Sky Airlines Chile 737 near miss on landing
 

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

News in Spanish with pictures of damaged wing after go around

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

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

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.

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.

Also on the ground:

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.

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

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/.../DCA_LDA19.gif

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 ?

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

...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...?

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

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...

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?

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

and

Case solved then :mad:

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

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.)

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

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

F Y I...

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