The remains of the aircraft involved in the Miracle of the Hudson,anAirbus A320 (registrationN106US) was sent to theCarolinas Aviation Museumin Charlotte, NC. "For an aircraft travelling at about 125mph, that's carnage. SIMON: So your plane's going down. Without engine thrust, a 747-200 has a glide ratio of approximately 15:1, meaning it can glide forward 15 kilometres for every kilometre it drops. As he climbed the stairs of the Jumbo he noticed puffs of "smoke" billowing from the vents in the floor and detected an acrid smell. And we got to 13,000 feet and one engine started. This is precisely what happened to one Flybe captain in 2014. Please review our, You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. The first sign that something untoward was happening had been unusually intense St Elmos fire playing across the windscreen accompanied by an acrid smoke. To mark the 10th anniversary of the Miracle on the Hudson, we recount the tales of heroic pilots who really earned their hefty salaries. The subsequent explosive decompression saw part of the floor at the rear of the cabin give way, severing a control cable and disabling one of the engines. Can hair really turn white overnight? As pressure within the cabin fell, oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling an automatic emergency measure to make up for the lack of air. After being assessed for post-traumatic stress disorder, Burkill returned to the cockpit five months later. All four engines have stopped. Eric Moody also showed little sign of being terrified as he managed to make an emergency landing at Jakarta airport later he discovered that a plume of ash from a volcano had knocked out all four engines. Shortly after that, engines one and two successfully restarted as well. The only way to go faster, and avoiding stalling, was to take a steeper approach. As the ash entered the engines, it melted in the combustion chambers and adhered to the inside of the power-plant. Moody's announcement was actually more than that. Eventually, the overall effect of a combination of coloured and colourless hair, especially in people with dark hair, is grey. The captain considered getting the co-pilot to take control but concluded that, given the time available and the challenging conditions, his best course of action was to move his right hand from the power levers on to the yoke to regain control. It was, in Moody's words, "a bit like negotiating one's way up abadger's arse.". Accuracy and availability may vary. He just wanted to get the plane on the ground. From November, 1981, to September, 1986, he coordinated all the FBIs Labor Racketeering investigations. This is your captain speaking. Furthermore, the dust sandblasted the windscreen, making it almost impossible to see. It wasn't me any more than the other two on the flight deck. Up in the cockpit, Moody and his team were working overtime. Passengers reportedly scribbled notes to loved ones (one, by Charles Capewell, read: "Ma. Moody's announcement was actually more than that. This episode was repeated a number of times when the Eyjafjallajkull volcano caused a large-scale shutdown of European airspace. You can hear more Medical Myths on Health Check on the BBC World Service. There were 152 people on board and we were all going to die.". After leaving the ground, however, a turbine disc failure set the right engine alight and caused panic on board. With nerves of steel, the captain, Eric Moody, miraculously landed the plane. Born in Savannah, Ga and growing up in Hinesville, I was always close to saltwater. I trust you are not in too much distress. A fascinating picture of airmanship and teamwork. We were down at 12,000 feet then. We finish on a slightly comical note. Captain Chris Henkey and the crew of the Boeing 777-200 bound for Londons Gatwick airport from Las Vegas had to abandon the takeoff partway down the runway when one of the two engines caught fire. Moody used autopilot to glide the plane into a gentle descent. This is your captain speaking. All four engines have stopped. And there's no doubt if we'd gone to the bottom of the Java Trench of Indonesia, which is about, I think, six or seven thousand feet deep, I think to this day I'd have still be getting the blame. Looking out the side windows of the cockpit, the crew noticed the front of the engines were glowing as if lit inside. Heading for Perth, Australia, the weather forecast for the five-hour journey was good and the crew were anticipating an uneventful flight. The events around one British Airways flight in 1982 reveal the potential dangers of this sort of dust. Its a common tale, even said to have happened to Marie Antoinette. Moody hadnt a clue why. The process behind this is not well understood. WebCaptain Eric Moody was later praised for a cabin announcement that was described as "a masterpiece of understatement." MOODY: No. A flight attendant grabbed Lancaster to keep him from flying away. Here are five other pilots who managed remarkable emergency landings. The BBC is not liable for the contents of any external internet sites listed, nor does it endorse any commercial product or service mentioned or advised on any of the sites. A dry sense of perspective that probably did more to relax the passengers than thousands of words of explanation ever could have. The captain, Eric Moody, tried to reassure passengers with the following statement: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. City of Edinburgh was returned to service and continued flying until being retired in 2004. