megan
7th Apr 2016, 04:46
Folks may recall the DC-10 circuit breaker pulling incident, and others where experimentation led to undesirable outcomes. This comes from "Flight" magazine circa 13th Nov 1947.
INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE
ANYTHING can happen in the United States. And it does! And lest anyone should think that the following saga is a Hollywood fairytale or a Texas *all-story, I can only say that there is an official Civil Aeronautics Board report on the whole affair. In any case, nobody could possibly think it up, and there are, moreover, some fifty-three people who will probably never forget it, although they would probably like to! It goes like this:
An early morning DC-4 flight of one of the most reputable and reliable of all the domestic airlines here was on its way to the West Coast with forty-eight passengers and a crew of five. Flying at some 8,000ft over the Western desert (it was not stated whether this height was indicated or above the ground), it suddenly started to climb, and continued to do so at an ever-increasing angle. It then dropped its nose violently, dived, bunted, was presumably completely inverted, was rolled out to the left at a height of under 1,000ft—and was flown back with its terrified occupants to the nearest airport and landed! Automatic pilot trouble, you think? Not a bit of it; apparently just a misplaced desire for knowledge.
There were on board three pilots, the normal scheduled captain,, his second pilot, and another captain who was on a familiarization flight, and who was at the time in the first pilot's seat flying the machine, with the regular captain sitting behind him on the " jump-seat." Perhaps with the thought of a recent crash on his mind, but without saying anything to either of the pilots who were at the controls, this captain engaged the gust, or control, lock, presumably in order to see what would happen! Quite naturally this froze the controls solid and in such a position that the machine began an ever-increasing climb.
To counteract this, and ignorant of the fact that the controls were locked, the pilot who was flying began to wind the trim tab forward. Naturally, nothing happened (and, in fact, this would make matters worse, because to fly an aircraft with locked elevators by means of the trim tabs—and it has been done—the wheel must be wound in reverse way to that normally applied). So the pilot wound a bit more, at which time the regular captain, still with out saying what he had done in the first place, took the gust lock off; the trim tabs naturally took complete control, and the aircraft dived and bunted! The only member of the cockpit crew who was strapped in was the second pilot, who kept in his seat, the other two being catapulted into the roof of the cockpit, where they hit three of the four feathering buttons and feathered three engines. The second pilot kept not only his seat, but his head, regained control of the aircraft, rolled it out to the left at a terrifyingly low height, and got everything working again—even the engines—in time to prevent a certainly fatal crash. a feat of not only considerable strength but magnificent pilotage.
Not having met anyone who was either party to or victim of this saga, I cannot give a description of what went on in either the cockpit or the cabin, but anjrone who has any imagination at all should be able to think up enough detail to keep themselves awake at night for a week!
(P.S.—The pilot who applied the control lock is no longer with the company!)
INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE
ANYTHING can happen in the United States. And it does! And lest anyone should think that the following saga is a Hollywood fairytale or a Texas *all-story, I can only say that there is an official Civil Aeronautics Board report on the whole affair. In any case, nobody could possibly think it up, and there are, moreover, some fifty-three people who will probably never forget it, although they would probably like to! It goes like this:
An early morning DC-4 flight of one of the most reputable and reliable of all the domestic airlines here was on its way to the West Coast with forty-eight passengers and a crew of five. Flying at some 8,000ft over the Western desert (it was not stated whether this height was indicated or above the ground), it suddenly started to climb, and continued to do so at an ever-increasing angle. It then dropped its nose violently, dived, bunted, was presumably completely inverted, was rolled out to the left at a height of under 1,000ft—and was flown back with its terrified occupants to the nearest airport and landed! Automatic pilot trouble, you think? Not a bit of it; apparently just a misplaced desire for knowledge.
There were on board three pilots, the normal scheduled captain,, his second pilot, and another captain who was on a familiarization flight, and who was at the time in the first pilot's seat flying the machine, with the regular captain sitting behind him on the " jump-seat." Perhaps with the thought of a recent crash on his mind, but without saying anything to either of the pilots who were at the controls, this captain engaged the gust, or control, lock, presumably in order to see what would happen! Quite naturally this froze the controls solid and in such a position that the machine began an ever-increasing climb.
To counteract this, and ignorant of the fact that the controls were locked, the pilot who was flying began to wind the trim tab forward. Naturally, nothing happened (and, in fact, this would make matters worse, because to fly an aircraft with locked elevators by means of the trim tabs—and it has been done—the wheel must be wound in reverse way to that normally applied). So the pilot wound a bit more, at which time the regular captain, still with out saying what he had done in the first place, took the gust lock off; the trim tabs naturally took complete control, and the aircraft dived and bunted! The only member of the cockpit crew who was strapped in was the second pilot, who kept in his seat, the other two being catapulted into the roof of the cockpit, where they hit three of the four feathering buttons and feathered three engines. The second pilot kept not only his seat, but his head, regained control of the aircraft, rolled it out to the left at a terrifyingly low height, and got everything working again—even the engines—in time to prevent a certainly fatal crash. a feat of not only considerable strength but magnificent pilotage.
Not having met anyone who was either party to or victim of this saga, I cannot give a description of what went on in either the cockpit or the cabin, but anjrone who has any imagination at all should be able to think up enough detail to keep themselves awake at night for a week!
(P.S.—The pilot who applied the control lock is no longer with the company!)