Passengers shriek and sob as plane plummets
 

Gross over-reaction again from the press and some passengers :rolleyes:!! (In 16,000 hrs of flying I've experienced a "plummet")

Passengers screamed as an Air New Zealand plane plummeted for several seconds when one of its engines failed during a flight.

About 95 passengers and five crew members were on the Boeing 737 during the early-morning flight from Auckland to Wellington yesterday.

Nobody was hurt but the plane made an emergency landing at Hamilton Airport, where three fire crews were on standby.

Sarah Craven, 25, was in a seat next to the right engine when it suddenly shut down about half-way through the flight.

"There was a burst of flame and some smoke and then the whole plane shuddered. We plummeted left for about three seconds and then straightened up."

She and other passengers were terrified.

"Lots of people went, `Oh my God!', or yelped. A few people started crying. The poor guy in front of me had a panic attack and needed an oxygen mask."

Passengers were left wondering what had happened for several minutes till crew righted the plane and were able to reassure everyone they could land safely with one engine.

"The pilot came on and said, `We've lost the right engine but we've practised this procedure hundreds of times'."

The plane began heading back to Auckland, but ended up landing in Hamilton because a few passengers were still very distressed, Miss Craven said.

Crew members were "amazing". "I don't know how they stayed so chipper."

Once the plane had landed, some passengers were ferried back to Auckland by bus so they could be rebooked on other flights. Others chose to rent cars to drive the rest of the way to Wellington.

Mike O'Donnell, who was sitting near the front of the aircraft, said that after landing in Hamilton the pilot told passengers it was the first time an Air New Zealand 737 had had a total loss of engine. "[He said] we were part of history."

An Air New Zealand spokesman said engineers were investigating the cause of the engine failure, possibly low oil pressure.

- The Dominion Post

Very appropriate post sir, given your prune name.:ok:

As a passenger I have been on planes were people shreaked at bit of sink on climbout, and cried when thumping through storm clouds (well it was the London tornado). So, seems all very likely.

Nomen Omen :E

Ulxima

ahhh the dreaded and much feared Plummet left. infinatly more fear inducing than the shift down, or fall upwards.. :hmm::ugh:

Nothing like a good dose of plummeting to sell newspapers.

By the way, anyone noticed the steady transition from Plunged, mandatory in such accounts some years ago, to Plummeted ?

or the plunger

New R/T phraseology to be introduced to stay abreast of modern language use:

"Climb to....I mean, negative plummet to F230"

"Plummet left, heading 270"

"Maintain 3500 until established. Clear ILS plummet."

"Lost radar contact. Descend to 3000. Report plummeting."

ahh.. the experts, as always, are quick to dismiss the seriousness of the situation and the fear of the passengers.

Here is an admittedly second hand report of the accident from another aviation forum, but....

"Yesterday my lovely wife was flying on a 737-300 Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Wellington. Half way through the hour flight at 33000ft, there was a loud bang and smoke and a quick orange flash issued from the right engine which she was observing at the time. The aircraft took a major lurch to the right and she said that that wing dropped to about 45degrees, followed by a lurch to the left with that wing dropping to a lesser degree. There was a smell of smoke in the cabin. The engine was shut down, and the aircraft returned to Hamilton. (the closest airport)
As you may well imagine there was a great deal of fear among the passengers with one needing medical attention.
To me the the most ridiculous part of the incident was the Air New Zealand spokesman stating that the aircraft had a drop in oil pressure and the engine was shut down.
I understand the pilot behaved impeccably, but I suspect that there was a sudden stoppage of the engine, and the input of rudder was delayed and was over compensated.
Tears in the early hours of this morning made me understand how harrowing it had been for all on board!"

NSEU – I think many of those here (inc myself) are simply alluding to the fact that the Media prefer to sensationalise events thereby amplifying the often groundless fears people have meaning that, over time, people start to expect the worst.

One also has to realise that hysteria breeds hysteria – and it seems the media just love that and use it deliberately to “sell” a story to the Editor on Duty. The whole report I alluded to was the Reporter desperately (and obviously) feeding totally leading questions to this bloke off the flight to get the right sensational soundbites culminating in the “near death” question. It was media sensationalism at it’s very worst! The two aircraft never came anywhere near each other as the go-around aircraft was almost leveling off for the return to the ILS as it overflew the airfield.

Anyone seen “And next, an XYZ Boeing 737 carried out a pre-planned go-around at Luton airport earlier today. Such events, while rare, are practiced continually in refresher training and are perfectly normal … in fact, I’ve no idea why I’m actually reporting this non-story! Sorry, moving swiftly on… Yesterday, President Obama met with the Russian… ”

Your event sounds different to the routine events I refer to but, maybe Airlines et al (take any industry you care to mention) now tend to over-play-down events knowing that the media will simply ramp it up out of all proportion anyway. Ah, mind-games – seemingly what life is all about these days – sadly! :ugh:

For any pax report of bank angle, rate of descent, etc, always divide by two at least.