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. From November, 1981, to September, 1986, he coordinated all the FBIs Labor Racketeering investigations. With cabin pressure dropping, the flight crew needs to get on oxygen but the first officers mask has problems and there is a risk he might succumb to hypoxia. Despite the weather radar showing clear skies, the crew switched on engine anti-ice and the passenger seat belt signs as a precaution. Once the flight cleared the ash cloud, the crew was able to restart each engine and then make a safe landing at Anchorage.[12]. The cloud sandblasted the windscreen and landing light covers and clogged the engines. She managed to trace some 200 of the 247 passengers on the flight, and went on to marry a fellow survivor, James Ferguson, who had been seated in the row in front of her. But he took voluntary redundancy in August 2009 and criticised BA over its handling of the incident, claiming he had been "hung out to dry". The captain, Eric Moody, tried to reassure passengers with the following statement: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. The best explanation for it is not that the hair changes colour, but that the pigmented hairs fall out. Eventually, after quarter of an hour without any power, the engines were brought back to life. The resulting explosive decompression tore off a larger section of the roof, and a 57-year-old flight attendant called Clarabelle Lansing was swept from her seat and out of the hole in the aircraft. The BBC is not responsible or liable for any diagnosis made by a user based on the content of this site. Jan 31 Saints and Broncos are finalizing compensation in return for Super Bowl-winning HC Sean Payton, sources tell ESPN. Broncos fans: 0:11 1.6M views Eventually, the engines came back to life after the molten ash that clogged the engines solidified and broke off. The aircraft was diverted to Jakarta in the hope that enough engines could be restarted to allow it to land there. Because the ash cloud was dry, it did not appear on the weather radar, which was designed to detect the moisture in clouds. Capt Moody was piloting a 263-seater British Airways Boeing 747 flight from London to Auckland in June 1982 when he ran into an ash plume erupting from Mount Galunggung in Java, Indonesia. WebCaptain Eric Moody was later praised for a cabin announcement that was described as "a masterpiece of understatement." We have a small problem. "The commander's decision to land the aircraft immediately on the runway remaining was sensible in the circumstances," anAir Accidents Investigation Branch report concluded. But as Claudia Hammond finds out, it is difficult to get to the root of the problem. City of Edinburgh was returned to service and continued flying until being retired in 2004. We have a small problem. [1] The phenomenon persisted after Moody returned from the lavatory. Moody hadnt a clue why. However, Jakarta Area Control misunderstood the message, interpreting the call as meaning that only engine number four had shut down. According to Chinese media, the pilot, named He Chao, was at the helm of an Airbus A320-200, preparing to take off from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. Will do best for boys. We did things that were outside the book. New York, New York, United States. Moody swiftly decided to descend at 1,800m per minute to an altitude where there was enough pressure in the outside atmosphere to breathe almost normally. MOODY: We'll, we didn't find out for sure until two days later, which was quite a worrying period because pilots always think that they're going to get the blame for whatever happens in an airplane. Perhaps the best known incident of recent times, involving the most brilliantly monikered pilot. Shortly thereafter, engine three restarted, allowing him to climb slowly. Despite the lack of time, Moody made an announcement to the passengers that has been described as "a masterpiece of understatement":[3]. But this doesnt explain other anecdotal tales, for instance in young people who would have so few white hairs that if all their darker hair fell any white hairs remaining would be very sparse. Sign up for notifications from Insider! The reason for the failure was not immediately apparent to the crew or ground control. Despite the crew "squawking" the emergency transponder setting of 7700, the aeroplane