Jet2 evacuation at Blackpool
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Jet2 evacuation at Blackpool
A Jet2 aircraft was evacuated after landing at Blackpool due to smoke being seen.
BBC News - Plane at Blackpool Airport evacuated after smoke spotted
BBC News - Plane at Blackpool Airport evacuated after smoke spotted
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A bad week for Jet2. They lost pressurisation on a PFO-NCL a couple of days ago.
More photos here http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=166772
More photos here http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=166772
Last edited by M-ONGO; 7th Jun 2014 at 19:01.
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Unless it has been extended in the last few years, that is a pretty short runway, so braking would be fairly hard, especially for a 300 compared to an NG. How much smoke was seen and at what point would be interesting - I have occasionally seen brakes smoking when a 73 has rocked up on stand, and while it shows they're pretty hot, it doesn't signify much more than that unless the smoke is profuse. I think I'd be inclined to have the fire crews come out but not to evacuate unless flames were seen. Still, hindsight is easy and it's always better to err on the safe side, especially with smoke and fire.
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Still, hindsight is easy and it's always better to err on the safe side, especially with smoke and fire.
Blackpool shows 1869m.
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What I don't understand is this - if ATC advises them that they have smoke coming from their landing gear and they are still on the runway, why would they retract the flaps instead of keeping them extended for a possible evacuation? Did they already backtrack and rush to do their after landing items on the runway? Or did they maybe already land flapless and therefore keep the overwing exits closed (would obviously explain the hot brakes on Blackpool's 1900m runway 
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If I you're landing with no flaps I very much doubt anyone would select BLK to land there unless there was an absolute dire need to get on the ground and even then it's likely they would have over-ran. By a LONG way.
MAN is just down the road with two nice longish runways. PIK is up the road too. So I doubt very much this was a flight control or flap/slat issue although I'm happy to be proven wrong.
MAN is just down the road with two nice longish runways. PIK is up the road too. So I doubt very much this was a flight control or flap/slat issue although I'm happy to be proven wrong.
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Exactly... Even stranger then to see this 733 evacuated with its flaps up and the overwing exits closed. Maybe someone here knows if its Jet2 SOP to set Flaps 40 by memory...
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If we think back to the Jet2 GLA rejected takeoff I'm pretty sure that the flaps were set to 40 and that passengers evacuated via the over wings. I remember reading in the Daily Fail the terror when they realised the slides on the wings didn't inflate (perhaps they didn't inflate because there are none?).
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It's longer than I remember it, but I confess I only went there once or twice a decade ago, in the wet and dark in mid winter! Still, smoking brakes aren't dictated by runway length but braking effort.
The fact the flaps were up suggests any ATC comment, if correctly reported, must have been made during taxy or after parking. I think it's likely the aircraft was already stopped when the smoke was spotted - brakes probably wouldn't generate enough smoke for it to be visible at 10kts or more, from what I've seen in the past. Now that I've said that, of course, I'll be wrong.
Regardless, it would be helpful if any photos or video of the smoke exists so we can see the amount present.
Edit: I just read the Blackpool Gazette article posted in the Jet2 thread in "Airlines and Routes" and it quotes an airport spokesperson in mentioning an undercarriage hydraulic leak. That could be a big factor, or it could be utter rubbish. Guess we'll have to wait for some reliable information. The article also says a slide failed, but who knows if the pax or media were expecting to see slides from the overwing exits?
The fact the flaps were up suggests any ATC comment, if correctly reported, must have been made during taxy or after parking. I think it's likely the aircraft was already stopped when the smoke was spotted - brakes probably wouldn't generate enough smoke for it to be visible at 10kts or more, from what I've seen in the past. Now that I've said that, of course, I'll be wrong.
Regardless, it would be helpful if any photos or video of the smoke exists so we can see the amount present.
Edit: I just read the Blackpool Gazette article posted in the Jet2 thread in "Airlines and Routes" and it quotes an airport spokesperson in mentioning an undercarriage hydraulic leak. That could be a big factor, or it could be utter rubbish. Guess we'll have to wait for some reliable information. The article also says a slide failed, but who knows if the pax or media were expecting to see slides from the overwing exits?
Last edited by Aluminium shuffler; 7th Jun 2014 at 20:15.
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Confused here
A report is made of smoke in the vicinity of the right engine/main gear/wing.
What person in their right mind would instigate an evacuation into that area via overwing exits or even suggest a captain was at fault for not doing so.
A report is made of smoke in the vicinity of the right engine/main gear/wing.
What person in their right mind would instigate an evacuation into that area via overwing exits or even suggest a captain was at fault for not doing so.
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The OWEs are self help exits, operated by passengers who pay close attention to the safety briefing (don't they?). In this case it could have been passenger aware of what was going on outside and, correctly, didn't open it or forgot everything they were told and buggered orf out of a door. Who knows.
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West lakes, if you're referring to my comment, then all I can say is that is all the article said! The article said a slide failed, the photo only shows the two rear slides in use and the right overwing closed, which would be appropriate for a fire or significant smoke in the wing area. The front of the fuselage and left overwing are not visible. No judgement in my part over that - it worries me more whether all companies train their cabin crew well enough to check exterior threats well enough and think whether opening the door is the right thing to do. Glad to see in this case they made a good call.
