I don't ever recall a crash at SFO, which has always given me a false sense of security every time I land there (couple times per month on averae), especially because you're over water right until touchdown.
Per H, Asian airlines are apparently known for carrying bare minimum fuel, in order to avoid having to circle (common for SFO)...so he wonders if they ran out of fuel (although the fire ball indicates they still were carrying fuel)
I just read Sheryl Sandberg was suppose to be on the flight with her family but switch over to United to use FF miles.
There was a glideslope out of service on that runway. This might have been a problem if they attempted to land with autopilot on I guess.
What is a glideslope?
You're refering to a glideslope indicator, which is part of the radar system. If they're not working, the autopilot will not work and the plane must be landed manually. Often, the runway will actually be closed if they're not working.
Per H, Asian airlines are apparently known for carrying bare minimum fuel, in order to avoid having to circle (common for SFO)...so he wonders if they ran out of fuel (although the fire ball indicates they still were carrying fuel)
I just read Sheryl Sandberg was suppose to be on the flight with her family but switch over to United to use FF miles.
Jet fuel fumes will burn too, so it might have been out or low on fuel.
You're refering to a glideslope indicator, which is part of the radar system. If they're not working, the autopilot will not work and the plane must be landed manually. Often, the runway will actually be closed if they're not working.
That's not true. You can do a localizer only approach or many other non precision approaches to the runway. Even if the whole ILS is out of service that does not close the runway.
You're refering to a glideslope indicator, which is part of the radar system. If they're not working, the autopilot will not work and the plane must be landed manually. Often, the runway will actually be closed if they're not working.
That's not true. You can do a localizer only approach or many other non precision approaches to the runway. Even if the whole ILS is out of service that does not close the runway.
You would still have a manual element to the landing. You cant do it entirely automatically. And I said often close the runway, not always.
Post by sherbanator on Jul 6, 2013 21:29:12 GMT -5
I'm not disagreeing on how to fly a plane. I am telling you that you are wrong that an out of service gs or ILS often closes a runway. That is simply not true.
That's not true. You can do a localizer only approach or many other non precision approaches to the runway. Even if the whole ILS is out of service that does not close the runway.
You would still have a manual element to the landing. You cant do it entirely automatically. And I said often close the runway, not always.
Airline pilots land airplanes "manually" (without the autopilot being engaged) every single day. Not every runway has an instrument landing system (though most do). An airline pilot is perfectly capable of landing an airplane without ground based landing guidance. It is too early to speculate the cause of this particular accident.
They said it was the pilots first flight on this style of plane as a full fledged pilot. But with all the hours of training and copiloting required - plus the copilot himself, it's hard to imagine lack of experience was a real factor.