Full-on 747 stall, it drops out of the sky!

[Keatah]

Crash just happened, supposedly it was a cargo plane full of armoured vehicles. Theory is one of them broke loose and cascaded and all the weight shifted backwards, then forwards. All sorts of instability going on here!

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Viral video provides clues to 747 crash - YouTube

Crash just happened, supposedly it was a cargo plane full of armoured vehicles. Theory is one of them broke loose and cascaded and all the weight shifted backwards, then forwards. All sorts of instability going on here!

This happened way back in late April - the CNN report is about the release of the preliminary report from NTSB.

 

[Keatah]

Of course.. I'd make a crappy news reporter..!

---------- Post added at 11:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:16 PM ----------

Just kinda weird and spooky seeing a big commercial jet at such an odd angle, seems wrong. Fighter jets on the other hand look normal while in any orientation.

 

[boogabooga]

Why did they not use a dedicated military heavy lift plane (C-5. C-17, etc.)? I believe that those were designed to handle over-sized military vehicles.

 

[Keatah]

Don't know. But the cargo wasn't much more than 100,000 pounds. This 747 weighed less at TO than the shuttle carrier, or a fully loaded passenger variant. Much less.

 

[Quick_Nick]

This was posted months ago as well. But I think it was just in the Video Thread rather than its own thread.

 

[Hielor]

Why did they not use a dedicated military heavy lift plane (C-5. C-17, etc.)? I believe that those were designed to handle over-sized military vehicles.

The exact same thing could've happened to them if the load wasn't properly tied down and the center of mass shifted far to the back.

 

[statickid]

Wow! Scary!!!

 

[Andy44]

Why did they not use a dedicated military heavy lift plane (C-5. C-17, etc.)? I believe that those were designed to handle over-sized military vehicles.

Because they need to move lots of stuff. Operating military transports is expensive and there are a limited number of planes for the job. It would take longer and put more hours on the airframes. The military routinely contracts out to commercial carriers for large movements of troops and equipment.

 

[boogabooga]

The exact same thing could've happened to them if the load wasn't properly tied down and the center of mass shifted far to the back.

But I suspect that the military cargo planes are better at securing over-sized, heavy cargo. Freighter 747s tend to haul packages, etc. I also suspect that they will find that the vehicles were tied down with the standard tie-down equipment and that no one bothered to check to see if the chain gauge was heavy enough to secure armored vehicles.

 

[Urwumpe]

But I suspect that the military cargo planes are better at securing over-sized, heavy cargo. Freighter 747s tend to haul packages, etc. I also suspect that they will find that the vehicles were tied down with the standard tie-down equipment and that no one bothered to check to see if the chain gauge was heavy enough to secure armored vehicles.

Not automatically - I remember 747s carrying similar cargo without problems. But the steeper take-off could have overloaded even the heavy-duty restraints.

The 747 carried five vehicles at a total mass of 80 (metric) tons, which means 16 tons on the average per vehicle. Even if just one of those got loose during such a take-off, you would have a big problem to get the nose down again.

 

[N_Molson]

I missed that one. Terrible disaster. May the crew RIP.

 

[statickid]

those last moments would be so absolutely surreal. tipping way back, then watching the ground come into view and falling at it ... shudder

 

[Urwumpe]

those last moments would be so absolutely surreal. tipping way back, then watching the ground come into view and falling at it ... shudder

I had seen this so often in a simulator, my reaction would likely be the same as the last thoughts of the petunia. :rofl:

 

[garyw]

O-F Staff note: Please keep this thread ON-TOPIC around the B747 crash. The comments about 'surviving' death have been moved here.

 

[OrbitalConfusion]

This crash is bothersome. As much as it also bothers me to watch old birds get chopped up in that graveyard out in Arizona.. The biggest bother though is the crew on board. Their thoughts, as this was happening. I assume they were attempting to perform a tactical TO were you race to 10k feet in order to avoid ground fire. With that said, I guess the steep climb is what set this into motion. The NTSB has a habit of saying its not just one thing but a series of events that make an accident possible. I wonder how this all played out and why.

To the crew and their families, I am sorry. I hope valuable lessons are learned from this as its the only good that can come from it.

 

[MattBaker]

What strikes me is that the autopilot was engaged until the last second. On the one hand that means they either didn't realize the problem or thought the autopilot might fix it. On the other hand that could mean a problem in the autopilot systems which could be a potential danger to A300s everywhere.
I mean, I wouldn't like it if the autopilot of my plane just leads to a stall before landing...

EDIT: I'm not able to delete this, no? If a mod could please put this in the right place? Thanks. Mea culpa.

 

[Codz]

What strikes me is that the autopilot was engaged until the last second. On the one hand that means they either didn't realize the problem or thought the autopilot might fix it. On the other hand that could mean a problem in the autopilot systems which could be a potential danger to A300s everywhere.
I mean, I wouldn't like it if the autopilot of my plane just leads to a stall before landing...

This is about the National Airlines 747 at Bagram. The UPS A300 thread is here.