could not be located by Air Traffic Control on their radar screens. One study showed that hair naturally greys through the same chemical used to bleach hair from bottles. Effective date of retirement is no later than August 1, 2022. Out of the 175 people on board, 125 died in the accident. It was scrapped at Bournemouth Airport, Dorset, England, in 2009. Pearson initially thought a fuel pump had failed but soon realized the engines had lost power, and was able to glide the Boeing 767-233 safely to an emergency landing at Gimli Industrial Park airport. I was always brought up to expect the aeroplane might break any minute, he adds. Airports are being closed across the UK after dust which spewed from a volcano in Iceland, began drifting southwards. WebDespite the lack of time, Moody made an announcement to the passengers that has been described as "a masterpiece of understatement": Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Engines one, two and three were replaced at Jakarta, as well as the windscreen, and the fuel tanks were cleared of the ash that had entered them through the pressurisation ducts, contaminating the fuel and requiring that it be disposed of. Luckily, Captain Bob Pearson was an experienced glider pilot, guiding the 767 to RCAF Station Gimli. But quite honestly, a pilot flies his feet, and wherever he goes the rest of the airplane follows. It was only after a Singapore Airlines 747 was forced to shut down three of its engines while flying through the same area nineteen days later (13 July) that Indonesian authorities closed the airspace permanently and rerouted airways to avoid the area; a watch was set up to monitor clouds of ash. All four engines on a Boeing 747 failed at 37,000ft after the plane flew through volcanic ash while passing over Jakarta on 24 June 1982. "That's not unusual in high wispy cloud. McCormick managed to perform an emergency landing in Detroit with no casualties or major injuries. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider I trust you are not in too much distress. And the airplane actually landed itself. Little has changed since our flight. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. After landing, the flight crew found it impossible to taxi, due to glare from apron floodlights which made the already sandblasted windscreen opaque. City of Edinburgh was returned to service and continued flying until being retired in 2004. [6] The crew subsequently requested and expedited an increase in altitude in order to clear the high mountains of Indonesia.[7]. Sorry. It blew four tyres when it landed, but no one was hurt. We have a small problem. "; The passenger jet effectively turned into a glider, Capt Moody accepting an award after his safe handling of the crisis, Clare Wickett, a flight attendant on BA 009, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites, How the world's oldest clove tree defied an empire, Why Royal Ballet principal Sergei Polunin quit, How Captain Eric Moodys brush with volcanic ash became aircraft lore-2 hrs ago, Why is volcanic ash a threat? At 13,500 feet (4,100m), the crew was approaching the altitude at which they would have to turn over the ocean and attempt a risky ditching. You just need the ability to think calmly through. Copyright 2010 NPR. an industry where women are still an extreme minority, part of the planes windshield came loose. He strongly believes pilots should learn to think beyond the process of following checklists and procedures by rote. Within seconds, and almost simultaneously, engines one and three flamed out, prompting the flight engineer to exclaim, "I don't believe itall four engines have failed!"[3]. The crew decided that if the aircraft was unable to maintain altitude by the time they reached 12,000 feet (3,700m) they would turn back out to sea and attempt to ditch into the Indian Ocean. He says pilots of his era expected things to go wrong and thought ahead about what they would do when that happened. Airmanship may sound old school but former British Airways captain Eric Moody argues it is just as important now as it was when he and his crew struggled to restart all 4 engines on his Boeing 747-200 in 1982. Hamble was strong on airmanship and those early lessons stuck with Moody throughout his career. It was, in Moody's words, "a bit like negotiating one's way up a badger's arse. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. [3] Flight 9 was not the first encounter with this eruption a Garuda DC-9 had encountered ash on 5 April 1982.[8]. It wasnt until sometime after landing that the crew discovered volcanic ash was the cause of the engine failures. Although there were guidelines for the water landing procedure, no one had ever tried it in a Boeing 747, nor has anyone since. All they knew was that the jumbo jet, which was en route to Perth from Kuala Lumpur as part of a London-Auckland trip, had become a glider. 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