Sky Airlines Chile 737 near miss on landing

[Thunderbirdsix]

Not sure if this has been posted before, Sky 737 nearly crashed on landing in Chile

Choque de ala derecha con la pista de aterrizaje vuelo sky 101 en la serena el 18 de julio de 2012 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=doqAUV5ET5g)

News in Spanish with pictures of damaged wing after go around

Pasajeros de avión accidentado presentarán acciones judiciales - Tele13 - YouTube

[BOAC]

I no speaka da Spanish, but contrary to the 'simulation' it looks as if they landed across the runway rather than along it!

[flaphandlemover]

what a short runway....
but for sure wide....:E:E

[Dg800]

I no speaka da Spanish, but contrary to the 'simulation' it looks as if they landed across the runway rather than along it!

Pilot claims he lost sight of the runway because of sunlight and a light mist that was forming. He basically claims that sunlight was diffused/reflected in a way that made it impossible to see out of the cockpit. The rest is the usual crap with passengers who are of course all qualified accident investigators blaming the pilot and asking for financial compensation and the airline refusing any payout as they claim "natural causes" and that nothing was wrong with the plane or the crew. This is the gist of it.

The simulation definitely is way off, from the passenger video it's quite clear that they touched down way off to the left, possibly so far off that they might not have had all wheels on the tarmac.

[PAXboy]

The short graphic simulation was probably done by the TV company and they needed to err on the safe side, despite the video evidence. I doubt the carrier could have been together enough to try and get that together so fast.

As I have said before, every carrier's CEO and every Captain MUST assume that at least one video recorder is running at ALL times. It is the pax video that will carry public opinion and will be used alongside the data recorders to apportion blame. Pax will continue to ignore instructions not to use video/camcorders/phones, it is a simple fact of life.

If the carrier had any sense - the moment they saw that video - they would have started negotiating as it's Game Over. They won't.

[Mauersegler]

Also on the ground:
Cazanoticias: Avión golpea su ala en pista de aterrizaje - CHV - YouTube

[pattern_is_full]

The full video (via link) in the first post says it all. Circle-to-land with final heading into the fringes of a marine layer and the setting sun. Note how fast the weather turns to solid OVC during the climb-out.

SCSE (like most of Chile) has mountains to the east, which may explain why the pilot turned in fairly tightly. Also high terrain to the south, which explains a right-hand turn, putting the CA on the high side with the worst visual references.

No ILS. VOR approaches only for the reciprocal runway (due to the high terrain to the east). A slightly "tabletop" airport, so the RA callouts will be skewed and rapid in the last mile. Nearby terrain. A certain amount of pucker-factor for a 737, even without the sun and clouds.

[WanganuiLad]

Oh boy, it looks a close thing in the second vid.

[pattern_is_full]

Well, that's one way to add winglets to an older 737. :\

Actually, I revise my previous analysis slightly. Not a circle-to-land, but a long "final" down a side valley, with a 60° turn for alignment 1/2 mile off the end of the runway.

Kinda like the LDA approach into KDCA 19 - except with low sun, fog, mountains - and no radio guidance. :eek:

http://www.altairva-fs.com/training/images/DCA_LDA19.gif

[peterperfect]

Any chance it was caused by control servo interference by the passenger disregarding the safety briefing by having an electronic device (hence the video, perhaps in a phone) switched on during the landing ?

[charliemouse]

If it was interference it will the first time - about as likely in real life as a mobile phone causing an explosion in a petrol station...

Am I missing something - why would passengers get compensation? Surely Alton Towers could charge for excitement like that - but no harm done (to the Px).:E

[pattern_is_full]

...and why would the pilot say he'd lost sight of the runway in the mist....if he'd had a nice excuse of radio interference to fall back on...?

[GlueBall]

...another case of pilots behind the wheel with marginal hand-flying skills. :rolleyes:

[claser111]

No bad weather, no windshear, a kind of visual approach with long final and a B737-200 that can be flown like a small cessna!
It sounds very strange, where is the error? Too much confidence with the aircraft or lack of skills???
Strangely they diverted to another airport far away without trying to land again in La Serena, why? There is something missing...

[Mauersegler]

Strangely they diverted to another airport far away without trying to land again in La Serena, why? There is something missing...

That's something I was thinking too, well, they could have also needed to inspect the landing area for debris... Or it was the cloud cover closing in? Or simply the pilot considered the low sun as too risky? Any other reason not to try again? And then maybe some would hate me for asking, but how long does it take to fly the distance? And how long do the CVR and DFR in an old 737-200 record before overwriting?

[helen-damnation]

Strangely they diverted to another airport far away without trying to land again in La Serena, why? There is something missing...