Took Mrs WHBM :) up first trip in the PA28, did a Rate 1 360 degree turn. Back on the ground asked her how steep it was and took a photograph of her impression - it's about 89 degrees bank !

I agree that the drip-drip of hysteria from one event to the next builds fear. However, you cannot prove this.

This is an interesting juxtaposition from the report in the opening post of the thread:
Speaking as one who is calmly on the ground, I don't think you can call a 'three seconds' a 'plummet' Firstly because of the dictionary definition:
plummet
· v. (plummeted, plummeting) fall or drop straight down at high speed. decrease rapidly in value or amount.
Secondly because the colloquial interpretation of 'plummet' is of an extended time, such as more than fifteen seconds. When does a fall become a plummet, or a plunge? These questions are irrelevant to the media these days. The only question is: What sounds good?

Flying incidents are featured more strongly because, firstly, more people fly and so there is a legitimate interest in flying. Secondly, the simple commercial need to sell the radio/TV bulletin, or the paper for the advertising - just old fashioned business. Thirdly, because of the plethora of news sources - rolling 24 hour news in particular - even the smallest item becomes fodder to fill the space. The second two feed upon themselves, spinning into the ground.

Expect more of the same. Expect it to get worse.

I suggest this treatment for anyone ever suffering withdrawal symptoms from this type of report: The Lazy Journalists Plane Story Generator

OK ...



Technical Glitch Scares Passengers

Australian passengers told of their terrible scare aboard a Tasmanian bound Compass flight which was politely asked to return to Perth yesterday due to coffee tasting good.

Some passengers were offended that the 943 passengers were told few details of the kerfuffle.

They said the plane 'Seemed normal, but everyone knew it was posessed by the Devil' before turning around.

As a precaution, fire trucks were on standby when the Aero-spatiale IL-96 landed.

Passenger Bill Smith last night was still recovering from the ordeal.

'It's a good thing I was wearing the brown underwear', the passenger said.

Whenever I read of an incident on a plane - whether a plummet, a drop, a passenger panic or whatever - followed by the inevitable airline spokesman (who wasn't there) shrugging it off as a momentary malfunction exaggerated by the press, further followed by know-alls (who also weren't there - but you've just posted, so you will know who you all are) similarly sneering at the reports, my mind goes back to the time I was a pax on a BA flight NY-LHR.
Over the Atlantic the cabin was filled with klaxons and a shouty recorded voice telling us to prepare to land on water and to adopt the brace position. The passengers not unreasonably did their fair share of screaming; two of the cabin crew, a man and a woman, raced up and down the aisle yelling 'We're going to die'. Far from offering comfort to pax, one of them, the lady, defecated herself.
After what seemed like ages, but was probably no more than ten seconds, the alarm was switched off and the captain came on to explain that it had been activated by a malfunction. Free drinks all round.
When the plane landed, we were met by a lot of BA staff who shepherded us through some back corridors. Our bags were delivered to a lounge and we were escorted out of the terminal, away from other passengers and the press. We were told BA would be in touch with us to compensate for our experience
Next day, in spite of BA's efforts to hush it up, the story appeared in several papers. Exactly as it had happened. I could not fault the accuracy of the reports. But it was firmly denied by BA that there had been any panic on board. The shouty warning had hardly gone off, it was claimed, before it was shut down. The cabin crew remained in full control at all times. The passengers knew different. A few days later came a letter of apology from BA, some chocolates, wine, and air miles.
So when I read the 'official' account, according to the airline, of similar incidents, far from blaming the messenger - the press - as so many of you are so quick to do, thereby playing into the errant airline's hands, I prefer to weigh up my own experience of what happened to me.

Read this - especially the readers' comments - for some real hysteria: Tel Aviv - EL-AL Flight En Route to NY Lands Safely After Gear Malfunction -- VosIzNeias.com

so the same as every other BA flight then! :confused:

I only scared myself
 

As hang gliding student, in the lower quartile of the ability range, I once heard my instructor shouting up at me 'For God's sake relax, if you hold the control bar that tightly, you will kill yourself'.:O

I am aware of the safety demo tape incident on BA but have never heard of the cabin crew panic part.

That did happen on a Virgin flight whilst in heavy turbulence and a stewardess started screaming 'we are all going to die'. Whilst she was accurate in her assessment that eventually we will all die it was not going to happen at that moment in time:)