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After Alaska Airlines planes bump runway, a scramble to ‘pull the plug’
On the morning of Jan. 26, as two Alaska Airlines flights from Seattle to Hawaii lifted off six minutes apart, the pilots each felt a slight bump and the flight attendants at the back of the cabin heard a scraping noise. As the noses of both Boeing 737s lifted skyward on takeoff, their tails had scraped the runway. Alaska’s flight operations staff quickly realized that a software bug was sending bad takeoff weight data to its crews. (www.seattletimes.com) Altro...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
When the DC9 was first introduced (back in the dark ages) Good ole TTA or TIA (AKA- Treetop Airways) was notorious for tail strikes; you could see the skid marks on the paint.
Ahem. It wasn't just 4 pilots who missed the incorrect data. It was 30 flights, so roughly 60 pilots. Per the article: "Alaska says it operated 727 flights that day, of which just 30 took off with incorrect takeoff data. Only those two Hawaii-bound aircraft had tail strikes."
Charles, you are so right on.
Flying! Flying is holding the yoke with a light grip...fingers only; not a death grip and performing a fighter-type maneuver when you hear the word, "rotate". Rather, start a semi-slow rotation and let the airplane talk to you, does it "feel" like its ready to fly? As you approach 10 or so degrees nose up, has it lifted off? If it has not, hold roughly that attitude and wait for it to become airborne. Along the way, if it seems like the acceleration does not match the runway you see left, consider advancing the thrust levers. Lastly, if you haven't been in a light, GA airplane in a long time, perhaps you should venture out. I remind myself that "on any given day"...any of us can be caught off guard. Constant vigilance is the goal.
Taking off out of Denver on a really hot summer day at runway-limited weight and watching the end of the runway coming up doesn't really lend itself to nuanced rotation techniques. :)
Or Las Vegas when it's 118 in the shade!
Amen