Er, hello. Did you bother to read the other posts :ugh:

with final heading into the fringes of a marine layer and the setting sun

No ILS. VOR approaches only for the reciprocal runway

and

another case of pilots behind the wheel with marginal hand-flying skills Case solved then :mad:

[pattern_is_full]

with ... a B737-200 that can be flown like a small cessna!

Yep. Definitely. Did my first solo in a 732! :ugh:

Strangely they diverted to another airport far away without trying to land again in La Serena, why?

Because the pilot had pushed the envelope about as far as he could without resulting in body bags, and decided another attempt was not a smart idea. His best decision of the day. (Shades of Cork.)

[stepwilk]

they might not have had all wheels on the tarmac

FYI, pilots call it a runway. Or a ramp (though obviously not in this case).

[MPH]

You see éstos´RayBan´are not good. I should have bought those Serengetti!!! :O

[White Knight]

FYI, pilots call it a runway

F Y I...

English pilots will call it TARMAC:{:{:{ And the French call it the PISTE B T W

[stepwilk]

So the Brits make their runways out of tarred Macadam? Hope they're not flying anything heavier than Apaches and 310s.

Frankly, the only people I know who call it "tarmac" are TV talking heads, nonpilot travel writers and every newspaper reporter in the world.

[Capn Bloggs]

How about "pavement"?

Sun didn't look to me to be an issue; just before landing, it's at 2 O'clock on the cabin video. :confused:

[subsonicsubic]

Frankly, the only people I know who call it "tarmac" are TV talking heads, nonpilot travel writers and every newspaper reporter in the world. I am none of the above yet I am perfectly happy with the term "tarmac".

What's more, I will continue to use the term as I see fit.

Moron ( Now thats a term I like)

[stepwilk]

Someday you should read the forum rules. "No personal attacks..." is one of them.

[JohnMcGhie]

I don't understand: The video from within the cabin, and the video from the observation deck at the airport, both make it look as if it were the LEFT wing that struck the ground.

Yet the animation, and the photos of the damage, are of the right wing.

Are we looking at pictures from two separate incidents?

[His dudeness]

...another case of pilots behind the wheel with marginal hand-flying skills.

Aha. Good to know. Hope you called the Chilenian Authorities to let them know the result of the investigation. Will safe them a lot of effort...

[pattern_is_full]

don't understand: The video from within the cabin....make it look as if it were the LEFT wing that struck the ground.

Moment of wing touch is at approximately time 2:16-2:21 in the first video (the link, not the posted news version) - pax window on right side of plane is full of runway, showing the plane is tilted right wing down. Very final frames of same video pan right to show bent right wingtip.

Sun didn't look to me to be an issue; just before landing, it's at 2 O'clock on the cabin video

If you watch the early parts of the full video (linked, not posted), where the passenger/camera is looking into the sun, the sun is making the mist blindingly white (and burning out the video itself in spots) - see time 1:10 and 1:50. Just before landing, after ~70° turn for line-up, that's what would have filled the windscreen.

Just to be clear, my reading of that video is that the pilot was not on a stabilized straight-in approach, but in a continuous right bank/turn from ~1000' alt. all the way to the threshold, with a couple of moments of wings-level. The whole last minute before the runway appears (1:20-2:13 on the tape).

[claser111]

Looks clear that was a pilot error but the question is: if was an unstable approach or just mist on final, why they didn't comeback for another approach instead of to divert to another airport? Just wait for a runway inspection and try again, much easy and safer than flying away with a damage on a wingtip! That's my opinion.

[broadreach]

Re Glueball's comment "...another case of pilots behind the wheel with marginal hand-flying skills." The PF is over 50 with 25,000+ hrs, not likely to have accumulated that much time in Chile without most of it being hand-flying.

There's a clip on YouTube overlaying the view from the passenger video with a Google Earth image and showing the approximate angle at which the aircraft approached.

Análisis incidente vuelo SKY 101 La Serena - YouTube

In the second clip, filmed by someone in the spectators' balcony, the horror at what they were seeing is very apparent. The very quick little "click" as the wing touched the ground certainly swung the aircraft around swiftly to starboard. Perhaps fortunate it was concrete it touched and not soft earth.

With mist rolling in, the sun in their faces (not just through the mist but reflecting off small bodies of water), not to mention having just scared themselves silly, no surprise that they went to a clearer alternate.

One thing noted in the passenger video was that the starboard leading edge slats did not retract entirely, at least by the end of the video. Jammed as a result of that wing's contact or just brought halfway up by choice?

[Dg800]

F Y I...

English pilots will call it TARMAChttp://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/boohoo.gifhttp://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/boohoo.gifhttp://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/boohoo.gif And the French call it the PISTE B T W You mean to say that there are actually other countries outside of the good ol' USA? But they do all speak English, right? I mean, American English? No? Please say it aint'so, pardner! :E