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If you look at the photos on Aviation Herald the first one shows fire fighters inspecting the area with all doors CLOSED.
This suggests it was more of a planned evacuation so exit choices were probably made
The aircraft stopped on the runway, emergency services responded and recommended evacuation of the aircraft. The occupants of the aircraft subsequently left the aircraft via slides onto the runway.
What person in their right mind would instigate an evacuation into that area via overwing exits
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SOP's and idiots.
Here we have an aircraft evacuated on advice received from the emergency services, no one is hurt, the aircraft is not damaged and because of advice from the emergency services who would have been far better placed to view the incident the over wing exits are not used so the passengers are not dumped on top of a potential fire.
All good airmanship and CRM on the part of the pilots, cabin crew & fire service.
Yet above we have the SOP police commenting about the flaps not set to 40 and the over wing exits not being used.
I would like to remind some of you that SOP's alone will not keep you safe they are just a building block for flight safety, sometimes the SOP is the wrong thing to do, and sometimes the rules have to be broken to assure safety of the aircraft, any person who fails to understand this should no be let out without adult supervision.
Fortunately it would seem that all involved with this incident were wise enough to understand the difference between doing the correct thing ( SOP evacuation ) and doing the right thing ( safe evacuation).
All good airmanship and CRM on the part of the pilots, cabin crew & fire service.
Yet above we have the SOP police commenting about the flaps not set to 40 and the over wing exits not being used.
I would like to remind some of you that SOP's alone will not keep you safe they are just a building block for flight safety, sometimes the SOP is the wrong thing to do, and sometimes the rules have to be broken to assure safety of the aircraft, any person who fails to understand this should no be let out without adult supervision.
Fortunately it would seem that all involved with this incident were wise enough to understand the difference between doing the correct thing ( SOP evacuation ) and doing the right thing ( safe evacuation).
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Maybe this is the "evacuation" which raises the important questions of how and when should we evacuate. What is clear is that our current policies are criminally lacking. For a start, I don't think we shouldn't be doing "precautionary evacuations." In general, because most aircraft are not fitted with integral air stairs, we should either do a full evacuation or nothing at all. This is because we are not trained to do "half evacuations". Our training is "evacuate" and that's it, shooting from the hip in critical situations like this doesn't work. I'll also throw another one in here as well. If you have a "smoke" problem, you should consider where you will be parked. Airport staff should not connect an airbridge to an aircraft they suspect of having a problem such as this. And if they did, the door to the terminal should be locked. Which would generate additional problems for PAX emerging from a sick aircraft.
We should also question the value of evacuation advice from airport fire crews. These poor sods play table tennis and volley ball day after day and every new and again put out yet another practice fire. They rarely get up close and personal with aircraft; partly because there are not enough of them on shift to allow them to wonder around the apron learning about aircraft from engineers - if the security Gestapo would allow such activity in the first place. Therefore, I'll suggest they will play "safe" and get you to evacuate.
As for this event, we have some interesting questions such as why were the flaps up and why were the over wing exits not used? Why did they evacuate? I wasn't there so I won't judge the crew, but it would be nice to know. Also Bloggs and LSM throw in their "right on the money" comments as well. Combine this with the previous Jet2 (please, I'm not having a go at Jet2, it's just that it was them) evacuation at GLA and we might be able to come up with a better way of dealing with not only "real" evacuations but also those occasions where something is not right, but where an evacuation is not the most prudent course of action.
We should also question the value of evacuation advice from airport fire crews. These poor sods play table tennis and volley ball day after day and every new and again put out yet another practice fire. They rarely get up close and personal with aircraft; partly because there are not enough of them on shift to allow them to wonder around the apron learning about aircraft from engineers - if the security Gestapo would allow such activity in the first place. Therefore, I'll suggest they will play "safe" and get you to evacuate.
As for this event, we have some interesting questions such as why were the flaps up and why were the over wing exits not used? Why did they evacuate? I wasn't there so I won't judge the crew, but it would be nice to know. Also Bloggs and LSM throw in their "right on the money" comments as well. Combine this with the previous Jet2 (please, I'm not having a go at Jet2, it's just that it was them) evacuation at GLA and we might be able to come up with a better way of dealing with not only "real" evacuations but also those occasions where something is not right, but where an evacuation is not the most prudent course of action.
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As a pilot and more often SLF who likes the OTW exit seats... Cap. Blogg brings up a very valid point.
Yes l am prepared to open the door when told to, and get out of the plane/way.
I have also thought as l sit down, What would l do if and when.... do l blindly open and jump or do l make an executive decision after looking and assessing the situation.
Would the flt crew announce which side and or which doors ......??
Yes l am prepared to open the door when told to, and get out of the plane/way.
I have also thought as l sit down, What would l do if and when.... do l blindly open and jump or do l make an executive decision after looking and assessing the situation.
Would the flt crew announce which side and or which doors ......??