- Barajas: Aeronautical experts point to wheel fatigue or an obstacle on the runway as causes of the Air Canada plane case
- Emergency: The Air Canada plane flying without a wheel and without an engine lands emergency in Madrid
The successful emergency landing of the Air Canada 837 flight at the Madrid airport once again brings to the table the debate about whether we are facing a new stroke of good luck or if flying really remains the safest form of transport.
What really happened? Unlike other countries, the Spanish aeronautical authorities do not usually give data on incidents or air accidents until the investigation is well advanced. The same does not happen, for example, in the US. Therefore, it is only possible to conjecture about the most probable, according to the witnesses and the crew itself: in the takeoff run of the B-767, one of the eight wheels of the main train burst. As a result, part of the resulting material affected an engine of the device, which was inoperative. A new crew of heroes? The crew was well trained to perform the maneuver, both the take-off with a blowout and engine failure, like the landing with one less engine and one wheel out of order. In fact, all pilots review this procedure every six months in a simulator. That said, the crew acted impeccably. Why didn't the pilot stop the plane when he detected the blowout of the wheel? Once a certain speed is exceeded in the take-off run (V1 is his technical name) you have to try lift the plane, because from V1 there is no physical space left to safely stop the plane. And the engine failure? Everything indicates that the material of the busted wheel was absorbed by the number one engine, the left one. Most likely, these remains caused damage to the interior of the system and the pilots acted according to the recommended procedure: turn it off before bad combustion or excessive vibrations put the flight at real risk. Was there no danger then? It is designed to take off with a single engine without any problem. The uniqueness of the AC 837 incident is that the manual indicates that when an engine is lost at take-off, air resistance must be minimized by raising the landing gear immediately. But, having produced a blowout in it, retracting the train is not indicated by the possibility that the damages are greater than those estimated and cause damage to the structure of the device.Then, do we climb or do not get on the train? the key to everything that happened in the incident (not an accident) of the Air Canada flight, although there has been no talk about it. In order to take off with a less engine they had to climb the landing gear. But they shouldn't do it after the blowout. The theory says, in general, that with a single engine and the train down, the plane will not rise. The result would have been catastrophic had he not had a very well trained crew and, surely, with a gradual loss of engine power, not totally sudden. Most likely, even having the landing gear deployed, the affected turbine could offer enough power for a few minutes, until the engine in good condition took over all the necessary thrust, even with the train down. This is the only difference with other cases of landing with a single engine and / or with damage to the landing gear: the moment at which both failures occurred. Why didn't it land immediately? If the other engine is in good condition , it is prudent to burn fuel before. Not to avoid a major fire in case it crashes. But to reduce the total weight of the ship: the airplanes are not designed to land with the same weight with which they take off, because the fuel is consumed during the flight. If it had been essential, the B-767 would have landed with all its kerosene load, but the chances of causing irreparable damage to the ship and passengers would have been high. And why didn't it release the fuel as in other cases? -767 does not have valves to release fuel in the air. He has to burn it. To accelerate the process, it was blown very low: the greater the amount of oxygen, the greater the consumption of kerosene. Why was the track not covered with foam? The retarding foam has many limitations. From the outset, the landing time must be calculated very well, since it loses its effectiveness after a while. In addition, the airport firefighters remain inoperative for a long time, the necessary to recharge their vehicles with more foam. And without firefighters available, the airport must be closed to all types of traffic. Finally, it was not necessary: the plane can fly without any problem with any single engine for hours and had no damage that would make it suspect that it would slip on its belly at the landing. Was a special runway used for emergencies? No. The normal track in service was used taking into account the wind direction: the left 32 (32L). It is a very long runway and it has at the end one of the most modern protection systems: a kind of soft concrete in which the plane buries its wheels if it goes beyond the limits and fails to stop. Something like the 'gravel effect' on the roads. Now what? Now an investigation will begin, which should not be too long given the characteristics of what happened. It will begin with the study of the affected wheel, while assessing engine 1 damage. And the behavior of the crew and each of its decisions will be analyzed. They are not guilty, but behavior patterns that raise the level of aviation security worldwide. Therefore, a report will be made public. Then, luck or heroism? Professionalism. A well-trained crew, a well-preserved plane despite its age, a modern airport with controllers capable of dealing with an event like this without creating chaos in the air with the rest of the flights. All this, of course, waiting for the official data to be provided. But we do not need them to affirm that nothing is left to improvisation in the safest means of transport in history.According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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