 3 Greens]

Lexx

Don't sweat it ;) Helicopter pilots are a bit mental, well you'd have to be to be PIC of something that flies by ground based repulsion of ugly machines!

I kid you not, I once saw a JetRanger pilot arguing that he should be allowed to compete in a spot landing competition for aeroplanes.

[DX Wombat]

Send him into YPPH in a 152 or, better still, one of those Microlights, on the tail end of a cyclone it can be interesting enough in a 747. :E That should complete his education quite nicely. :E :E

[RoyHudd]

The management and owner that is. Flight Deck are a good and competent bunch, with top-class training and renewal standards.

As for ABZ, can be like a carrier to land on, ditto LBA, also JSY, all served by bmi. And try puttting a full 321 down smoothly at BHD on a gusty x-wind night. Smooth and soft touchdown would be plain barmy.

[bladegrabber]

hmmm lexy
tosh nah i did my ppl at abdn an flown there for 15 yrs
on monday the wx was average 15kts 20 degrees cross wind and nothing out of the ordinary for Abdn.

maybe us rotory types can handle the weather better than plank drivers i dunno but certainly wound a few of them up with a fun post.

The Bladegrabber

[Topslide6]

The approach into Abdn's 16 was all over the place with wings hardly ever level and by the time he reached the threshhold he'd given up trying to fly and threw it on the deck.

Knob :ugh:

It's not even worth trying to dignify this with an answer. What I would say, however, is that you evidently have no grasp of fixed wing commercial aviation. I would also expect someone who had a PPL to know better. Evidently not. Aberdeen is very much at the mercy of the topography and prevailing weather and you simply cannot afford to float a jet of any description on that runway, even when it's dry and calm. The fact that you did a PPL-H there means cock-all.

I think it's probably very safe to say that if you had had the privilege of sitting on the jumpseat on that approach you most likely would have had a VERY different perspective on it, and most likely would have required a change of your frillies once you'd disembarked. :mad:

One of the more cheerfully moronic posts that I've come across recently - not only ill-informed but also gratuitously offensive to Pilots - even managed to alienate the Cabin Crew at the same time.


Sums it up pretty well I think.

[TightSlot]

maybe us rotory types can handle the weather better than plank drivers i dunno but certainly wound a few of them up with a fun post.

Aaaaah - the old "it was only a windup - in reality I know what I'm talking about" gambit, eh?

Will it work?

?

?


No - you're still a very, very silly person - only now we know that you're childish as well.

Anyway, now that we've allowed bladegrabber his/her 15 minutes of fame he/she goes back to the bottom of the pile and we shouldn't be troubled again - I'll close this one out as we've had our fun - Thanks all for the follow-up posts from those in the know.